Pioneer 10 Launched
March 2, 1972
NASA launches Pioneer 10 spacecraft on a mission to explore the outer planets of the solar system. It will pass near Jupiter and Neptune before leaving the solar system.
Concorde Makes Maiden Flight
March 2, 1969
The Concorde supersonic transport (SST) jet makes its maiden flight. The Concode is only the second supersonic passenger airliner to have been commercially operated. The Concorde fleet flew until November 26, 2003.
Netscape Discontinued
March 1, 2008
America Online discontinues the Netscape web browser. Netscape was the first commercial web browser, largely responsible for helping popularize the Internet in the mid-1990’s. Netscape eventually was overtaken by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, as Microsoft included it for free with every copy of Windows. However, the computer code for Netscape lives on as the basis of the Mozilla Firefox browser project, which continues to gain popularity to this day.
On The First Day …
March 1, 1976
Steve Wozniak completes the basic design for the circuit board of a (relatively) easy-to-use personal computer. The next day he shows it to the Homebrew Computer Club, which Steve Jobs attends. Jobs realizes the potential and convinces Wozniak not to give away the schematics but instead produce printed circuit boards to sell. The two Steves form a company, which they name Apple, and Wozniak’s design becomes the basis of the Apple I computer. The rest, as they say, is history.
First Spacecraft to Land On Another Planet
March 1, 1966Disney CEO Claims Apple Encourages Theft
February 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
February 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.
AT&T Incorporated
February 28, 1885
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. Eventually the companies would “merge” and thus AT&T was born.
CompUSA Restructures
February 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.
V.92 Introduced
February 27, 2001
US Robotics introduces the V.92 modem standard. Given that broadband Internet had begun to take significant hold and that supporting V.92 required ISPs to upgrade their infrastructure, V.92 never really made much of an impact in the marketplace.