Paper is Shown To Emperor of China, Paper Industry is Launched
March 11, 105
Tsai Lun (or Cai Lun), a eunuch in service to the Emperor of China, shows the court his version of paper. Lun had been experimenting with and refining a process for making paper that had been in use for two centuries prior. His paper, perhaps the first to incorporate wood, became the basis of the Chinese paper industry that eventually spread to the rest of the world a few hundred years later.
This is also perhaps the earliest event in technology history with a recorded date!
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Reaches Red Planet
March 10, 2006
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrives at the Red Planet and enters its initial orbit. The MRO’s primary mission was to search for the existence of water on Mars along with several other objectives. Initially designed to carry out its main mission for two years and supporting objectives for four years, the MRO is still in operation as of 2023. The MRO has returned over 445 terabits of data, helped locate safe landing sites for NASA’s Mars landers and discovered ice and possible flowing water on the Red Planet’s surface.
Dot-Com Bubble Peaks Out
March 10, 2000
The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches 5,048.62 which becomes the peak of the Dot-Com Bubble. Since 1995, led by the growth of the Internet, e-commerce, and all the infrastructure required to support it, the NASDAQ had risen by 400%. After reaching this peak many factors led to the rapid bursting of the bubble over the course of the next several months in which many online and technology companies shut down, were acquired, or lost large portions of their value. By October 2002 the NASDAQ had fallen 78% losing virtually all its gains during the Dot-Com Bubble.
Mr. Bell Calls Mr. Watson
March 10, 1876
Alexander Graham Bell makes the fateful call to his assistant, Mr. Watson, which is considered the first phone call in history: “Mr. Watson come here I want you.”
I Invented the Internet
March 9, 1999
United States Vice President Al Gore gives an interview on CNN’s Late Edition in which he states, “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.” This is the infamous statement which will be widely misquoted as “I invented the Internet.”
Apple, IBM, Motorola form PowerOpen Association
March 9, 1993
Apple, IBM, and Motorola form the PowerOpen Association along with 4 other companies to promote and support the deployment of the PowerPC processor. The PowerPC would most famously be used for many generations of Apple Macintosh computers, but also found its way into use in video games consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. As a competitor to Intel’s x86 line of processors, the RISC-based PowerPC for a time boasted more powerful designs and influenced the development of RISC processing technology that has been incorporated into many modern processors.
IBM Introduces PC-XT
March 8, 1983
IBM introduces the IBM Personal Computer XT, which stands for eXtended Technology. For a price of $4,995, it features a Intel 8088 processor, a 10MB hard drive, eight expansion slots, serial port, 128 kB RAM, 40Kb ROM, a keyboard, and one double-sided 360kB floppy drive.
Compact Disc Introduced
March 8, 1979
Philips introduced the Compact Disc to the world at a press conference in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Sony and Philips cooperated to standardize on a 12 cm diameter disc as it would have enough audio data capacity to hold Beethoven’s 74-minute Ninth Symphony.
The First Computer Operating System
March 8, 1955
Lead programmer Doug Ross demonstrates Director, the first permanent set of instructions for a computer on MIT’s Whirlwind. In essence this is the first concept of an operating system. Loaded by paper tape, Director would allow operators to load multiple problems in Whirlwind by taking advantage of newer, faster photoelectric tape reader technology, eliminating the need for manual human intervention in changing tapes on older mechanical tape readers.
First Transatlantic Telephone Call
March 7, 1926
Exactly 50 years to the day that Alexander Graham Bell received a patent that made the telephone possible, the first transatlantic telephone call was made from London to New York. Using radio communication technology because phone voltages were too low to transmit through underwater transatlantic cables, commercial service would start less than a year later on January 7, 1927 at the cost of $75 for the first three minutes.