1662
John Flamsteed records his first astronomical observations during a solar eclipse from his home in Derby at the age of sixteen. He corresponds with other astronomers regarding the observations, beginning a long career that will eventually lead him to become the Astronomer Royal of England.
1835
Charles Darwin arrives at the Galapagos Islands aboard the HMS Beagle. Over the coming five weeks, he will study the wildlife, which will inspire his theory of natural selection.
1908
Automotive manufacturer General Motors is founded. Visit the official GM website.
1982
According to Twin Galaxies, Matt Brass scores a record-setting 425,230 points playing the arcade game Deluxe at the Modern West arcade in Helena, Montana. Visit the official Twin Galaxies website.
1983
Imagic eliminates forty of its one hundred seventy employees, due to the slowdown in the video game industry.
Orion Pictures releases the sci-fi comedy film Strange Invaders, directed by Michael Laughlin and starring Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen, Diana Scarwid, Michael Lerner, Louise Fletcher, and Wallace Shawn, to 274 US theaters. The film is a spoof on the science fiction genre of the fifties, particularly The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The film will gross US$655,461 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG) Running Time: 1 hrs 33 min
1985
Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs resigns as chairman of Apple Computer after losing a boardroom struggle for control to CEO John Sculley, who Jobs had recruited from Pepsi for his excellent marketing experience. The same day, Jobs submits the company name Next, Incorporated to the California Secretary of State as the first step in founding a company he hoped would eventually drive Apple out of business.
1994
Universal Pictures releases the sci-fi thriller Timecop, directed by Peter Hyams and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mia Sara, Ron Silver, Bruce McGill, and Gloria Reuben, to 2,228 US theaters. The film is based on the Dark Horse comic of the same title. In it, an officer for a security agency that regulates time travel, must fend for his life against a shady politician who has a tie to his past. Produced on a budget of US$30 million, the film will gross US$12,064,625 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: R) Running Time: 1 hrs 39 min
1995
Berkeley students crack into Tower Records/Video computers and charge US$20,000 in purchases.
1996
3DO, a leading video game console developer, announces that it plans to sell off its hardware business by the end of the year, shifting its focus to making entertainment software.
Microsoft unveils the Windows CE operating system for handheld computers. “CE” stands for Consumer Electronics. Code-name: Pegasus
1997
Apple Computer announces that it has named Steve Jobs the interim CEO of the company. Jobs had come back on board as an adviser to CEO Gil Amelio when Apple acquired his company, NeXT, for US$400 million. His appointment as CEO comes after Amelio was fired for leading Apple into one of the worst quarterly losses in Silicon Valley history.
The first version of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Resources (SEPR), a directory of electronic resources for academic research, is published.
Microsoft releases MSN TV, an improved version of WebTV, following the acquistion of its Silicon Valley manufacturer earlier in the year for US$425 million. The product is Microsoft’s latest effort to expand MSN integration into a series of household appliances to expand its market.
1998
The 56kbps V.90 modem standard is officially ratified.
Intel releases a low-power 266MHz Pentium MMX processor designed for portable computers.
Paraguay authorities destroy five thousand pirated Nintendo systems that were seized in a forty-foot shipping container. The products were packaged like N64 systems, but they are actually illegally produced Nintendo Entertainment Systems (NES) that are preloaded with eight levels of an undisclosed game.
1999
Intel introduces the 433 and 466MHz mobile Celeron processors. Price: US$159 and US$209 respectively, in 1000-unit quantities
Microsoft reveals that a potentially destructive email is being circulated worded as if it was sent by Microsoft’s own support operations. It offers an attachment described as a Y2K countdown program. Y2Kcount.exe is actually a “Trojan Horse” designed to damage data on users’ hard drives.
Patrick Naughton, age 34, an executive in charge of Walt Disney Company’s Go Network of Internet sites is arrested and charged with interstate travel with the intention of having sex with a minor. He is arraigned and released after posting a hundred thousand dollar bond. Naughton was caught by a young looking police officer posing as a thirteen-year-old girl after initiating lewd chats using the handle of “HotSeattle”. He is arrested on Santa Monica Pier, a public entertainment venue near Los Angeles.
