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Snow Leopard Released; The End of AppleTalk
August 28, 2009 Apple releases Mac OS X 10.6, “Snow Leopard” for their Macintosh computers. Snow Leopard was an important release as it was the first to drop support for PowerPC-based Macs and focus optimization for the Intel processor-based Macs. The networking protocol that Apple had used since the 1980’s, AppleTalk, was also discontinued in…
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World’s Largest Battery Backup
August 27, 2003 The city of Fairbanks, Alaska connected to what was at the time the world’s largest battery backup. Designed to help prevent serious blackouts that plagued the city every two to three years, the batteries could provide power to the city for a few minutes – enough time to start up the city’s…
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The Birth of Linux
August 25, 1991 Linus Torvalds posts a message to the Internet newsgroup comp.os.minix with the subject line “What would you like to see most in minix?” This is the first announcement that he is working on an operating system that will one day become Linux. The Birth of Linux is original content of…
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Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO
August 24, 2011 I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. – Steve Jobs Apple CEO Steve Jobs resigns amid rumors of failing health. Jobs passed…
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Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar Released
August 23, 2002 Apple releases Mac OS X 10.2, code-named Jaguar. For the first time, the “Happy Mac” icon is not part of a Mac operating system’s startup process, replaced instead by the gray Apple logo that is still in use today. Jaguar was also the first Mac operating system where Apple publicly used the…
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It’s Dangerous To Go Alone! Take This
August 22, 1987 The Legend of Zelda is released for the NES in North America. Considered one of the most influential games of all time, it was the forerunner of the role-playing video game genre and spawned one of the most successful series in video games history. It’s Dangerous To Go Alone! Take This is…
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Mars Observer Lost
August 21, 1993 NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft, three days before it was to enter into orbit around Mars. The reason for the loss of contact was never definitively determined, but the most probable cause was a rupture of a fuel tank. Mars Observer Lost is original content of This Day in…
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First Commercial Telegram Sent Around the World
August 20, 1911 The New York Times sends a telegram message to test how fast a commercial message could be sent around the world. Reading simply, “This message sent around the world”, it left at 7 PM, traveled over 28,000 miles and was relayed by 16 different operators. It arrived back at The Times only 16.5…
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Google’s IPO
August 19, 2004 Google holds its Initial Public Offering (IPO) selling over 22 millions shares at a starting price of $ 85. Google shares closed that day at $ 100.34 and the IPO created many instant millionaires and a few billionaires. Google’s IPO is original content of This Day in Tech History. This Day in…
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HP Incorporated
August 18, 1947 Hewlett-Packard is incorporated by William Hewlett and David Packard, nine years after they sold their first products from their garage in Palo Alto. Hewlett and Packard got their start in 1938 by producing oscillators used to test audio equipment. Since selling eight of their first oscillators to Disney for use in preparing…