The First Practical Electric Razor

March 18, 1931

Jacob Schick’s 2nd commercial design of an electric razor goes on sale. His first attempt, which went on sale in 1929, was an awkward design with the electric motor connected by a cable to the shaving head. Not surprisingly that model didn’t sell well. Schick had to mortgage his home to keep his company going. This new version put the motor inside the shaving head making it much more convenient. Even though it went on sale during the Great Depression, Schick managed to sell 3000 units that year at $25 each (close to $400 in today’s money) and 1.5 million by 1937, creating the electric razor industry.

NFL Adopts Instant Replay … For The First Time

NFL Instant ReplayMarch 11, 1986

The NFL adopts a limited instant replay system. This system was dropped, however, in 1992 before the current instant replay system was instated in 1999. In effect, you could say the current system is an instant replay itself!

Paper is Shown To Emperor of China, Paper Industry is Launched

March 11, 105

Tsai Lun (or Cai Lun), a eunuch in service to the Emperor of China, shows the court his version of paper. Lun had been experimenting with and refining a process for making paper that had been in use for two centuries prior. His paper, perhaps the first to incorporate wood, became the basis of the Chinese paper industry that eventually spread to the rest of the world a few hundred years later.

This is also perhaps the earliest event in technology history with a recorded date!

Compact Disc Introduced

March 8, 1979

Philips introduced the Compact Disc to the world at a press conference in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Sony and Philips cooperated to standardize on a 12 cm diameter disc as it would have enough audio data capacity to hold Beethoven’s 74-minute Ninth Symphony.  

SCO Sues IBM; Threatens Linux Users

March 6, 2003

The SCO Group, formerly known as Caldera, files a $1 Billion lawsuit against IBM for allegedly “devaluing” its version of UNIX. SCO claimed that IBM had contributed SCO’s proprietary code to the codebase of the open-source Linux, thereby making SCO’s UNIX less valuable. A couple of months later in May, SCO sent letters to many major corporations warning them of the possibility of liability if they used Linux. SCO eventually even threatened individual Linux users who did not license SCO UNIX.

Among some Linux fans, the lawsuit was a threat to the Open Source movement. However most saw the lawsuit as simply legal maneuvering by SCO to try to capitalize on Linux as it had changed the competitive landscape of the UNIX marketplace. Long story short, through a series of claims and counter-claims involving SCO, IBM, Red Hat, and Novell most of SCO’s claims were dismissed and SCO went bankrupt. However, the original lawsuit did not finally come to resolution until November of 2021!

Tokyo Skytree Completed

1024px-Tokyo_Sky_Tree_2012

February 29, 2012

Construction of the Tokyo Skytree broadcast tower, delayed two months due to the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, is completed on leap day – February 29th, 2012. The Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan and the world’s tallest tower.

Disney CEO Claims Apple Encourages Theft

Michael EisnerFebruary 28, 2002

Disney CEO Michael Eisner testifies at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on the protection of digital content from piracy. Eisner lobbies for sterner enforcement of copyright laws, claiming that Apple Computer advertisements for the iPod encourage copyright violations. “Rip. Mix. Burn. … they can create a theft if they buy this computer.”

A little over 3 years later, Eisner was later replaced as CEO by Robert Iger, who quickly arranged the buyout of Pixar Animation Studios, of which Steve Jobs was CEO. This move made Steve Jobs Disney’s largest shareholder and a member of Disney’s board. I guess it’s a small world after all!

First Color TVs Go on Sale

Color TVFebruary 28, 1954

The first color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public. NTSC is the standard used in most of North and South America, Japan, and a few other places in the world.

 

CompUSA Restructures

CompUSA LogoFebruary 27, 2007

A major player during the early ages of the the computer retail sales market in the late 80’s and 90’s with nearly 230 stores at its height, CompUSA announces that it will close 126 retail stores by June and restructure its remaining 103 stores. Eventually those 103 stores also close. A victim of competition from online sales and more agile big box stores, CompUSA was eventually purchased by Systemax which merged CompUSA into its Tiger Direct online brand. Today the CompUSA brand still exists as an e-commerce site.

RADAR Demonstrated for First Time

RADAR PlaqueFebruary 26, 1935

Scottish physicist Robert Watson-Watt, considered by many to be the inventor of RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging), first demonstrates its feasibility. Watson-Watt had been experimenting using radio waves to locate thunderstorms and thought of the idea of using it to detect aircraft. The use of RADAR is widely considered one of the key factors for the Allied victory in World War II. The research that went into further improving RADAR branched off into many areas including the invention of the transistor, which of course, allowed the development of many modern computerized technologies.