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Apple Retail Stores Revealed
May 15, 2001 Apple Computer announces plans to operate a chain of retail stores, opening twenty-five retail stores in the United States by the end of the year. Steve Jobs holds a commemorative press event at Apple’s first store in the second level of Tysons Corner Center to make the announcement. The store, along with a…
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Skylab Launched
May 14, 1973 The United States launches Skylab One, its first manned space station. It is the last launch of the Saturn V rocket, and the the largest payload ever launched into space at the time. Skylab will fall back into the Earth’s atmosphere in July 1979. Previous post: Money For Nothing? This Day in…
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Money For Nothing?
May 13, 1985 The British rock band Dire Straits releases their fifth album, Brothers in Arms, which will become the first CD to sell over a million copies. It was the most successful album release on compact disc for over two decades. I guess “Money for Nothing” was more than a song title. Previous post: Into…
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VisiCalc Unveiled
May 11, 1979 At the West Coast Computer Faire, Harvard MBA candidate Daniel Bricklin and programmer Robert Frankston give the first demonstration of VisiCalc, the original spreadsheet software. First released for the Apple II, VisiCalc made a business machine of the personal computer. VisiCalc was a huge success, selling more than 100,000 copies in the…
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The Birth of Wireless
May 10, 1894 “Wireless” is born when Guglielmo Marconi sends a radio wave three-quarters of a mile. Three years later the Marconi Company will successfully communicate “ship to shore” over a distance of twelve miles. Marconi’s work leads to the commercialization and proliferation of most of the radio technologies we know today. Previous post: Linux Gets…
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IBM 704 Introduced
May 7, 1954 IBM announces the IBM 704 Data Processing System, the world’s first mass produced computer to feature floating point arithmetic hardware. Besides this ultra-geeky distinction, the IBM 704 will leave its mark in computer history before it is discontinued on April 7, 1960. Both the FORTRAN and LISP programming languages were first developed…
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Germans Can Be So Dry
May 8, 1886 German scientist, Dr. Carl Gassner, is issued a German patent for the first “dry” cell battery, which uses zinc as its primary component. A U.S. patent will be issued to Gassner in 1887. His battery is much like today’s carbon-zinc, “general purpose” batteries, although most people use alkalines. Previous post: IBM 704…
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“i” is for Apple
May 6, 1998 At the Flint Center Theater, the same place where the Mac was first unveiled in 1984, Steve Jobs introduces the original iMac. This iMac was later known as the “Bondi Blue”, after the color of its case (named for a beach in Australia). According to Jobs, the iMac is “the Internet-age computer…
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Wolfenstein 3D Blasts Onto Scene
May 5, 1992 Id Software Inc. releases the game Wolfenstein 3D, the original first person shooter game for DOS computers. The game becomes an instant success, putting id Software on the map and launching the first person shooter genre. If you’re curious, you can play the game today on an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad. Previous…
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Love Stinks
May 4, 2000 The Love Letter computer virus, aka the “ILOVEYOU” bug, spreads to personal computers running Windows around the world in just six hours. Spreading through e-mail, the virus entices victims to open the message with the subject of “ILOVEYOU”. About 2.5 to 3 million PCs will become infected. The cost of system downtime…