1971
Magnavox signs an agreement with Sanders Associates for the exclusive licensing of television video game technology. The first home video game console, the Odyssey, was developed at Sanders by a team headed by Ralph Baer.
1972
NASA launches the Pioneer 10 spacecraft on a mission to become the first spacecraft to travel through the system’s asteroid belt. The spacecraft is equipped with the Intel 4004 microchip, the first computer on a chip. It will be the first probe to reach Jupiter and later, the first probe to leave the solar system in 1983. In twenty years and five billion miles, the probe and microchip will still be functioning. Visit the official NASA profile of the spacecraft.
1973
The Unix timestamp hits nine decimal digits at 9:46am GMT. Visit the Unix timestamp converter.
1982
A United States Federal Appeals Court in Chicago, Illinois overturns an earlier US District decision and ordering K.C. Munchkin, a Pac-Man look-a-like published by the North American corporation Philips Consumer Electronics, off store shelves. K.C. Munchkin will quickly become one of the popular character games for the Odyssey2 game system. Atari and Midway Manufacturing Company filed the suit jointly.
1989
Commodore announces the A590 hard drive for the Amiga 500 and reports that the A2286 AT Bridgeboard had begun shipping in the previous week.
1991
The beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers after being chased for speeding is captured on amateur video by bystander George Holliday. The video, which shows four officers restraining and beating King while six other watch, will be widely broadcast, creating public outrage.
1995
Seiji Sanda, the president of Apple Japan, Inc., resigns over unresolved matters between Apple’s American and Japanese companies.
1997
Intel begins shipping Pentium OverDrive processors with MMX technology. Prices: US$399 for 125 MHz and 150 MHz processors, and US$499 for 166 MHz processors.
McAfee releases version 3.0 VirusScan with the Hunter Virus Detection Engine.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) announces a reduced suggested retail price of US$149 for the PlayStation game console. The company also announces that its Greatest Hits titles will be sold for a new low price of US$24.99. Greatest Hits are game titles that have sold more than one hundred fifty thousand units, that have also been on the market for over a year.
The website of the Loran International is the victim of a denial of service (DOS) attack.
1998
Bill Gates, appears at a Senate hearing to denies charges that Microsoft has sought to established a monopoly in the operating system market. Jim Barksdale, president of Netscape Communications also attends the hearing to make allegations that Microsoft has been systematically attempting to drive Netscape out of business.
1999
Activision and Expert Software jointly announce a merger in which Expert Software shareholders will receive US$2.65 a share from Activision for a total cost of about US$23 million. The companies expect the transaction to be completed in June of 1999.
2000
AMD announces it is phasing out its K6-III processor line.
2001
Per Lidén releases version 0.5.4 of the CRUX operating system. CRUX is a lightweight Linux distribution optimized for i686 systems, specifically designed for experienced Linux users.
2002
The Palm m130Palm introduces the Palm m130 handheld computer, featuring a 1.8 x 1.8 inch 65,536-color display, a USB docking cradle, a secure digital slot, the Palm OS, and 8MB RAM. The lithium ion battery can power the unit for about one week. Price: US$279
Palm introduces the Palm m515 handheld computer, intended to replace the m505. The system features a 2.2 x 2.2 inch 65,536-color display, a USB docking cradle, a secure digital slot, the Palm OS, and 16MB RAM. The lithium ion battery can power the unit for about one week. Price: US$399
2003
Version 8.4.2 of the Tcl/Tk programming language is released.
2005
In the Arkansas state legislature, Senator Shawn Womack introduces a bill that would require stores that rent or sell games with an Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating of M to display them at a minimum height of at five feet from the floor.
The first solo non-stop and fastest flight around the world without a refueling ends when Steve Fossett sets down at the Salina Municipal Airport in Saline County, Kansas sixty-seven hours after taking off from that same location. Fossett’s craft is The GlobalFlyer, a single-engine, single-use experimental jet plane. The flight was five years in planning, and it was sponsored by Sir Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Officials report that computers at the admission departments of the business schools at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Stanford University, among others, are hacked by someone using the handle brookbond. The hacker gained access to internal admissions records then assisted applicants to the school in discovering their application’s status in advance of the schools’ official notification. On March 4, school officials at Harvard and Stanford will inform the public that applicants whose trespassing was detected will not be admitted to the schools.
2009
We celebrated Pi Day – 3/03/09
Skype announces they will be working with SpinVox to provide voice-to-SMS messaging in four languages
Amazon launches an iPhone app of their book reader software
Apple posts new updated iMacs to their site. The 20 – 2.6 Duo Core, $1,199 – The 24 – 2.6 Duo Core for $1,499 – 24 2.93 Duo Core for $1,799 and the 24 3.06 Duo Core for $2,199
Apple also posts new Mac Mini for $599 and $799 featuring the new Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip. The Mac Pro runs the Nehalem Xeon processors up to 2.93 GHz. $2,499 for Quad Core and 3,299 for 8 Core System.
Asus announces they will be phasing out the 7 netbook to focus on the 10 netbook
California court tossed out the Gibson lawsuit to Guitar Hero. Gibson has a patent for the look of the guitar (known as the 405 patent) and Guitar Hero has infringed on it. It was determined that Gibsons’ suit only applies to anything that can put out an analog signal.
Final arguments were made in the Pirate Bay trial as it came to a close.
Defamation is the saddest attack: After Long Island teen Denise Finkel discovers that classmates had set up a password-protected Facebook page that accused her of having AIDS, being a drug user and having inappropriate conduct with animals, she sues Facebook and the now ex-classmates for $3 million.
2010
Western Digital announced their first Solid State Drive. The Silicone Edge Blue was available in capacities of 256 GB
2014
After refusing to pay a $300 stop ransom, a hacker created a cyberattack against Meetup.com which lasted on and off for the next two days.