1855
Dr. J. M. Taupenot announces his development of a dry collodion photographic plate.
1871
Dr. Richard Leach Maddox announces his invention of a silver bromide gelatine photographic emulsion, which significantly reduces photograph exposure times.
1930
3M of St. Paul, Minnesota begins marketing Scotch brand cellulose tape, the first waterproof, transparent, pressure-sensitive tape.
1945
The first bus in the US with a two-way radio is put into service in Washington, D.C.
1960
In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center, which NASA had activated on July 1. Visit the Marshall Space Flight Center’s official website.
1966
The science fiction series Star Trek premieres on the NBC network with the episode “The Man Trap.” (No. 1) In it, a mysterious, shape-shifting creature that craves salt stalks the Enterprise, murdering crew members. Though technically the sixth produced, the episode is the first aired. The series, which will only produce eighty episodes, will be almost universally snubbed by critics. In fact, the series had to over come calls from within the network to cancel the series before it even aired; however, it will eventually gather a cult following and spawn a multi-billion dollar industry. Memory Alpha entry
1973
In Toronto, Canada, Mers Kutt of Micro Computer Machines officially introduces the MCM/70 personal computer featuring an Intel 8008 processor, a plasma screen, one or two cassette drives, a keyboard, 2 - 8KB RAM, and 14KB ROM. It is one of the first microcomputers in the world, one of the earliest systems to be shipped pre-assembled, the first portable computer, and, arguably, the first truly practical microcomputer. Nevertheless, the machine will remain relegated to obscurity. Price: CDN$4,500 Weight: 20 pounds
1987
Microsoft releases Microsoft Bookshelf, a collection of ten popular reference publications. It is the first application Microsoft releases on a CD-ROM. All of the company’s previous software was released on 3½-inch or 5¼-inch floppy disks. The collection includes: The American Heritage Dictionary, The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, and Roget’s Thesaurus.
1991
Nintendo of America kicks off the biggest television advertisement campaign in history, which will continue through December 29. With a US$25 million advertising budget dedicated to the 16-bit Super Nintendo System (SNES) and another US$10 million allocated to its traditional 8-bit line and the Game Boy, Nintendo plans to buy the market away from the Sega Genesis which was introduced in 1989.
1994
Microsoft officially changes the name of the project code-named “Chicago” to “Windows 95.”
The Sysop of the Davy Jones Locker BBS Richard D. Kenadek, age 46, of Millbury, Massachusetts, pleads not guilty to to charges that he pirated some fifty pieces of computer software in US District Court.
1997
In a complex series of deals, America Online (AOL) also announces that it intends to sell ANS Communications to WorldCom in exchange for control of the Interactive Services Division of CompuServe, the oldest US Online Services firm, and US$175 million in cash. As part of the deal, Bertlesmann AG will jointly operate CompuServe Europe. WorldCom, Inc. retains the CompuServe Network Services (CNS) global division. AOL, meanwhile, signs a five-year service contract with Worldcom, Inc. The deal will provide AOL with a much-needed capital infusion for the development of new online content and the expansion of its nine million subscriber user base.
Del Rey releases the alternate history novel How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove as a hardcover. (ISBN-13: 9780345416612 ) It’s the first book in the Timeline-191 series. In it, a generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America in 1881. But this was a new kind of war, fought on a lawless frontier where the blue and gray battled not only each other but the Apache, the outlaw, the French, and the English. As Confederate General Stonewall Jackson again demonstrated his military expertise, the North struggled to find a leader who could prove his equal. Length: 474 pages
IBM halts plans to ship a NetPC diskless computer in order to focus on its NC-based network station as a low-cost terminal using the network computing concept. According to executive Artit Wimoolchart, the NetPC would overlap with the company’s network computer, which it calls a “network station,” and its traditional personal computer, so the company has decided to scrap its NetPC production.
Intel introduces the Mobile Pentium MMX processor, at speeds of 200 and 233MHz. The chip is manufactured using a 0.25 micron process, contains 4.5 million transistors, features a 64-bit bus, and is packaged in a 320-pin capsule. The processor is intended for use in mobile computers and mini-notebooks. Code-name: Tillamook
Umax Computer announces that it has reached an agreement with Apple Computer for a license on the Mac OS 8 operating system.
