Motorola StarTAC Introduced
January 3, 1996
Motorola introduces the StarTAC, the first clamshell flip cell phone. The smallest and lightest cell phone available at the time, the StarTAC’s “wearability” made it one of the first cell phones to achieve mainstream popularity. About 60 million StarTAC phones were sold over the series’ lifetime, becoming the stereotype for what most people refer to as “flip phones,” even to this day.
Apple Computer Grows Up
January 3, 1977
Less than one year after its founding, the world’s first personal computer company, Apple Computer, Inc. is incorporated. Pictured is the original Apple Computer, Inc. logo from 1977. The “Rainbow Apple Logo” was used through 1999.
First Electric Watch Introduced
January 3, 1957
The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. The Hamilton Electric 500 was the first watch to never need winding. However its battery life was so short that frequent battery replacements were necessary. Plus, as a first of breed, the watch was not very reliable. However, it was an instant hit because the novelty of never needing to wind the watch proved extremely popular.
Stardust Flies By Comet Wild 2
Software Arts Incorporated
January 2, 1979
Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston, developers of the world’s first spreadsheet software, incorporate Software Arts to be the parent company for their product, VisiCalc. VisiCalc was introduced and then shipped later in the year and became the first “killer app” for the personal computer. By offering such a powerful business tool that anyone could run on their own computer, Bricklin and Frankston are credited with changing the perception of the personal computer from hobby into a business machine.
Luna 1 Launch
First Moon Photo
January 2, 1839
Louis Daguerre takes the first known photo of the Moon. Unfortunately, his lab burns down on March 8th so the photo does not survive.
Y2K Comes and Goes
January 1, 2000
After years of hysteria regarding the Y2K bug, the world’s computers begin using the date 2000 with no major catastrophes. There is still debate whether the “Year 2000 Problem” was overblown by the technology industry or if the frantic updating done by armies of software developers leading up to Y2K averted disaster. I tend to lean towards the latter.
Domain Name System Created; .com is Born!
January 1, 1985
The Internet’s Domain Name System is created. If only I had the foresight back then to start registering .com names!
NORDU.NET was the first domain created on this day, for purposes of hosting the first domain root server, nic.nordu.net. However, the first domain to actually be registered was symbolics.com a couple of months later on March 15th, 1985.
The Breakup of Ma Bell
January 1, 1984
The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is divested of its 22 Bell System companies as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T.