Tech History Made on April 21, 1911

On this day in 1911 geeks best friend was born. Ivan Combe was an inventor, an inventor of personal hygiene products. Combe brought us Clearasil and Odor Eaters. Many a geek, dork and nerd would live a life more filled with shame if it wasn't for this man. Ivan Combe we salute you

Tech History Made on April 18, 1922

On this day the adjustable wrench was patented 86 years ago. The patent was filed by someone rather unlikely, John Johnson. Johnson was in prison when he had the idea to make a wrench that would replace an entire wrench set. The jaws of the wrench could be adjusted quickly and easily. Johnson had been a professional boxer who met much controversy because he was black. Racist of the day keep talking about "the great white hope" that would defeat Johnson. That didn't happen but that didn't stop Johnson's personal life from becoming a mess. He left his first wife and his second committed suicide. Then he took to womanizing and even got in trouble for using prostitutes. He married again and fled to France to avoid jail time. It was after this that he finally wound up in prison and invented the adjustable wrench.

Tech History Made on April 17, 1790

On this day in 1790 we lost a great American, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was many things, one of which was an inventor. His three greatest inventions were bifocals, the lightning rod and the"Franklin" stove. He never patented his ideas, leaving anyone the ability to utilize them as they saw fit. Franklin was 84 when he passed on.

Aviation History Made on April 16, 1912

On this day in 1912 the first woman flew solo over the English Channel. This was not the only first for Harriet Quimby. In 1911 she became the first woman to receive a pilot's license in the US, second woman in the world. Women had piloted before but none had been licensed. A month after getting her license Quimby became the first woman to fly a plane at night. Her stunt of flying over the English Channel went unnoticed due to the Titanic disaster. Quimby did not get the oppurtunity to do something greater because she died in an aviation accident 3 months later.

Tech History Sunk on April 15, 1912

On this day in 1912 the Titanic sunk into the icy depths taking over 1,500 passengers with her. Hailed as unsinkable the Titanic's bottom resembled an ice cube tray. An iceberg hit the front of the ship which allowed water to rush in. Quickly the water overflowed into the the next section. This continued until the boat sank. Many mistakes were made and learned from. This unbelievable loss change Maritime laws and rules. More importantly it brought us an awesome movie and song.

Tech History Made on April 14, 2000

On this day in 2000 Lars Ulrich ruined music sharing for everybody. Ulrich, the drummer from Metallica, filed suit against Napster. Thus began the messy, unfair punishment of music sharers across the country. Thanks Lars.

Tech History Made on April 11th 1939

On this day in 1939 "truth serum" was patented by Volwiler and Tabern. "Truth serum" or Pentothal relaxes a person without unconsciousness. They name "truth serum" is inaccurate, Pentothal does make one truthful but rather lowers ones inhibitions. So you can still lie if someone uses truth serum one you. Makes a lot of conspiracy theories look silly, doesn't it?

Tech History Made on April 10, 1849

On this day in 1849 a small device was patented that we all have used at some point in our lives, the safety pin. They say necessity is the mother of invention, Walter Hunt didn't need a safety pin he needed money to pay a debt. So within 3 hours he developed the safety pin out of a single piece of wire. It vastly improved upon the hinged models of the day and he sold the patent the same day. Hunt is an interesting fellow who developed many things: a forest saw, a gong for fire engines, a hard coal burning stove, a road sweeping machine, a paper collar for a shirt, an ice plow, bicycle improvements, a knife sharpener, a streetcar bell, and an advanced sewing machine. In 1849 Hunt also developed a repeating rifle. Despite all his great ideas the one made in a fit of desperation is how he will be remembered.

Tech History Made on April 9, 1806

On this day in 1806 I. K. Brunel was born. Brunel was and engineer who helped with change many modes of transportation in Britain. Brunel directed construction of the Thames Tunnel when he was only 19 years old. A bridge he constructed in 1859 carries trains over the river. At 26 he was appointed engineer of the Great Western Railway. His biggest accomplishment came in 1958 with the launching of the Great Eastern a ship. The ship had six boilers, six masts, a propeller and two paddle wheels. The ship was so large it had to be launched sideways. The ship was used to lay cables across the Atlantic ocean, which it did 4 times over in its 30 years in service. Unfortunately Brunel did not live to see its accomplishments, he died in 1959 of s stroke.

Tech History Made on April 8, 1953

On this day in 1953 that first major Hollywood studio debuted a 3 D movie. Smaller outfits had been producing 3 D movies for decades. The film shown for the first time today was Man in the Dark. The audience wore glasses with multi colored lenses that played with depth perception of the viewer. Despite the neat glasses the movie was not that good. The grand roller coaster scene was not very exciting and 3 D or not the plot fell short. It did however kick off the 3 D movie era.

Tech History Made on April 7, 1964

On this day in 1964 IBM released its behemoth System/360. The mainframe computer involved these components: CPU, control unit, display terminal, printer, data-cell storage, drum storage, disk storage and DASD control unit, tape storage, a tape control unit, card reader-card punch combination, console station and console typewriter. The idea was that a small affordable system could be purchased and upgraded as needed. This worked because all 6 computers and 40 components of the System / 360 worked with all past and future IBM products. IBM invested $5 billing dollars into development. The investment paid off, by 1966 at least 1000 were sold a month a $2.5 million or more a pop. It is funny to think that a $600 dollar laptop of today is runs faster than the million dollar machines of the sixties.

