1884
The first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, is published.
1911
Thomas Jennings is convicted of killing Clarence B. Hiller by the Criminal Court of Cook County using fingerprint evidence for the first time in the US. On December 21, the Illionis Supreme Court will uphold the admissibility of the evidence. On February 16, 1912 Jennings will be executed.
1949
Radio Corporation of America (RCA) releases the first single record ever (45 rpm). The release comes in response to the rising popularity of Columbia Record’s 33 1/3 long play records.
1959
Texas Instruments (TI) is issued a patent for the integrated circuit.
Hewlett-Packard releases the first scientific hand-held calculator, the HP-35. Price: US$395.
1973
IBM Data Processing Division releases the OS/VS2 Release 2, a control program that allows users to interconnect virtual storage systems, IBM System/370 Model 158 and Model 168 MP multiprocessors, five new versions of the System/370 Model 145, and the IBM 3704 communications controller. Visit the official IBM website.
1981
Apple Computer President Mike Scott writes an internal memo, with an attached note reading, The document describes the goal of a typewriter-less company. It also commands Ken to get rid of his DEC word processor ASAP! We believe the typewriter is obsolete. Let’s prove it inside before we try and convince our customers. The memo outlines Apple’s new policy of being a typewriter-free company. The move comes as part of an overall marketing campaign against the typewriter, the single greatest obstacle to the Apple II.
The IBM Data Processing Division (DPD) releases the Professional Office System (PROFS), IBM’s first office software, which It includes desktop-to-desktop email.
1982
Intel releases the Intel 80286 processor, featuring clock speeds of up to 20MHz, a new protected mode of operation, which allows access to 16MB of memory, a 16 bit bus, and 134,000 transistors.
1989
Atari files a lawsuit alleging violations of anti-trust laws against Nintendo for US$250 million. The charges are precipitated by Nintendo’s licensing agreements, which prevents licensees from releasing game titles for competing video game platforms within two years of releasing it for the Nintendo.
Phil Katz of PKWare released the original standard for .zip files
1991
Game developer id Software is founded. Visit the official id Software website.
James Gosling, Patrick Naughton, and Mike Sheridan, of Sun Microsystems begin developing Java. Gosling work on the programming concepts, Naughton on the graphics system, and Sheridan works the business end. Visit the official Java website.
1996
Texas Instruments (TI) Japan Ltd. and Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. announces an agreement to jointly develop a system of two speaker, theater-like surround sound with the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) chip.
The US Congress passes the Communications Decency Act (CDA). The bill is Congress’s first serious attempt to regulate the pornographic content of the Internet. However, in 1997, the US Supreme Court will overturned the law.
1999
AOL announces that it will acquire Moviefone the largest movie listing and ticket sales service in the US. Visit the the official Moviefone website.
IBM introduces the RS/6000 SP supercomputer, featuring a POWER3 microprocessor which can perform up to two billion operations per second. Price: US$56,160
Microsoft announces a new version of the Windows CE, with additional support for color displays. Visit the official Windows CE website.
2003
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere after twenty-two years in service, killing all seven astronauts aboard, including Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Mike Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Lauren Clark, and Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut in space.
2005
The 4INFO mobile search engine in publicly released. Visit the official 4INFO website.
2008
MicroYugo – Microsoft reveals a 44.6 Billion cash and stock bid for Yahoo. $31 a share and represents a 62 percent premium over Yahoo’s closing price on Thursday
2009
Former Netscape Exec Mike Homer passes away. He was 50
Everything on Google is Malware – During the weekend, Google had some errors sneak into their code that turned everything into an error.
2012
Facebook files papers for an initial public offering.