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Category Archives: This day in information
First Computer Virus
Today in 1983, “the first virus was conceived of as an experiment to be presented at a weekly seminar on computer security. The concept was first introduced in this seminar by the author, and the name ‘virus’ was thought of … Continue reading
Commercial Radio Born
Today in 1920, Westinghouse established the first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When Harry P. Davis, a Westinghouse executive, saw an ad for amateur radio apparatus describing concerts broadcasts by Frank Conrad, an amateur wireless radio operator, he … Continue reading
Posted in Digitization, Radio, This day in information
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The Internet Goes Live
Today in 1969, the first message was sent over the ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet, between a network node at UCLA and another one at SRI. Leonard Kleinrock: “At the UCLA end, they typed in the ‘l’ and asked … Continue reading
Posted in Computer history, This day in information
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Launching Higher Education in the Western Hemisphere
Today in 1538, The Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino was created by the Papal Bull In Apostolatus St Thomas Aquinas Culminates. With this act by Pope Paul III, it became the first university in the Western Hemisphere. It was officially … Continue reading
Posted in This day in information, Universities
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Birth of Online Advertising
Today in 1994, the first banner display ads went live on hotwired.com. The first advertisers were MCI, Volvo, Club Med, 1-800-Collect, AT&T and Zima. Advertisers spent over $6 billion on display advertising in the U.S. in 2010, out of a … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, This day in information
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iPod at 10: A Computer in Your Pocket
Today in 2001, Steve Jobs introduced the iPod at a special event at Apple’s headquarters, telling the assembled reporters “This is a major, major breakthrough.” There were other music players on the market at the time but they were conceived … Continue reading
First Killer App
Today in 1979, the first production copy (version 1.37) of VisiCalc was shipped. Wikipedia: “Conceived by Dan Bricklin, refined by Bob Frankston, developed by their company Software Arts, and distributed by Personal Software in 1979 (later named VisiCorp) for the Apple II computer, … Continue reading
Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs, Creating New Industries
Today in 1931, Thomas Edison died. He will be remembered as the most prolific inventor in U.S. history, having registered 1,093 U.S. patents over the course of his lifetime. Harold Evans in They Made America: “Hundreds of his 1,093 patents … Continue reading
From recording sounds to projecting moving pictures
Today in 1888, Thomas Edison filed a patent for the first movie projector, the “Optical Phonograph,” which projected images just 1/32-inch across. Steven Lubar in InfoCulture: “Thomas Edison was thinking about the phonograph when he decided to invent a moving … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Recorded sound, This day in information
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Dennis Ritchie, 1941-2011
Today in 1973, Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson presented their first paper on Unix at the fourth ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP) held October 15 – 17 at Purdue University.
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