Tech History Made on April 4, 1975

On this day in 1975 Bill Gates and Paul Allen formed a partner ship. That partnership went on to become Microsoft Corporation. Gates was 19 and Allen was 22 but youth did not stop their endeavors. They developed MS-DOS 1.0 for use on IBM's personal computers. The company's stock did not go public until 1986 and has grown 140 times the original value. Whether you love them or love to hate them Microsoft is a huge part of computer history.

Tech History Made on April 3, 1973

On this day 35 years ago the first cellular phone call was made. In those day if you wanted a mobile phone you would of needed a radiophone in your car. The radiophone was cumbersome and its supporting equipment weighed 30 pounds. Martin Cooper of Motorala first call with the cellular phone was to Bell labs research chief Joel Engel. Bell labs had the idea of cell phones in the late 40's and competed through the 60's and 70's with Motorola to make the idea real.
The first cellphone, DynaTAC (for DYNamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage), was 2 1/2 pounds, 9 inches long and contained 30 circuit boards. After a 10 hour charge you could have 35 minutes of talk time. By 1983 Motorola developed a marketable cell phone. The 1 pound DynaTac set you back a cool $3500. By 1990 there were 1 million American cell phone subscribers. Today you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't have a cell. Many people have abandoned land lines all together. Which is easy to see considering the lightest phone is only 1.41 ounces and every carrier has a free phone with 2 year contract.

Tech History Made on March 21, 1863

On this day in 1863 George Owen Squier was born. Squier developed a process called multiplexing. Multiplexing is a process by which multiple digital data streams or analog message signals are grouped together and sent as one signal. For example, one phone line could carry multiple phone calls. If you are having trouble with his name just say square.

Tech History Made on March 20, 1800

On this day in 1800 it was announced that the first wet-cell battery had been produced. Alessandro Volta had postulated that electricity was made when metals and moisture were introduced. He made a stack of copper and zinc discs with salt water soaked cardboard between each layer. The cell produced a steady current. News spread quick of his accomplishment and Emperor Napoleon of France was impressed. Volta was named a knight, then a senator and then Count Volta. If you hadn't already figured it out the unit of measure Volt was named after Count Volta.

Space History Made on March 19, 1915

On this day in 1915 Pluto was photographed for the first time. At the time it was not known that Pluto was in the photo. On February 18 1930 Pluto was discovered (in the photos above) and upon reviewing older photos it was found that it had been first photographed in 1915. Of course today Pluto is no longer classified as a planet but it still was a an exciting discovery. Pluto had been right under astronomers noses for 15 years unnoticed.

Tech History Made on March 18, 1858

On this day 150 years ago the inventor of the diesel engine was born. Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel a German born in Paris who also lived in London before finally moving to Germany at the age of 12. At 14 he knew he wanted to be an engineer and went on the Industrial School of Augsburg. He did not like the engines of the day so he made his own. The engine worked on ignited fuel after it was injected into the engine. He was able to patent the engine in many countries. The oddest thing about Diesel surrounds his death. In 1913 he was traveling by ship Belgium to England. He went to bed and asked that he be roused the next morning at 6. In the morning he was gone and his body was later found floating of the Dutch Coast.

Tech History Made on March 17, 1948

On this day William Ford Gibson III was born. Gibson is a science fiction writer who first coined the word "cyberspace" in a short story in 1981. He then used the term in his novel Neuromancer. Here is the quote from the book "Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding...". Today what we call "cyberspace" is the networked world of modern computerized communication. Gibson's books continued in this vain and lead to the realm of sci-fi called cyberpunk.

Tech History Made on March 14, 1794

On this day in 1794 the patent for the cotton gin was filed by Eli Whitney. During this time the seeds were removed from cotton in a very labor intensive process. Whitney's cotton gin performed the task quickly and well. A wooden drum covered with hooks pulled the freshly picked cotton over a mesh screen. The cotton went through the mesh but the seeds did not. A simple invention that helped transform the south. Unfortunately for Whitney it did not make him a fortune.

Tech History Made on March 13, 1986

On this day 22 years ago......Microsoft "went public with an IPO, with a starting initial offering price of $21.00 and ending at the first day of trading as at US $28.00. In 1987, Microsoft eventually released their first version of OS/2 to OEMs." Today Microsoft stock is at $28.86.







Source Wikipedia

Tech History Made on March 12, 1923

On this day in 1923 movies received synchronized sound. Many had tried and failed to sync the human voice with moving lips on screen. Thomas Edison tried using a phonograph in conjunction with a moving picture, it didn't work. Lee de Forest bypassed the phonograph and combined the sound and pictures. He placed the sound recording on the film using an optical soundtrack. Sound frequency and volume were analog blips of light on the film. Forests patents dated back to 1919 but his first successful try was during a press demo in 1923. His technique was used for years until digital sound in the 1990's. The Oscars honored him 1959 with a special award for the "pioneer invention which brought sound to the motion picture".

Tech History Made on March 11, 1915

On this day in 1915 Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider aka JCR or Lick, was born. JCR is a very prominent figure in computer science and the history of general computing. JCR did not contribute inventions but rather ideas. His ideas included the following: online banking, graphical computing, digital libraries, migrating networks, e-commerce and point-and-click interfaces. In 1960 he wrote his famous paper Man-Computer Symbiosis which discussed the need for simple interaction between computers and man. Licklider is a common household name but he sure did contribute a lot to everyones life.

