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Pac-Man Fever Begins
October 10, 1980 Midway releases the video game Pac-Man to arcades in North America. While the Japanese release under the name “Puck-Man” occurred in May of that year, the game’s popularity didn’t take off until being released in the United States. Pac-Man will become the first true mega-hit video game in history, sparking “Pac-Man Fever” and…
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First Phone Call Over Outdoor Wires
October 9, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson demonstrate the first two-way phone call over outdoor wires. Bell and Watson made their call between the cities of Boston and Cambridge. First Phone Call Over Outdoor Wires is original content of This Day in Tech History. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by…
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Finish Him!
October 8, 1992 The video game Mortal Kombat is released into arcades. Now one of the most popular fighting game series in history, the original Mortal Kombat became well-known for its graphic display of blood and deadly finishing moves known as “fatalities”. As often happens in situations like these, the controversy surrounding the game only…
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The First Transistor Calculator
October 7, 1954 IBM researchers modify an existing model 604 vacuum tube calculator to use transistors. This experiment didn’t shrink the desk-sized machine nor make it any faster, but it did use only 5% of the power the vacuum tube-based design did. Encouraged by this successful experiment, IBM introduced the first commercial transistor calculator 4…
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Steve Jobs Passes Away
October 5, 2011 After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, technology visionary and founder of Apple Computer, Steve Jobs passes away. Jobs’ contributions to the technology industry are undeniable. Together with Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs started the personal computer revolution with their Apple II computer. After being forced out of Apple, Jobs went on to…
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Sputnik Launches the Space Age
October 4, 1957 The first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth, Sputnik 1, is launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, marking what is now considered the beginning of the Space Age. Surprising the world with its successful launch, Sputnik triggered the Space Race between the Soviet Union and United States ushering in an era of rapid advancement…
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Transistor Patented
October 3, 1950 AT&T Bell Laboratories researchers John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley receive a US Patent for their invention of the transistor, which they had successfully demonstrated two years earlier. The transistor completely revolutionized the development of electronic and computerized technology. Transistor Patented is original content of This Day in Tech History. This Day…
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The First CD Player
October 1, 1982 The first commercial compact disc player, the Sony CDP-101, goes on sale in Japan. The First CD Player is original content of This Day in Tech History. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This Day in Tech History.com
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Ethernet is Drafted
September 30, 1980 Digital, Intel, and Xerox release version 1.0 of the Ethernet specification, known as the Blue Book. Since that time, Ethernet has evolved into the de facto networking standard for local area networks (LAN) in businesses and in the home. Ethernet is Drafted is original content of This Day in Tech History. This…