1998
Franklin introduces the Rex Pro (also known as the “REX 5″ or “Rex 5000″) handheld computer, featuring 512KB RAM, an LCD screen, six navigation buttons, a docking station, and the ability to plug into a PC Card slot to transfer data. The device weighs only 1.4 ounces and fits in a wallet. Price: US$229.95
The website of Åhrmans Service AB is hacked by “ViRuS & HaCkInG FoRcE”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
1999
Electronic Arts (EA), the world’s largest interactive entertainment software company, announces the acquisition of PlayNation, a Carlsbad, California developer of online entertainment, which will now be a wholly owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts. The financial terms of the agreement are not publicly disclosed.
The fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by author J. K. Rowling as a hardcover by Bloomsbury Publishing in the UK, Raincoast Books in Canada, and Scholatic Press in the US. (UK: ISBN 0-7475-4215-5 US: ISBN-10: 0-439-13635-0) It is the third novel in the Harry Potter series. The novel will win both the 1999 Costa Book Awards and the Bram Stoker Award, and it will also be shortlisted for several other awards, making it one of the most-honored works of fantasy in recent history. Visit the author’s official website. Length: 317 pages (UK) 435 pages (US)
Hasbro Interactive announces plans for a fall release of Centipede on the Sega Dreamcast under the Atari brand name. Worms Armageddon is also scheduled for a fall release for the Dreamcast under the Microprose brand.
Square Electronic Arts releases Final Fantasy VIII for the PlayStation in North America. ESRB: T (Teen)
2003
Apple Computer expands the capacity of its third-generation iPods. The 15GB model, which retails for US$399, is expanded to 20GB, and the 30GB model, which retails for US$499, is expanded to 40GB. The company also announces that it has sold its ten millionth song through its iTunes Music Store.
Miramax Films releases the sci-fi horror film Mimic 3: Sentinel, directed by T.J. Petty and starring Carl Geary, Alexis Dziena, Rebecca Mader, Lance Henriksen, to US theaters. In it, a sickly a young man, confined to a sterile apartment due to his severe asthma, discovers that the Judas Breed roaches are preying on the inhabitants of his apartment complex. With the help of his sister, Rosy, and his best friend Carmen have to destroy the monstrous roaches in order to save themselves. The film was produced on a budget of US$10 million. IMDB listing MPAA: R Running time: 1 hr 17 mins
Nintendo releases the tactical roleplaying game (RPG) Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Gameboy Advance in the US. The game’s story centers on four children — Marche, Mewt, Ritz, and Doned — who live in a small town named St. Ivalice. The children are transported to a realm of the same name as their town, “Ivalice,” after discovering an ancient magical book. The children are separated in Ivalice and soon find each other with Marche’s stubborn determination to return the world to normal, but they slowly realized that the world of Ivalice is a reflection of each of the children’s dreams and imaginations, as the world is being shaped according to their wishes. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E (Everyone)
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sues 261 individuals for allegedly distributing copyrighted music files over peer-to-peer networks. Among the defendants is Brianna LaHara, a twelve year old US schoolgirl.
Vivendi releases the hack and slash game Hunter: The Reckoning: Wayward for the PlayStation 2 in North America. It is the sequel to Hunter: The Reckoning. ESRB: M (Mature)
2004
Bloomsbury publishes the fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by British author Susanna Clarke as a hardcover in America. (ISBN-10: 1-58234-416-7) The book is set in an alternate 19th-century Britain, during the Napoleonic Wars. It follows two magicians who have discovered the magic that is returning to England after hundreds of years of absence and the tumultuous relationship that they form between the two. The story incorporates historical events and people into its fictional alternate reality and is written in a distinct pastiche of Jane Austen’s style. The book is interspersed with hundreds of fictional footnotes which reference a number of fictional books including magical scholarship and biographies, and which provide a detailed backstory. Many pages of the book contain more footnote text than main body text. It will be nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and the Whitbread First Novel Award. It will be longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. It will become a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and Time Magazine will name it the best novel of 2004. In 2005, the novel will be awarded the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards for Best novel. Visit the book’s official website. Length: 800 pages
The NASA unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands on the surface of the Moon when its drogue parachute fails to open.