Tech History Made on March 10, 1876

On this day in 1876 the first phone call was made. Alexander Graham Bell called his assitant in the next room. He said,"Mr. Watson, come here -- I want to see you." Mr. Watson heard and understood. He walked into the next to find a very excited and proud Mr. Bell. Watson diary records the sentence as, "Mr. Watson come here I want you." This was not the biggest controversy surrounding the telephone. We have told you before of the patent war between Bell and Gray.
Who was the first is still unclear but Bell be far has the more exciting story.

Medical History Made on March 7, 1857

On this day in 1857 Julius Wagner-Jauregg was born. Julius was an Austrian physician who while not formerly trained in pathology of the nervous system made a great discovery for it. Julius experimentated with the idea of inducing a fever in patients with mental disease as a treatment. In 1917 he tried using malaria parasites which proved very effective in patients with dementia paralytica. This discovery earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine 1927. We liked this story for the idea that something notoriously bad can be used in a good, beneficial way.

Space History Made on March 6, 1937

On this day in 1937 the first woman to travel into space was born. Valentina Tereshkova was born in Russia to a textile mill worker and a tractor driver turned soldier. She had the perfect background to represent Russia as the first woman to enter outer space. Tereshkova was a textile worker like her mother but found an interest in parachuting and began training. When the desire came to send a woman to space she was picked along with 57 other woman to be screened in Moscow. 5 were chosen to receive training.Tereshkova lacked in eduction but the craft was self piloting. In the end her proletarian background and physical stamina won her the seat on the Vostok Craft. Tereshkova completed 48 orbits of the earth for a total of 70 hours in space. Initially she claimed to have no ill effects from the journey but it was later discovered she suffered some emotional trauma while in orbit. She became a member of the Supreme Soviet and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Tech History Made on March 5, 1872

On this day in 1872 the patent was filed for the first railway air brake system. George Westinghouse was 22 when he invented the air brake and only 25 when patented. The air brake worked using pipes, reservoirs and specially designed valves. The pipe ran the length of the train with flexible connections at each car. The system was flawless because if a pipe broke the brakes would be applied stopping the train. Westinghouse developed the system after seeing a train wreck in which both conductors could see the other but could not apply the brakes fast enough. Men had to run on top of the train and apply the brakes on each car individually. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) was formed to produce and sell the invention. It took no time for the system to be widely used and is the basis for many train braking systems of today.

History Made on March 4, 1915

On this day in 1915 the inventor of daylight savings time passed away. William Willett is often overlooked as the inventor as Benjamin Franklin had discussed the ancient practice of daylight savings time in 1784. Willett first began to think of adjusting the time according to the season while on a early summer morning horse ride. He noticed that homes blinds were still down, the sun was up and people were missing it. In 1907 he used his own money to publish "The Waste of Daylight". Willett proposed advancing the clocks 80 minutes in the summer and then turned back 80 minutes in the fall. This would extend the summer days into the evening using less electricity and extended recreation time. The bill was finally passed in Britain on May 17, 1916 due to the need to conserve coal during WWI. Willett did not live to see its adoption in Britain or any other countries as he passed away in 1915. So now you know who to curse as you set your clocks forward this Saturday night.

Tech History Made on March 3, 1847

On this day 161 years ago Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. We have talked before of Bell's patent war with Edwin Howard Armstrong. We also have discussed one of his inventions, the transistor. Bell's first invention was a dehusker for his friends father to use in his mill. Bell became fascinated by acoustics when his mother slowly became deaf. He developed a hand language to explain the conversations around her. He found that by talking into her forehead very purposely she could understand him. He remember the hand language until his death. His wife said "Don't leave me" and he signed "No"as he slipped away. Makes you wonder, if his mother had not been deaf would he have gone on to invent the telephone?

February 29th

It's leap year which means it is hard to find a notable discovery or invention from February 29th.
So here is some info on this extra day of ours.

From Wikipedia article, Leap Year

"February 29 is a date that occurs only every four years, and is called leap day. This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure, because the earth does not orbit around the sun in precisely 365.000 days.

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunisolar calendar and named many of its days after the syzygies of the moon: the new moon (Kalendae or calends, hence "calendar") and the full moon (Idus or ides). The Nonae or nones was not the first quarter moon but was exactly one nundinae or Roman market week of nine days before the ides, inclusively counting the ides as the first of those nine days. In 1825, Ideler believed that the lunisolar calendar was abandoned about 450 BC by the decemvirs, who implemented the Roman Republican calendar, used until 46 BC. The days of these calendars were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum Kalendas Martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March") often abbreviated a. d. VI Kal. Mar. The Romans counted days inclusively in their calendars, so this was actually the fifth day before March 1 when counted in the modern exclusive manner (not including the starting day).^[4]

The Republican calendar's intercalary month was inserted on the first or second day after the Terminalia (a. d. VII Kal. Mar., February 23). The remaining days of Februarius were dropped. This intercalary month, named Intercalaris or Mercedonius, contained 27 days. The religious festivals that were normally celebrated in the last five days of February were moved to the last five days of Intercalaris. Because only 22 or 23 days were effectively added, not a full lunation, the calends and ides of the Roman Republican calendar were no longer associated with the new moon and full moon.

