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Category Archives: This day in information
Counting Money Honestly: The First Cash Register
Today in 1883, James Ritty, a saloonkeeper in Dayton, Ohio, and John Birch received a patent (No. 271,363) for the first cash register, nicknamed the “Incorruptible Cashier.” There was a bell to ring up sales, referred to in advertising as “The … Continue reading
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First Librarian of Congress Takes Office
Today in 1802, John J. Beckley became the first Librarian of the U.S. Congress. Beckley is also considered the first political campaign manager in the U.S. The Library of Congress was established less than two years earlier by an act of … Continue reading
Posted in Libraries, This day in information
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Moon Shot
Today in 1839, Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of the Moon. In December 1839, John W. Draper made a daguerreotype of the moon with the camera he built, becoming the first person in the US to photograph a celestial body.
Posted in Photography, This day in information
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Aerial Photography First Patent
Today in 1893, the first US patent for aerial photography is issued to Cornele B. Adams of Augusta, Georgia (US No. 510,758). His method of photogrammetry can produce a topographic map by means of photographing the same tract of land … Continue reading
The Memory of Sound
Today in 1877, Thomas Edison recorded his voice on the phonograph for the first time, reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Here is his re-enactment of that first recording. Edison offered the following possible future uses for the phonograph in … Continue reading
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Pong: First Successful Video Game
Today in 1972, Atari co-founders Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn demonstrated the first stand-alone Pong coin-operated arcade unit into Andy Cappa’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California. Pong, a simulated table tennis game, will go on to be the first commercially successful … Continue reading
Posted in Forecasts, This day in information, Video Games
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World TV Day
Today is World TV Day, declared in 1996 by the UN “in recognition of the increasing impact television has on decision-making by alerting world attention to conflicts and threats to peace and security and its potential role in sharpening the … Continue reading
Hacking and Blue Boxes
Today in 1963, the earliest known use of the term “hacking” appeared in The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper. From a Brief History of Hackerdom: “The beginnings of the hacker culture as we know it today can be conveniently dated to … Continue reading
Help Wanted: Computers and Healthcare
Today in 1972, IBM’s Data Processing Division launched the IBM Health Care Support Electrocardiogram Analysis program, a computer program for cardiologists.
Posted in eHealth, This day in information
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The Uses of Computers, 1937-Future
Today in 1937, Howard Aiken, an instructor in the Department of Physics at Harvard University, having been turned down by the leading manufacturer of calculators (the Monroe Calculating Machine Company), submitted a proposal to IBM, titled “Proposed Automatic Calculating Machine.”
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