1983 – The Osbourne I was a computer introduced by Adam Osbourne in 1981. It featured a Z80 microprocessor and the computer would run at least $1800. However, the computer company did not fair too well. They tried to mask their true financial statements in hopes that things would turn around. However once investors found out what was going on, they would start asking questions. Osbourne could not handle the pressure and on this day they filed for bankruptcy.
1965 – The Campbell soup company, under their Franco-American brand, introduce SpaghettiO’s pasta in a can. The ring-shaped pasta and cheese blend was an easy way (and less messy) to make the kids a meal. Simply open the can and pour into the pan!
The idea was created by Donald Goerke – known as “Daddy-O of SpaghettiO’s”. The company tested out many shapes before they decided the “O” was the least messy to serve and eat.
Jimmie Rodgerssang the famous “Uh-Oh! SpaghettiOs” at the time.
1936 – When typewriters first came out, many different people worked on keyboard layouts to become the standard. QWERTY was a popular system but was not efficient. August Dvorak and William Dealey decided to create and patent an alternative to this style, the end result – the Dvorak keyboard was born.
The keyboard was more efficient, too. Key letters were together so you would “roll” words. T was next to H, N was next to S. The sub-dominant hand would take care of vowels and lesser-used consonants, while the dominant hand took care of most of the consonants. Therefore, a left-hand and right-hand Dvorak keyboard was designed.
More interesting – People would type twice as fast as with a QWERTY style (120 words per minute). However, the people were typing so fast, the hammers on the typewriter would get stuck together. With those two major issues, the Dvorak keyboard did not get accepted.
One can switch to a Dvorak keyboard, though. Simply change the keyboard settings, and don’t look down at your keyboard (because the letters will be all wrong).
1980 – Apple Computer goes up for their Initial Public Offering and makes a statement in the market. Using the symbol “Steve Jobs reports $217 Million, being the largest shareholder. It beat out Ford Motor when it went IPOV (IPO Viral).
1981 – For many years, whenever something came out, it was “IBM’s Data Processing Division releases”… Well, on Dec 3rd 1981, IBM decided and announced that the Data Processing Division was going to be absorbed into the IBM National Accounts Division (NAD), and the National Marketing Division. The 2 divisions would then become part of the Information SystemsGroup. This would be effective January 1982.
The Data Processing Division was launched in 1956. IBM DPD had launched many 370 mainframe systems, as well as the 7090 – which we talk about it’s release on Dec 3rd 1968. For more information, see IBM on the IBM Data Pprocessing Division.
2008 – After battle upon battle between Microsoft, Google and shareholders (including Carl Icahn), Jerry Yang finally announced to all he was stepping down as CEO of Yahoo! The previous days, Steve Ballmer said they are not going forward with any future purchase of Yahoo! Because of this, stock hit it’s lowest share price, $8. That, the failed Google affiliation (due to antitrust issues), and a very despondent group of investors, Jerry felt it best to step back in his roll.
1980 – Apple Computer goes up for their Initial Public Offering and makes a statement in the market. Using the symbol “AAPL“, Apple shares started at $22 – but sell out within minutes. By the end of the day, shares rose to $29. The market value became 1.8 Billion, which, in turn, made employees and investors pretty rich – Steve Jobs reports $217 Million, being the largest shareholder. It beat out Ford Motor when it went IPOV (IPO Viral).
1981 – For many years, whenever something came out, it was “IBM’s Data Processing Division releases”… Well, on Dec 3rd 1981, IBM decided and announced that the Data Processing Division was going to be absorbed into the IBM National Accounts Division (NAD), and the National Marketing Division. The 2 divisions would then become part of the Information SystemsGroup. This would be effective January 1982.
The Data Processing Division was launched in 1956. IBM DPD had launched many 370 mainframe systems, as well as the 7090 – which we talk about it’s release on Dec 3rd 1968. For more information, see IBM on the IBM Data Pprocessing Division.