The Julian calendar, which was developed in 46 BC by Julius Caesar, and became effective in 45 BC, distributed an extra ten days among the months of the Roman Republican calendar. Caesar also replaced the intercalary month by a single intercalary day, located where the intercalary month used to be. To create the intercalary day, the existing ante diem sextum Kalendas Martii (February 24) was doubled, producing ante diem bis sextum Kalendas Martii. Hence, the year containing the doubled day was a bissextile (bis sextum, "twice sixth") year. For legal purposes, the two days of the bis sextum were considered to be a single day, with the second half being intercalated, but common practice by 238, when Censorinus wrote, was that the intercalary day was followed by the last five days of February, a. d. VI, V, IV, III and pridie Kal. Mar. (which would be those days numbered 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 from the beginning of February in a common year), i.e. the intercalated day was the first half of the doubled day. All later writers, including Macrobius about 430, Bede in 725, and other medieval computists (calculators of Easter), continued to state that the bissextum (bissextile day) occurred before the last five days of February.

Until 1970, the Roman Catholic Church always celebrated the feast of Saint Matthias on a. d. VI Kal. Mar., so if the days were numbered from the beginning of the month, it was named February 24 in common years, but the presence of the bissextum in a bissextile year immediately before a. d. VI Kal. Mar. shifted the latter day to February 25 in leap years, with the Vigil of St. Matthias shifting from February 23 to the leap day of February 24. Other feasts normally falling on February 25–28 in common years are also shifted to the following day in a leap year (although they would be on the same day according to the Roman notation). The practice is still observed by those who use the older calendars."

Aviation History Made on February 27, 1999

On this day in 1999 the record for longest time spent in a hot air balloon was set. Colin Prescot and Andy Elson spent 233 hours and 55 minutes in a hot air balloon. Prescot and Elson had set up to circumnavigate the world but were stopped when they were not allowed into China's airspace. The duo set to around China by going over Thailand. They accomplish what they set out to do but the pair will still go down in history.

Weapons History Made on February 26, 1903

On this day in 1903 Ricahed Jordan Gatling passed away. Gatling was the inventor of the Gatling gun, the first operating machine gun. He was born in North Caroline and held many different jobs: fisherman, court clerk, teacher, and storekeeper. Gatling Gun Company was founded in 1862. His inspiration for the machine gun came from seeing so many Civil was soldiers return from battle injured by sickness and disease not gunshots. He thought if he could event a gun that could do the work of a hundred guns he could cut the amount of exposure the soldiers had to endure. Thus the hand crank Gatling gun. Unfortunately in 1911 the US Army announced the gun was obsolete. Gatling invented new tools all his life and was named the first president of American Association of Inventors and Manufacturers. He died a wealthy despite his bad investments. Today the tern gatling gun is still used to describe the menacing rapid fire weapon.

Weapons History Made on February 25, 1836

On this day in 1836 Samuel Colt was granted his U.S. patent for the revolver. At 16 Colt was a sailor. Some part of the ship inspired him to make a chamber the rotated. He whittled a model out of wood and once his sailing days were over he built working models. He traveled in Europe and gained patents for his revolver in England and France. When he returned to the U.S. he received his patent in which he noted the quickness in which multiple shots could be made. It took ten years for Colt to make a profit but the Colt revolver soon became the gun of the Wild West.

Science History Made February 22, 1997

Dolly (July 5, 1996 to February 14, 2003)

On this day in 1997 scientists from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland announced they had successfully cloned a sheep. Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell cloned the sheep from a mammory gland cell, so of course she had to named after Dolly Parton. Dolly was the first ewe cloned from an adult somatic cell using nuclear transfer. Wilmut and Campbell proved that one cell could produce a whole living being. Other animals have since been cloned including horses and bulls. A controversy surrounds cloning, some find it unethical while others see the vast medical possibilities available. To think it all started with a little sheep named Dolly.

Tech History Made on February 21, 1947

On this day in 1947 the Polaroid camera was demonstrated for the first time by inventor Edwin Land. Land, very successful inventor, was second only to Thomas Edison in number of patents. Land was only in his twenties when he invented the plastic sheet-light polarizer.

Land-Wheelwright Laboratories was co founded by Land in 1932. The company made various polarizers that were used for scientific and commercial applications. In 1937 the company was renamed Polaroid Corporation. The company did very well during WWII producing optics for the military, including designing optics for the Cold War's U-2 spy plane.

Land was known for his insane work habits. He would work for days on end without sleeping or changing clothes. Shifts were set up so assistants could be at their best when working with him. Land once said"My whole life has been spent trying to teach people that intense concentration for hour after hour can bring out in people resources they didn't know they had".

In 1947 Land demonstrated the Polaroid camera for the first time. The picture took 60 seconds to develop. In 1963 a color version was offered with Polacolor film. The Polaroid Land camera was produced until 1983. Unfortunately after Lands death, Polaroid Corporation did not do so well and filled for bankruptcy protection in 2001. In recent news, Polaroid announced it will not longer be making the film used in the Polaroid camera.

Polaroid had been overshadowed by the quickness and detail of digital but every adult can remember the first time they shook a Polaroid. A joy that will now end with this generation.

Physics History Made on February 20, 1934

On this day in 1934 the cyclotron was patented. The cyclotron was one of the first circular particle accelerators. It moved charged protons between electrodes until they are highly charged particles. The cyclotron was designed and built by Ernest O. Lawrence. He had made a mashup model in 1931 but waited to patent it. He was not out to make personal gain but to advance science. He worked at Yale and at U of C Berkeley where two laboratories are named after him. He also has an element named after him, lawrencium. His desire to advance science and not increase his own pocketbook paid off. In 1939 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his cyclotron.

