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Author Archives: GilPress
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
First Showing of Commercial Motion Pictures
Today in 1894, the first commercial exhibition of motion pictures in history was given in New York City, using ten Kinetoscopes. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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How Google Glass Works (Infographic)
Source: Martin Missfeldt
Posted in Futures, Google, Infographics
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What’s the Greatest Invention of the 20th Century?
Today in 1827, English pharmacist John Walker sold the first friction matches, which he called “Friction Light,” from his pharmacy in Stockton on Tees. The previous year, Walker discovered through lucky accident that a stick coated with chemicals burst into flame when scraped across … Continue reading
Posted in Innovation, This day in information
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The Story of Information 