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Category Archives: This day in information
Magnetic Core Memory Patented
Today in 1956, Jay Forrester of MIT was awarded a patent for his magnetic core memory. It became the standard for computer memory until it was supplanted by solid state RAM in the mid-seventies. It has continued to be used, … Continue reading
Radar Invented
Today in 1935, Scottish physicist Robert Watson-Watt demonstrated in Daventry, England, that radio waves could be reflected by an aircraft. The experiment, prompted by fears of the development of death rays by Germany, launched a research program into what later will be … Continue reading
Posted in Innovation, Radar, Radio, This day in information
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From Analog to Digital: Film and Music
Today in 2007, Netflix announced its billionth DVD delivery. Today, with more than 23 million streaming members globally, Netflix claims it is “the world’s leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows.” Today in 2010, Apple announced that it has sold … Continue reading
Posted in Apple, Data growth, Digitization, Film, music, Netflix, This day in information
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From Analog to Digital: Bank Checks
Today in 1925, New York banker, George McCarthy received a patent for the Checkograph, the first bank check photographing device and the first practical use of commercial microfilm. In 1928 Eastman Kodak bought McCarthy’s invention and began to market it under … Continue reading
Posted in Computer history, Data growth, Digitization, Imaging, Paper, This day in information
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Instant Photography
Today in 1947, Edwin H. Land demonstrated the first instant camera, the Polaroid Land camera, during a meeting of the Optical Society of America. Land started thinking about an instant camera a few years earlier when his 3-year-old daughter asked … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, This day in information
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Watching the Mail, the New Reality
“When you control the mail, you control information.”–Mail carrier Newman, Seinfeld Today in 1972, George Washington signed the Post Office Act, creating the United States Postal Service. In 2011, the USPS delivered 168 billion pieces of mail, … Continue reading
Posted in Post Office, Quotes, This day in information
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Information Gets Wings (2)
Today in 1911, French pilot Henry Pequet, representing the Humber Motor Company of England at the Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition in Allahabad, India, carried over 6,000 cards and letters on his Sommer biplane a distance of 13 km (8.1 miles) from Allahabad to Naini, India.
Information Gets Wings (1)
Today in 1911, Fred Wiseman delivered the first mail flown by an airplane. It took him two days to fly from Petaloma to Santa Rosa, California (which he never reached with his home-built airplane), carrying three letters from the mayor and … Continue reading
Posted in Post Office, This day in information
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Bell & Howell Incorporated
Today in 1907, Bell & Howell was founded by movie projectionist Daniel H. Bell and Albert S. Howell in Chicago, Illinois, as a manufacturer of motion picture cameras and projectors. Starting in 1923, Bell & Howell developed and sold the Filmo camera series, … Continue reading
Posted in Film, This day in information
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Computer Tape Automation Born
Fifty years ago today, IBM announced the Hypertape Automatic Cartridge Loader, the first device to permit automatic loading and unloading of magnetic tape for electronic computers. Ten years earlier, IBM introduced the magnetic tape drive vacuum column, making it possible for … Continue reading
The Story of Information 