Archive for May 17, 2024
Contract Signed to Create ENIAC
May 17, 1943
The US Army and the University of Pennsylvania sign a contract to develop ENIAC, which would become the world’s first fully electronic computer, making the use of vacuum tubes rather than electromagnetic switches. The Army wanted to use this computer to calculate ballistic firing tables in World War II. However, ENIAC was not completed until after the war was over and went on to solve complex mathematical problems in fields such as atomic energy and rocketry.
First Sports TV Broadcast
May 17, 1939
NBC carries the first broadcast televised sporting event in history, the second game of a doubleheader baseball game between Columbia and Princeton. Only about 400 TV sets were capable of receiving the transmission, but it was an important first step in the history of televised sports. NBC would later broadcast a major league baseball game in August of that year, a college football game in September, closely followed by an NFL game in October.
Previously Germany had televised parts of the 1936 Olympic games, but TV sets were not available for sale in Germany at the time. Therefore viewing was limited to a number of “public viewing rooms” in Berlin and Potsdam.