Space Tech History Made on February 19, 1473

On this day in 1473 Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Poland. Copernicus made a discovery that could have cost him his life. During his lifetime Earth was believed to be the center of our universe. Anything to the contrary was considered heresy. Copernicus found that in fact the sun was the center of our universe. He wrote a short paper on his heliocentric hypothesis that he only showed to friends. Despite urgings to publish and distribute his work, it was not printed until Copernicus lay on his death bed. It is said he held the first printing in his hands and then passed away. His last words were, "The big yellow one is the sun".

Geek History Made February 18, 1930

On this day in 1930 our once 9th planet was discovered. Clyde Tombaugh studied photographs taken from Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He was given the task of finding Planet X, predicted by Percival Lowell and William Pickering. Tombaugh took photos of the same section of sky several nights apart and then compared the photos. He was able to distinguish between stationary and non- stationary items. Thus he discovered Pluto, which was named by an 11 year old English school girl. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was not comparable to the "classical planets" but was a one of many dwarf planet. This leaves me with one question: How will kids remember the names and order of the planets in our solar system now? MY VERY EDUCATED MOTHER JUST SERVED US NINE ________

Tech History Made on February 15, 1995

On this day in 1995 Kevin Mitnick was arrested in Raleigh, NC on charges of access device fraud. Mitnick had evaded police, US Marshalls and the FBI after he disapeared 2 years earlier while on probation for computer and access device fraud. He was able to stay untrackable by using stolen cell phones and hijacked internet access. Kevin stole all kinds of data including source code for products companies had invested millions into developing. He pleaded guild to one of 23 charges in North Carolina and then his case was transferred to California where 25 more charges were added. Mitnick pleaded guilty to 5 of the counts and to 2 additional counts from Northern California. He served a total of 60 months or 5 years. Mitnick now has his own securities company, Mitnick Security Consulting. Mitnick will go down in history as "America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw"

Tech History Made on February 14, 1946

On this day in 1946 the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was unveiled at The University of Pennsylvania. The U.S. Army had contracted the design and production for use U.S. Army;s Ballistic Research Laboratory in calculating artillery firing tables. The ENIAC "was the first high-speed, purely electronic,Turing-complete, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems". Other systems had achieved these feats but not all together and with such speed. Despite it's $500,000 dollar price tag 9 months later it was shutdown for a memory upgrade and refurbishment. During this time it was moved to Aberdeen Proving ground in Maryland where it was turned back on July 29 1947. The ENIAC remained in operation until October 2,1955. During its operation most of the programming was done by six women who were later inducted into the Women in Technology Hall of Fame. To read more about the computer and the people behind check out this article.

Tech History Made on February 13, 1923

Today we celebrate a man special to myself and my wife, Chuck Yeager. I was born in WV and she was born and raised there. Today in 1923 Charles Elwood Yeager was born in WV, he went on to be the first man ever to fly faster than the speed of sound. Yeager joined the US Army Air Corps when he was 18, he was a fighter pilot at the end of World War II. He took down 12 enemy planes total during the his years in the war, 5 in one dog fight alone. After the war he was a flight instructor and then became a test pilot. In October of 1947 as a test pilot he flew the Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound. He did it despite broken ribs he had received several days before in a horse riding accident. Some say others broke the sound barrier before Yeager, even if they did he went on to break many more speed and altitude records. We will remember his records every time we go home, our flight always ends at Yeager Airport.

Tech History Made on February 12, 1791

On this day in 1791 the designer and producer of the first American built locomotive was born. Peter Cooper was born in New York City to Dutch parents. He had little schooling but had many jobs throughout the years; hat maker, couch maker's apprentice, cabinet maker, grocer, and he worked in the cloth shearing machine industry. Cooper's claim to fame was the design and manufacturing of Tom Thumb, the first American built steam locomotive. Tom Thumb was "a 4-wheel locomotive with a vertical boiler and vertically mounted cylinders that drove the wheels on one of the axles". Cooper had good reason to design and build the locomotive, boost his property values. How? He wanted the rail companies to adopt the steam locomotive and begin laying line through an area where he owned real estate, instant value boost. Tom Thumb caught on and soon rail companies where gearing up for their first steam locomotive.

Tech History Made on February 11, 1847

On this day 161 years ago a great inventor was born, Thomas Edison. Edison holds that record for most patents, alone and jointly that is 1,093 patents. His first patent in 1869 was for a electrographic vote recorder. It allowed legislators to place a vote for or against with the flip of a switch. It did not catch on because lobbyists lost the chance to convince a vote change during the time it normally took to count the physical ballots. Here a just a few thing he patented:
Incandescent Lamp
Printing Telegraph
Electro Magnets
Electric lights
Phonograph(pictured above)

To see a complete list of his patents click here.

