Archive for February 15, 2025
Windows Refund Day
February 15, 1999
Hundreds of computer owners (dominated by Linux users) march on Microsoft’s offices demanding refunds for the copies of Windows that came pre-installed on their computers. This day came to be known as Windows Refund Day.
They Put the “You” in “Tube”
February 15, 2005
The now-ubiquitous video sharing site, YouTube, is launched. Few web sites have had such an immediate impact on our usage of the Internet. Less than 2 years after its launch, Google paid $1.65 billion dollars to purchase it. Today, it only trails Facebook, Google, and Gmail as the most visited web sites in the world. Additionally, they created a new marketplace for the words “you” and “tube”.
Hacker Mitnick Arrested
February 15, 1995
Computer hacker Kevin Mitnick is arrested. At the time, he was the most wanted computer criminal in the United States. Now he is a computer security consultant. At least he knows what he’s doing.
ENIAC Dedicated
February 15, 1946
ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic computer, was formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania. It was one thousand times faster than electro-mechanical computing machines of the time, an increase in computing power that no machine has since matched.