Apple Introduces iPhone
January 9, 2007
Apple introduces the iPhone at Macworld. The phone wasn’t available for sale until June 29th, prompting one of the most heavily anticipated sales launches in the history of technology. Apple sold 1.4 million iPhones in 2007, steadily increasing each year to sell over 230 million in 2015 alone.
Apple Introduces iTunes
January 9, 2001
Steve Jobs introduces iTunes at Macworld. At the time, it only ran on Macintosh computers and there was no such thing as an iPod or an iTunes Store. I don’t think anyone at the time knew what a big deal iTunes was about to become. The graphic shows the evolution of the iTunes icon from top left to bottom right.
“First” Motion Picture Film to Receive Copyright
January 9, 1894
W.K. Dickson, an employee of Thomas Edison’s movie studio, receives a copyright for a motion picture film. The 5 second demonstration was a 47-frame film showing a man sneezing. This man, Fred Ott, is now most famously known for having this sneeze recorded in film. “Fred Ott’s Sneeze” is the earliest surviving film to receive a copyright in the United States. While technically a copyright for a film had been granted to Edison’s studio in the previous year, the records for what film it was have been lost.
Record Stay in Space Begins
January 8, 1994
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
AT&T Settles; Agrees to Breakup
Luna 21 Launches
January 8, 1973
Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched. Luna 21 successfully landed on the moon and deployed the second Soviet lunar rover, Lunokhod 2.
Punched Card Calculator Patented
January 8, 1889
Herman Hollerith is issued a US patent for his punched card calculator. 7 years later he starts a company called the Tabulating Machine Company. In 1911, this is one of 4 companies that merge to form the company that will one day be called IBM.
The Last Surveyor Launches
January 7, 1968
Surveyor 7 lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral. Surveyor 7 was the seventh and last lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon.
First Day of Transatlantic Phone Service
January 7, 1927
The first commercial transatlantic phone service was made available to the public. It used radio signals rather than the undersea cable or satellite technology of today. 31 calls were made between New York and London that day.
iPod Mini Introduced
January 6, 2004
Apple Computer introduces the first variation of the iPod line, the iPod Mini. The iPod Mini began the trend for Apple to introduce smaller iPods that were (often) cheaper but could hold just as many (or more) songs than the previous generation larger iPods. As the underlying technology improved, such as the availability of the smaller hard drive in the iPod mini and eventually affordable flash storage in the future iPod Nano, Apple continued to push iPod technology forward ensuring that they remained the dominant force in the digital audio player market.