Tech History Made on February 8, 1996

On this day twelve years ago, 24 Hours in Cyberspace took place as the largest one-day online event to date. The project was originally hosted at cyber24.com but is not mirrored by Georgia Tech. The project brought together photographers, programmers, editors, and designers to make a time capsule of people affected by the internet. Then Vice President Al Gore and wife Tipper contributed articles and photographs respectively. Photos submitted were edited in real time and posted to the site, the site received more than 4 million hits on that one day. The project took 50 million in funding from over 50 companies, some of the largest contributors were Kodak, Sun Microsystems, and Adobe Systems. The articles and pictures were used for a cover of U.S. News and World Report magazine as well being made into a book and cd. The book and cd are now a part of a exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Tech History Made on February 7, 1863

On this day in 1863, John Newlands tried to organize the elements in a table. Newland, a British chemist, arranged them according to his "law of octaves". he had noticed that as he arranged the elements using Stanislao Cannizzaro's atomic -weight system that a pattern of eights appeared. Elements with similar properties appeared every eighth element, like the perfect eight or octave in music. Newland arranged them into a table and "made" some things work. This lead to a table that just didn't work, and was dismissed by the English Chemical Society. Of course we all know that in 1869 Mendeleev developed the periodic table. 18 years after Mendeleevs accomplishment the Royal Society recognized Newlands contribution to organizing the earths elements.

Tech History Made on February 6th, 1958

On this day in 1958 the first patent application for the integrated circuit is filed by Jack Kilby, engineer at Texas Instruments. The integrated circuit could by considered the grandfather of the silicon chip. It replaced the vacuum tube and individual transistors as it was cheaper to produce and more efficient. The age of all things miniature begins.

Kilby was not the first who thought of the integrated circuit, in 1952 Dummer,a radar scientist with the British Ministry of Defence, filed a patent but failed at producing a functioning model. Kilby was succesful with gemanium but at the same time Noyce, an engineer for Fairchild Semiconductor, was working with silicon. Noyce filed his patent after Kilby but was awarded the patent first due to care taken in his patent filing application. It is easy to see that both Kilby and Noyce helped usher in the information age.

Tech History Made on February 5, 1840

On this day 168 years ago, not one but two inventors were born. John Boyd Dunlop, the inventor of the first inflatable tire and Hiram Stevens Maxim, the inventor of the Maxim Gun.

On December 7, 1888 Dunlop patented the first pneumatic or inflatable tire. He had tested his tire on his son's tricycle. Like many inventors we have heard of recently, Dunlop had been beaten to the punch. The inflatable tire had already been patented in France in 1846, over forty years before.

In 1881 Maxim developed the Maxim gun, rather the first portable, fully automatic machine gun. We can thank him for one of the greatest moments in movie history,"Say hello to my little friend".

Tech History Made on February 4, 1915

On this day in 1915 it was discovered that proper nutrition is important, but no one cared. Many impoverished southerners were contracting an often fatal disease called pellegra. It began with mouth sores, skin rashes and diarrhea then eventually moved on to mental deterioration then death. More than 10,000 people lost their lives to pellegra in 1915. Pellegra was thought to be caused by airborne microbes.

Dr. Joseph Goldberg used volunteer inmates from Mississippi prison to test the infectiousness of pellegra. He soon discovered it was not infectious at all. If it wasn't a microbe then what was causing it?

Dr. Goldberg proceeded to monitor closely the diets of 2 control groups. He concluded that the usual diet of a poor southerner: cornbread, molasses and pork fat, lead to pellegra. A diet of meats, vegetables and milk cleared up pellegra. However, his ideas were not widely accepted. The fact that a Yankee was blaming a disease on poor southern social conditions did not sit well with many, and the medical big wigs of the day were bent on it being an airborne microbe. Finally, 20 years later, a thing called vitamins were introduced.

Composing this article makes me think about my own diet. It consists mainly of Mountain Dew and pretzels. Perhaps I'll have a salad for lunch.

Tech History made on February 1, 1893.

On this day in 1893 the first film studio, the Black Maria, was opened by Thomas Edison in West Orange, New Jersey. The theater was also called the Kinetographic Theater after the Kinetograph, a forerunner to the video camera. The Black Maria was a not only a studio but was used to show the first films Edison made. One of the very first films was The Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, not very exciting to us but it was quite the spectacle back then. The film was also called Fred Ott's Sneeze, which is what the film was, Fred Ott sneezing. The studio cost $637.67 to build and was purely a dark room covered in tar paper with a roof that retracted. Actors, acrobats and every kind of performer wanted to be recorded. While its popularity was short lived, the Kinetograph was profitable with theaters in 3 major cities. Thus modern cinema began....with a sneeze.

Tech History Made on January 31, 1954

On this day in 1954 Edwin Howard Armstrong took his own life. Armstrong had many patents and was involved in one of the longest patent wars to date (involving the regenerative circuit). His greatest invention was frequency modulation radio, or FM radio. Armstrong patented it in 1933 as US patent 1941066 with the title of "Radio signalling system". FM produced a clearer static free sound compared to the already popular AM radio. Of course another fight ensued as big companies dig not want to lose the ground they made in AM radio. Then another patent war erupted, RCA claimed they invented FM radio and won in court. This insured that Armstong would not receive any royalties from FM radios sold. Armstrong was defeated and broke, he jumped to his death from the 13th floor of his apartment building on January 31, 1954. Armstrong's widow, Marion, renewed the battle with RCA and finally won patent rights. Nice to see that big business can be beat.

Tech History Made on January 30, 1925

On this day in 1925 Douglas Carl Engelbart was born in Oregon. Engelbart was a pioneer and ahead of his time. He studied electrical engineering, served in the Navy as a radar technician, worked for NACA (what became NASA), then went back to electrical engineering at UC Berkeley. In the mid 60's , Engelbart had his own research lab. It was here he developed the first screen selection device, or "mouse" (pictured above.) His lab also developed the first operating system and teleconferencing in the 1960's but all this was a little too early for its time.

