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Category Archives: This day in information
When Mauchly Met Atanasoff: Creating the Digital Computer
Seventy years ago today, John Mauchly visited John Atanasoff at Iowa State University. During the next five days he learned everything he could about what became to be known as the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) which he first heard about when … Continue reading
Nineteen Eighty-Four Published
Today in 1949, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four was published. “The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed–would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper–the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, … Continue reading
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Napster Released
Today in 1999, Napster released its file sharing service, letting people swap music stored on their computers. On April 3, 2008, the iTunes Store surpassed Wal-Mart as the biggest music retailer in the US. In 2010, US recording industry revenues … Continue reading
Posted in music, This day in information, World Wide Web
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Dow Jones Industrial Average Born
Today in 1896, Charles Dow published the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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“What Has God Wrought?”: A Love Story
Today in 1844, Samuel Morse sent the the message “What Has God Wrought” to officially open the first telegraph line, between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, launching an industry and ending a rocky journey that began with the 1837 resolution by … Continue reading
Posted in Telegraph, This day in information
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New York Public Library Opened 100 Years Ago
Today marks the centenary of the official dedication of the New York Public Library. The ceremony was presided over by President William Howard Taft and was attended by Governor John Alden Dix and Mayor William J. Gaynor.
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Bob Metcalfe Gives Birth to the Ethernet
Today in 1973, twenty-seven-year-old Bob Metcalfe turned on his IBM Selectric, “pulled out a wad of Ko-Rec-Type, snapped on an Orator ball, and banged out the memo inventing Ethernet,” at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).
From The Archives: The IBM 701 and Software-as-a-Service
Sixty years ago today, the IBM 701 was formally announced. Its official name was the Defense Calculator, “specifically selected to appeal to the patriotism of the older Watson and to avoid the use of the unacceptable word, computer,” according to … Continue reading
Posted in Computer history, IBM, This day in information
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Moving Pictures by Phone
Today in 1924, AT&T demonstrated long distance telephotography, now known as fax, with the transmission of pictures over telephone wires between Cleveland and New York. Commercial service began in a handful of cities the following year. For many decades, telephotography … Continue reading
Posted in Telephone, This day in information
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ITU Established
Today in 1865, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed in Paris by the 20 founding members, and the International Telegraph Union (ITU) was established to facilitate subsequent amendments to this initial agreement.
The Story of Information 