Miscellaneous Technology

January 30, 2000

Super Bowl XXXIV: The St. Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans, 23-16 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. This was the first Super Bowl to be broadcast in High Definition. And after living in New Orleans then St. Louis and suffering through the Saints, Cardinals, and Rams, it was the first time my home team won the Super Bowl (actually, it was the first time any of my home teams won any major sports championship).

January 29, 1886

Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile. He would eventually go on to found the Mercedes Benz company.

Janaury 27, 1880

Thomas Edison patents the electric incandescent lamp. While other incandescent lamps were created before his, Edison’s version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

January 25, 1959

The first transcontinental commercial jet trip was made by an American Airlines Boeing 707, from Los Angeles to New York.

January 24, 1950

The original microwave oven patent was issued to Percy LeBaron Spencer under the title “Method of Treating Foodstuffs.” Five years earlier, Spencer accidentally discovered that microwave energy could heat food when a chocolate bar in his pocket melted while he was experimenting with a microwave tube. Microwave tubes were originally designed for RADAR systems.

January 23, 1855

The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.

January 22, 1947

KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California. Bob Hope emceed the inaugural broadcast. A total of 322 televisions are in the Los Angeles viewing area.

January 21, 1981

Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. While not truly a technological achievement, the DeLorean became known as a symbol of the high-tech 1980’s.

January 20, 1970

“The Super Fight“, a computerized, fictional boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano “took place” today. The fictional fight was created by filming Ali and Marciano acting out every possible scenario in a fight and the result was then determined using probability formulas entered into a computer. The final fight was only shown once in 1500 cinemas around the world and later released as a DVD.

January 19, 1915

The neon-lighting tube was patented by Frenchman Georges Claude. In 1923, Georges Claude and his French company Claude Neon, introduced neon gas signs to the United States, by selling two to a Packard car dealership in Los Angeles for $1,250 apiece. Neon lighting quickly became a popular fixture in outdoor advertising.