He never received any royalties for his inventions or ideas. Engelbart went through a rough patch in the late 80's. His lab closed, his house burned down and he fought lymphoma. Today Logitech has honored Engelbart by giving him free office space. I guess this doesn't exactly fix all he's gone through but it's still a nice gesture.

Daliy Link Roundup of iPod Translators and Phantom Mice

Give a Presentation like Steve Jobs Army's iPod Translator Coming To Consumers Google Introduces Three "Experimental" Searches Stylophone Reborn - It just looks annoying. Always Look Busy With The Phantom Mouse NEC Fuel Cell Phone Looks Like a Bic Lighter - I would be afraid that the TSA would try to keep my phone the next time I flew. Save Ink, Paper, and Money with GreenPrint - We like this cuz were cheap. Why the Music Industry is Lying to You If Apple Sold Sheets Of Paper... - It's funny cuz it's true. Dear Google: 2000 Called, It Wants Its Ad Format Back - Not real sure if we agree with this view. Has Your Cell Phone Replaced Your Watch? - Our office is split on this one. Crunchies. Ingredients: Fail - More importantly, "Oh, right. One more thing. This is the last Uncov. Ever." Can this be true?!?! Apple I Need My Wireless Access - USB 3G modems won't fit in the MacBook Air. So funny.

Tech History Made on January 29, 1886

On this day in 1886 the Motorwagen patent was applied for by Karl Benz. The Motorwagen or motor car had a rear mounted 954 cc single-cylinder four-stroke engine, capable of .9 hp. The car had 3 wheels, 2 in the back and one in the front used to steer. Benz designed and built additional models of the Motorwagen, number 2 with 1.5 hp and number 3 with 2 hp. Number three could reach a thrilling 10mph! Of course, Benz company went on to become part of Daimler-Benz and Mercedes Benz. Because of the Motorwagen, Karl Benz is acknowledged by most as the inventor of of the modern automobile.

Tech History Made on January 28, 1958

On this day in 1958 the modern Lego brick was patented. In 1949 the first "Automatic Binding Bricks" were made. The blocks were like wooden blocks but made from cellulose acetate, or what we call plastic. Plastic was not so readily accepted in that time and many Legos were returned to the factory. Finally in 1958 the new brick and system we enjoy today was introduced with great acceptance. The blocks locked together but could be easily pulled apart. Although the design has varied a little over the years, if you had a brick from 1958 it would still work with a brick from today!

Lego got its name from the Danish phrase "leg godt" which means "play well" and boy do they live up to their name. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who did not have a set of Legos growing up (some of us had entire garbage cans full of them.) If you have some laying around still, pull them out and "play well" to celebrate Lego's 50th Anniversary. Or, you can click on the Lego logo (heh) to the right to view a time line of Lego accomplishments.

Tech History Made on January 25, 2004

4 years ago today the Opportunity rover searched for water on the Mars surface. The Spirit rover had been on Mars for 3 weeks before the Opportunity, but had quit working the week before. The Opportunity traveled for 6 months before landing on Mars in what was speculated to be a large crater. Scientists believe that the dusty soil on Mars contains grey haematite, which is found on Earth in the presence of water. Water was not discovered on this mission but our quest continues to find life on other planets.


The only camera on Mars (other than the one attached to Opportunity) is held by the Spirit rover, which is busy exploring other portions of the red planet. So, there's no real photo opportunities for Opportunity. That's why the above picture was created to give you an idea of what the Opportunity looks like as it chills on the surface of Mars. A digital model of Opportunity was imposed on a real image of the inside of the Endurance Crater on Mars. The photo was actually taken by Opportunity, itself.

Tech History Made on January 24, 1984

On this day in 1984 the first Mac was introduced to the world. Newsweek awed readers with the drawing shown below which depicted the inner workings of the Macintosh 128K. For $2500 you got 128 KB of RAM, a 3.5" floppy drive, 2 serial ports, a 9-inch black and white monitor, and the Mac OS 1.0. The Macintosh was the first to have tools for desktop publishing and in 3 months 50,000 were sold. This is not as many units as the iPod but was enough to push Apple into the big-time.

Tech History Made on January 23, 1960

On this day in 1960, man set a new record by traveling 35,810 feet under the sea; about 7 miles. Navy Lt. Donald Walsh and Jacques Piccard took a four hour and 48 minute trip to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. Piccard's father, a Swiss scientist, designed the deep-diving research vessel, the Trieste. The Trieste had tanks that could be filled with water to help it dive and also carried 9 tons of iron shot. The iron shot was released once the dive was completed so that the vessel could easily return to the surface. An outer plexiglass window cracked but no harm befell the occupants. They enjoyed a twenty minute stay at the bottom looking at see creatures and eating candy bars.

Tech History Made on January 22, 1984

On this day, Superbowl '84 introduced the Macintosh personal computer with the famous 1984 commercial. We talked about this commercial back on December 15th. This was one of 2 times the commercial was aired, but the only airing to a national audience.

"On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."

Tech History Made on January 21, 1901

On this day in 1901 Elisha Gray died knowing he almost went down in history as the inventor of the telephone.

February 14, 1876: Both Gray and Alexander Graham Bell file patents. The only difference is that Gray's is a caveat, sort of a notice of intent to file a patent. After Gray hears of Bell's complete patent he gives up his caveat allowing Bell to move forward. Gray also invented the teleautograph. It does exactly what the name implies, transmitting handwriting via a telegraph system. The Teleautograph Corp. is now part of a little company we today call Xerox. He also invented the telephote which could transmits pictures on a closed circuit television system. Until researching tech for today we had never heard of Elisha Gray. Perhaps if things had gone a little differently back in 1876 the Beastie Boys song would go, "Like Ma Gray, I've got the ill communication."

