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Monthly Archives: April 2013
The Television of the Future
Today in 1939, the 1939 New York World’s Fair, “Building the World of Tomorrow,” had its grand opening, with 206,000 people in attendance. The April 30 date coincided with the 150th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration as President in New York City. … Continue reading
Son of the Souls of a New Machine
Today in 1980, Data General (DG) introduced the Eclipse MV/8000 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. Known internally as Project Eagle, the 2-year development of the 32-bit “super-minicomputer,” the engineers working on it, and the parallel (and eventually, … Continue reading
Posted in Computer history
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iTunes Launched
Today in 2003, Apple launched the iTunes Music Store. The store sold more than 1 million tracks in its first five days and became the biggest music vendor in the U.S. five years later. Here are iTunes stats, … Continue reading
What Did Alexander Graham Bell’s Voice Sound Like?
From Berkeley Lab: Berkeley Lab’s sound-restoration experts have done it again. They’ve helped to digitally recover a 128-year-old recording of Alexander Graham Bell’s voice, enabling people to hear the famed inventor speak for the first time. The recording ends with … Continue reading
Posted in Digitization, Recorded sound
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First Showing of Vitascope
Today in 1896, the Vitascope was introduced to the public for the first time at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall in New York City. In They Made America, Harold Evans describes the scene that day: “… an enraptured elite audience lapped up short … Continue reading
Posted in Film, This day in information
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World Digital Library Launched
Today in 2009, The World Digital Library was launched. From the the library’s website: “U.S. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington proposed the establishment of the WDL in a speech to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO in June 2005. The basic … Continue reading
Posted in Digitization, Libraries, Maps, This day in information
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The First Real-Time Computer
Today in 1951, MIT’s Whirlwind computer first came online. It was the first computer that operated in real time and used video displays (cathode-ray tubes) for output. In the 1950s, Whirlwind became the prototype for a series of computers that enabled the air force … Continue reading
Posted in Computer history
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The Digital Public Library of America Launched
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to … Continue reading
Posted in Digitization, Libraries, Preservation
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No News is Good News Day
Today in 1930, according to the BBC, listeners who tuned in to hear the news bulletin on Good Friday were informed: “There is no news.” Piano music followed.
Posted in News, This day in information
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A Very Short History of IT
If you were asked to name the top three events in the history of computer technology (or the history of what came to be known as the IT industry), which ones would you choose? Here’s my very short list: June … Continue reading
The Story of Information 