May 26

This list was created with hours upon hours of research and dedication. Thank you.

1981
Satya Pal Asija was the first in the U.S. to receive a patent for computer software for his computer program Swift-Answer (an acronym for “Special Word Indexed Full Text Alpha Numeric Storage With Easy Retrieval”) that allows users to retrieve narrative information from computers in a human-like manner. The program responds to a user’s questions with the most likely answer – despite the user’s errors in syntax, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. The user needs no computer programing skills. His application for the patent took seven years to issue. (U.S. No. 4,270,182). He published a book on his experience, How to Protect Computer Programs – a Case History Of The First Pure Software Patent, in 1986.

1984
In Houston, Texas, fourteen top scorers from fourteen regions of the US compete in the Grand National Finals of Konami’s Track & Field arcade game. The top three will play in Japan in June against Japan’s top three players.

1995
Realizing that his company had missed the boat in estimating the impact and popularity of the Internet, Microsoft Corp. CEO Bill Gates issued a memo entitled, “The Internet Tidal Wave,” which signals the company’s renewed focus in the field, calling it “critical to every part of our business.” In the memo, Gates declares that the Internet is the “most important single development” since the IBM personal computer, to which he attributes “the highest level of importance.”

1998
AMD releases the K6-2 processor, available in 266, 300, or 333 MHz speeds with a 100 MHz bus and cache, 3DNow! instructions, and incorporating 9.3 million transistors.

2002
The Mars Odyssey finds signs of huge water ice deposits on the planet Mars.

2003
AMD releases the Athlon XP 3000+ desktop processor, featuring a 400 MHz system bus. Price: US$280

AMD releases the Athlon XP 3200+ processor., featuring a 333 MHz front-side bus. Price: US$464

2008
Samsung announces the 256 GB Solid State Drive. It will be available in 4th Quarter

Cisco announces Etch, which is a “messaging protocol intended to allow developers to integrate client/server applications without the overhead of traditional protocols such as SOAP.” Oh yeah – It’s Open source.

2009
Mac Clone maker Psystar files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

Symantec announces that 90 percent of all email is spam.

2011
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is named to the presidential advisory panel

2012
RIM announced they will be laying off 2,000 employees come June 1