Archive for 2024
First Flight of Boeing 727
February 9, 1963
The first flight of the Boeing 727 occurred on this date. For over a decade, it was the most produced commercial jet aircraft in the world.
Google Maps is Unleashed
February 8, 2005
Google Maps is launched to the public. I never had to ask for directions again. Not that I did before.
24 Hours in Cyberspace
February 8, 1996
The massive Internet collaboration “24 Hours in Cyberspace” takes place. It was so early in the history of the mainstream Internet, I bet none of you remember this. I didn’t!
A Patent is Filed for the Harvard Mark I
February 8, 1945
A calculator patent is filed for the Automatic Sequence Control Calculator, commonly known as the Harvard Mark I, an early computer. The Mark I was a large electro-mechanical computer that could perform the four basic arithmetic functions and handle 23 decimal places. A multiplication took about five seconds.
Kasparov Redeems Himself … Sort Of
February 7, 2003
After losing a chess match to the computer Deep Blue in 1997, world chess champion Gary Kasparov and the computer Deep Junior battle to a draw.
First Untethered Space Walk
February 7, 1984
Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). McCandless became the first human Earth-orbiting satellite, venturing out 320 feet from the orbiter.
DAF 600 Unveiled
February 7, 1958
The Dutch car DAF 600 is introduced at the Amsterdam Motor Show. It would have been an altogether unremarkable car except for the fact that it was one of the first cars to offer an automatic transmission at an affordable price.
V.90 Announced
February 6, 1998
The V.90 modem standard is announced and agreed upon. This ended a couple of years of customer confusion, as two competing 56k modem protocols (K56Flex and X2) were in common use at the time. The V.90 standard unified the protocols and was crafted specifically to allow both types of modems to be upgraded via firmware. V.90 was also called V.last by some, as it was expected to be the last possible upgrade to modem technology. It virtually was, because even though V.92 later supplanted V.90, it didn’t increase the top-end speed of modem bandwidth and by that time, broadband access was already eating away at dial-up marketshare.
The Woz Leaves Apple
February 6, 1986
Steve Wozniak
, the co-founder of Apple Computer, decides to leave to pursue other interests. Reportedly he was unhappy that the company was devoting most of its resources to the Macintosh at the expense of the Apple II. He remained a shareholder on the board and eventually come back as an advisor when Gil Amelio became CEO. He makes sporadic appearances at Apple events but still does not perform in any official capacity at Apple.
First Golf Ball Hit on Moon
February 6, 1971
1971 – Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard hits the first golf ball on the Moon. He used a six-iron attached to a sample collection tool.