Author Archives: GilPress
AIEE (IEEE) Established
Today in 1884, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was established in New York. The small group of men participating in the first meeting, a cross section of the electrical experts of the era, were responding to Nathaniel S. Keith’s call to organize … Continue reading
The Dvorak Keyboard: Network Effect or Market Efficiency?
Today in 1936, U.S. patent No. 2,040,248 was issued to August Dvorak and William Dealey for their keyboard layout design, later to be commonly known as the Dvorak keyboard. Wikipedia: “A discussion of the Dvorak layout is sometimes used as an … Continue reading
National Gallery Opens
Today in 1824, The National Gallery opened to the public. It houses the UK’s national collection of Western European painting from the 13th to the 19th centuries. A complete list of the 2300 paintings is available online.
Posted in Museums, This day in information
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The Best and Worst of Moving Pictures
One hundred and twenty years ago today (May 9, 1893), Thomas Edison presented the Kinetoscope, the first film-viewing device, at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. The first film publicly shown on the system was Blacksmith Scene, the earliest known example of actors … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Social Impact, Television, This day in information
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The Annotated Newspapers of Harbottle Dorr, Jr.
The Massachusetts Historical Society presents the complete four volume set of Revolutionary-era Boston newspapers and pamphlets collected, annotated, and indexed by Harbottle Dorr, Jr., a shopkeeper in Boston.
Posted in Digitization, Newspapers
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A Measurement Milestone
Today in 1790, the French National Assembly passed two decrees: One asked the French Academy of Sciences to determine “the scale of division most suitable for weights and measures and for coins;” the other instructed the French Academy to work with the … Continue reading
Posted in Measurement
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What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (Animation)
See also my interview with Nicholas Carr about his book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains
Posted in Internet, Social Impact, World Wide Web
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Launching a Japanese Giant
Today in 1946, more than twenty members of the Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute, founded by Masaru Ibuka in the previous year, attended the inauguration ceremony which officially established the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation. Ibuka’s father-in-law, Tamon Maeda was appointed president of the … Continue reading
Posted in consumer electronics history
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