Nintendo releases the roleplaying game (RPG) Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Leaf Green for the Game Boy Advance in the US. They are the first games compatible with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which comes bundled with the games. Visit the games’ official website. ESRB: E (Everyone)
The sample return capsule of the NASA unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands into the desert floor of the Dugway Proving Ground in Tooele County, Utah at about 193 mph (311km/h) when its parachute fails to open due to a design flaw in a deceleration sensor. The probe became the first ever sent to collect a sample of solar wind when it was launched on August 8, 2001.
Sony Computer Entertainment adds the sci-fi platform game Jak II to Sony’s Greatest Hits lineup, just eleven months after its release. ESRB: T (Teen)
VeriSign Naming and Directory Service (VNDS) begins updating all thirteen .com/.net authoritative name servers in near real-time, rather than twice each day as was previously the case.
2005
Corel releases version 10.0 of Paint Shop Pro, a bitmap and vector graphics editor for Windows, rebranded as “Corel Paint Shop Pro X.” Visit the application’s official website.
Kurt M. Brink, age 25, of Portland, Maine, pleads guilty to conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement in US District Court in the first case of its kind prosecuted in Maine. According to documents filed with the court, Brink was a participant in the “warez scene,” an underground online community comprised of individuals and organized groups who use the Internet to engage in the large-scale, illegal distribution of copyrighted software. The felony is punishable by up to five years in prison, but because Brink has no criminal background, the guidelines recommend a term of thirty to thirty-seven months. He also faces a fine of up to US$250,000 and three years of probation. On December 12, Brink will be sentenced to three years of probation, three hundred hours of community service, and US$6,000 in fines. Brink was arrested as part of Operation Safehaven, a fifteen-month investigation conducted by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (”ICE”) in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut and the Department of Justice against those affiliated with the warez scene.
Microsoft announces prices for its Xbox Live online service for the upcoming Xbox 360 system. Gold membership will cost US$50 per year (US$8 for a month or US$20 for three months), and silver membership will be free to all Xbox 360 owners. Those paying for at least three months will also receive a free Xbox 360 headset and points to spend in the Xbox Live marketplace.
News Corporation, one of the world’s largest Media conglomerates, announces that it has purchased a 92.3% controlling stake of IGN Entertainment for US$650 million, making it a division of Fox Interactive Media (FIM). Among IGN’s assets are GameSpy and MySpace. Visit the News Corporation’s official website. Visit the official IGN website.
The Seoul Central District Court rules that GNU General Public License (GPL) has no legal relevance concerning a case dealing with a trade secret derived from a GPL-licensed work. Defendants argue that since it is impossible to maintain trade secret while being compliant with GPL and distributing the work, they aren’t in breach of trade secret. This argument is considered without ground.
Version 0.95a of the GNU Zebra routing software package is released as a GNU General Public License. Zebra uses an advanced software architecture to provide a high quality, multi-server routing engine. Visit the application’s official website.
2006
Lighthouse Interactive releases the sci-fi turn-based strategy game Sword of the Stars for Windows in Europe. PEGI: 7+
Microsoft announces that the Platinum Collection line will be extended to the Xbox 360 platform.
An Alexandria, Virginia US District Court sentences Nathan Peterson, the former administrator of the iBackups website, to a record-setting seven years in prison after Peterson plead guilty last to two counts of criminal copyright infringement last December. The previous record for a sentence in a software piracy case was twenty-two months. In addition to the prison sentence, Peterson is ordered to pay restitution in the amount of US$5,402,448, roughly eight times the average infringement fine of US$659,000. Peterson’s website, iBackups, sold an estimated US$20 million worth of pirated software, marketing it as “backup software” for legitimate licensees to use in case of system crashes.
The popular anime series Bleach premieres on Canada’s YTV channel during the Bionix program block. Visit YTV’s Bleach website.
The popular anime series Eureka Seven premieres on Canada’s YTV channel during the Bionix program block. Visit YTV’s Eureka Seven website.
ValuSoft releases the real-time strategy game Prison Tycoon 2: Maximum Security for personal computers. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
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