1949 -An Wang files a patent for magnetic core memory using ferrite. It was entitled “pulse transfer controlling devices.” This was the first sign and the rise of Wang industries – a company that would be a dominant computer to IBM until it’s fall in 1992.
1985 – The first Blockbuster opens it’s doors in Dallas, TX by David Cook. The 29 year old store owner eventually sold it to Scott Beck, John Melk and Wayne Huizenga. Eventually it becomes a nation-wide franchise and online movie and game rental store. Dish Network ultimately purchased Blockbuster for $228 million
The Last Blockbuster
On April 1st, 2019 (not an April Fools Joke), Bend, OR Blockbuster became the last brick-and-mortar store in the world. This was after the last Australian store closed. They are known on Twitter as @LoneBlockbuster
A lot happened on this day that Thomas Edison was responsible for. In 1878, Edison brought electricity into the home. 1879 Edison manufacturers the first incandescent light bulb, which was tested on October 22nd. Two major leaps in the technology ago.
But it was on October 18, 1931, Edison died of complications to diabetes in New Jersey. His last breath was captured in a test tube, which is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.
1985– The Nintendo Entertainment System, along with the Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.) and the Zapper light gun are released in New York. Eighteen games were available, two of which came bundled with the system: Duck Hunt and Super Mario Brothers.
The NES was a step up to it’s predecessor – the Famicon Disk system (which looks like a Steampunk version of the NES). Differences included 60-pin cartridges (famicon had 72-pin), case design and extra peripherals, like a 3.5 inch floppy drive.
I remember riding my bike to the bank (there was no on-line banking in 85) – which actually was 35 miles away from my house – to get the money and buy this system. It was well worth it. My favorite game to date is still Tetris.
The NES system cost $125. Worldwide release would be in Feb 1986.Now You’re Playing With Power!
1985– Intel released the 80386 DX processor. The 275,000 transistor chip was a big jump from the 20 MHz 286. It contained the ability to address up to 4 GB of memory and had a bigger instruction set. The chip would be released, but most people wouldn’t see the processor until Spring of 1986Interesting enough – the 386 chip was finally discontinued in the Fall of 2007. The chip was used after personal computer days to power many embedded systems.
1923– 90 years ago, Walt and Roy Disney start what is known as the Walt Disney Company. It started as the Disney Brothers Cartoon studio. Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice’s Wonderland.
In 1986, the name was officially changed to the Walt Disney Company. Steve Jobs was a shareholder and board member. Walt Disney Studios is one of the largest in Hollywood with networks ESPN, ABC, A&E and more.
1985– IBM announced, with co-developer Texas Instruments, the Token Ring network along with PC Network software – six months ahead of schedule. The Token Ring only did network transmission speed of 4 Mbps (It didn’t hit speeds of 16 Mbps until 1989), and worked over standard phone wiring.
Using terminated BNC cable, Token Ring created just that; a Ring connection that talks in one direction.
The standard was also known as the IEEE 802.5 protocol. Token Ring further developed to run 100 Mbps.
Eventually, Ethernet overtook Token Ring because it was cheaper to install, even though it was a better protocol than Ethernet.
Did/Does Cable TV Use Token Ring?
Cable companies use Fiber and Coaxial cable to bring Internet and TV into a home. The coaxial cable is similar looking to the cable used in some Token Ring networks, but the two technologies are different.
Some Token Ring cards did use a similar cable, but also used IBM’s hermaphroditic connector, and DB-9 connector. Some networks also used an RJ-45 or RJ-11 connector with the Twisted pair configuration.
1986 – Telenet funded a project to develop an improved public domain application to application file transfer protocol. This protocol would alleviate the throughput problems their network customers were experiencing with XMODEM and Kermit file transfers. ZMODEM could provide high performance and reliability over packet switched networks while preserving XMODEM’s simplicity. It made XModem and YModem obsolete.
1999– Priceline filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and its Expedia travel service. The suit outlined how they violated U.S. patent number 5,794,207, “Method and Apparatus for a Cryptographically Assisted Network System Designed to Facilitate Buyer-Driven Conditional Purchase Offers.” The two sites come to terms in 2001, in where Microsoft pays a fine.