The Woz Leaves Apple
February 6, 1986
Steve Wozniak
, the co-founder of Apple Computer, decides to leave to pursue other interests. Reportedly he was unhappy that the company was devoting most of its resources to the Macintosh at the expense of the Apple II. He remained a shareholder on the board and eventually come back as an advisor when Gil Amelio became CEO. He makes sporadic appearances at Apple events but still does not perform in any official capacity at Apple.
First Golf Ball Hit on Moon
February 6, 1971
1971 – Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard hits the first golf ball on the Moon. He used a six-iron attached to a sample collection tool.
First Victoria’s Secret Webcast
February 5, 1999
Victoria’s Secret holds their first annual online fashion show. The event attracts 1.5 million visitors. While the technology was no where near as advanced as it was today, it was considered the first major successful webcast.
Apollo 14 Lands on Moon
February 5, 1971First Automatic Don’t Walk Sign
February 5, 1952
The first “Don’t Walk” sign was installed in New York City. The installation of this sign was inspired by the growing number of deaths resulting from pedestrian accidents.
Facebook is Born
February 4, 2004
Mark Zuckerberg launches Thefacebook, which later becomes Facebook. The world changes forever. And we like it.
The Sims Released
February 4, 2000
EA releases The Sims, the best-selling PC game in history. I guess people like pretending to be other people!
Apple Acquires NeXT; Steve Jobs Returns to Apple
February 4, 1997
Apple Computer completes the purchase of Steve Jobs’ company NeXT for $427 million. Apple plans to use NeXT’s OpenStep OS to build the core of the next Mac operating system, eventually resulting in Mac OS X. Gil Amelio – with Steve Jobs as his advisor – makes plans to restructure Apple. Steve Jobs eventually advises Apple’s board of directors to replace Gil Amelio and hire him as interim CEO. Eventually the “interim” title is dropped and the rest is recent history.
First Woman to Pilot the Space Shuttle
February 3, 1995
Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Genesis of “Vaporware”
February 3, 1986
The term “vaporware” is first used by Philip Elmer-DeWitt in a TIME magazine article. The term is now commonly used to describe software that has been long announced but hasn’t actually been released. At the time, many experts believed Microsoft was guilty of using vaporware announcements to keep customers from purchasing software from other companies (by convincing them that a Microsoft version was just around the corner).