2002
Intel introduces the 1GHz Mobile Pentium III-M LV processor, featuring a 16KB Level 1 data cache, a 16KB Level 1 instruction cache, a 512KB Level-2 cache, a 133MHz system bus, MMX and SSE instructions, and a 64GB address space. It incorporates 44 million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Tualatin Price: US$316 in 1000-unit quantities
Intel introduces the 1.26 and 1.33GHz Mobile Pentium III-M processor, featuring a 16KB Level 1 data cache, a 16KB Level 1 instruction cache, a 512KB Level-2 cache, a 133 MHz system bus, MMX and SSE instructions, and a 64GB address space. It incorporates 44 million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Tualatin Price: US$401 (1.26 GHz) and US$508 (1.33 GHz) in 1000-unit quantities
Intel unveils the 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8 GHz Mobile Celeron processors, featuring a 256KB Level-2 Cache and a 400MHz Front Side Bus. Price: US$112 (1.6 GHz), US$134 (1.7 GHz), and US$149 (1.8 GHz) in 1000-unit quantities
Intel unveils the 2.2GHz Pentium 4-M processor, featuring a 512KB Level-2 Cache and a 400MHz Front Side Bus. Price: US$562 in 1000-unit quantities
Intel introduces the 700 and 733MHz Mobile Celeron ULV processor, featuring a 16KB Level-1 data cache, 16KB Level 1 instruction cache, 256KB Level-2 cache, a 100MHz system bus, MMX and SSE instructions, and 64GB address space. It incorporates 44 million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Tualatin Price: US$144 in 1000-unit quantities
Intel introduces the 850 and 866MHz Mobile Pentium III-M ULV processor, featuring a 16KB Level 1 data cache, a 16KB Level 1 instruction cache, a 512KB Level-2 cache, a 133MHz system bus, MMX and SSE instructions, 64GB address space. It incorporates 44 million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Tualatin Price: US$209 in 1000-unit quantities
2003
Intel releases the 3200MHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (EE) processor, featuring a 512KB Level-2 Cache, a 2048KB Level-2 Cache, and an 800MHz Front Side Bus.
In Paris, France, Apple Computer holds the Apple Expo 2003 trade show over five days. At the event, it unveils a new line of PowerBook laptops featuring processors with speed ranging from 1GHz – 1.33GHz and screens in 12, 15, and 17-inch widths.
Seagate Technology introduces the 200GB Barracuda 7200.7 hard drive. The model is the first consumer hard drive to pack a 100GB capacity into a 3.5-inch platter, of which it has two. The Barracuda 7200.7 line is the first to support SATA Native Command Queuing, which allows a drive to reorder outstanding commands before reading or writing data to improve the performance of a queued workload.
2004
Symantec announced its acquisition of @stake completed the transaction on October 9, 2004 Read the Symantec press release. Visit Symantec’s official website.
2005
At the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo unveils its newest controller, later dubbed the Wiimote. The wireless controller breaks with a twenty year tradition of controllers that require both hands with a designed intended to be used with one hand. Code-name: Revolution
The popular anime series Naruto premieres in Canada on YTV cable channel, as part of its Bionix programming block. Visit YTV’s official Naruto website.
2008
At roughly Midnight (EST), activists loosely affiliated with the group Anonymous crack the password of a Yahoo! email account belonging to US Republican Vice Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin, gov.palin@yahoo.com, then released screenshots of her e-mails to Wikileaks. The incident comes after Governor Palin had been criticized by the media and political opponents for using private email accounts to conduct government business in order to circumvent transparency laws. The leaks will create a media sensation after their authenticity is confirmed that same day. Read the WikiLeaks press release.
Microsoft releases the Zune 120 portable media player.
Version 7 of the PC-BSD operating system is released. Visit the official PC-BSD website.
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