Tech History Made on January 17, 1706

On this day in 1706 Benjamin Franklin was born. An inventor and politician, Franklin brought many great things to our nation. Among his inventions are the odometer, the lightning rod, the long arm (used to reach books on high shelves), the glass harmonica, lightning bells, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses, the flexible urinary catheter and the idea of "pay it forward". Franklin never patented his inventions on the notion that all inventors should build from each other's work. In a sense that also makes him one of the founding fathers of Open Source!

Not only was he an inventor but he was one of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of independence. Imagine if politicians today were so well rounded?

Tech History Made on January 16, 1906

On this day in 1906 Christian Hülsmeyer received a patent for making machines respond only to a certain transmitter... or what we today call a remote control. He arrived at this invention from his initial work for radar detection for ships. A friend had been killed in a shipping accident that could have been prevented had the boats known of each other's presence.

After demonstrating his radar to the German Navy and shipping merchants no one was interested in his machine. One major problem was that if many ships close to each other were using the machine, the signals would get confused. This lead to his specification of each machine only responded to its own signal.

In his patent Hülsmeyer even ventured to give uses as a remote control, "for actuating mechanism placed at a distance, for instance closing circuits and releasing clockworks [and] for the purpose of turning on and off all kinds of lights". Despite the vast possibilities for his device it didn't catch on. The Center for the Study of Science and Technology made this speculation, " how history might have been different if radar had been around decades earlier, in time for the Titanic, and in time for World War I." Hülsmeyer's patent was filed and approved six years before the sinking of the Titanic, and eight years before World War I even began.

Tech History Made on January 15, 2001

For 7 years now we have enjoyed or hated the existence of Wikipedia. The site developed by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales is essentially an encyclopedia written by everyone. If you see something amiss you can edit the posting yourself. Unfortunately, this does not always ensure accurate data, as personal opinion often creeps into posts. I'll admit that we use Wikipedia (or it's bitch cousin Answers.com) to research most of our posts here but double check the facts when available. We are sure many a grad student has been befuddled by the F they received for fully relying on this service. All in all it is a great way to find the answers to our day-to-day questions we would like to ask, but were always too afraid would make us look dumb or uncool. Examples include "What the hell is a Scener?" or, "Who is John McCarthy and why does everyone keep referring to him as The Colonel?" This and making "wiki" a household term makes Wikipedia's birth an all-important piece of tech history.

Tech History Made on January 14, 1890

On this day in 1890 the inventor of the Drunkometer was born. Rolla Neil Harger was 30 years old when prohibition began and 44 when it was lifted. Since the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol was outlawed in the U.S. there was a need to measure the amount of alcohol in someone's system. The Drunkometer worked by a person blowing into a balloon. The air from that balloon was then released into a chemical solution to see if there was a color change. The intensity of the color change could be used to find the blood alcohol level of the person. To increase the demand for his machine, Harger worked to make drunk driving illegal and to make the results from his Drunkometer admissible as legal evidence. Harger lived to the ripe-old age of 93, dying in 1983.

Tech History Made on January 11, 1922

On this day in 1922 the first diabetes patient was treated with insulin. The 14 year old Leonard Thompson's terrible condition greatly improved as he regained his strength and energy. The research for insulin had begun many years before when doctors noticed that if an animal 's pancreas was removed it would develop diabetes. Doctors began extracting fluid from the blotches on the pancreas. These blotches turned out to be the hormone insulin that would save the lives of millions. Even though, in saving the life of Leonard , the Toronto General Hospital had not found a cure, it had finally found an effective treatment.

Tech History Made on January 10, 1949

On this day in 1949 the 45 record was introduced by RCA. The original record, the 78, was 10 inches in diameter and spun at 75 to 80 RPM. The 45 was only 7 inches in diameter but held the same amount of music as the 78 by spinning at a slower rotation of only 45 RPM. The 45 was cheaper to make and easier to take with you. Like the 78, it only had one song per side but became a popular medium for rock and roll. This is mostly due to the fact that it was cheaper than LP's or EP's, so all of the young fans could afford 45's. We solute you, 45, for helping millions rock.

Tech History Made on January 9, 1843

On this day in 1843 William Hedley passed away. Hedley worked for many years managing a coal mine. The coal was moved by horse drawn carriages that rode on wooden rails. Hedley's boss commissioned an engineer to build a steam locomotive but it was too heavy to operate on the existing wooden rails. Once they were replaced with iron rails the boss asked Hedley to build another steam locomotive, which Hedley would name Puffing Billy. The engine was 8 tons but was not a very smooth ride. Hedley found that if the rails and wheels were smooth that the ride would be smoother and there was still enough friction to keep the engine moving. He continued to work with steam engines until his death at the age of 63. Today, Puffing Billy is the oldest surviving steam railway locomotive in the world. It is displayed above as it was originally constructed in 1813.

Tech History Made on January 8, 1942

Today is Stephen Hawking's 66th birthday. If you're reading this blog you're probably familiar with Hawking's work or at least know he's considered the foremost theoretical physicist alive today. You may also know that Hawking has a serious condition known as ALS or Lou Gehrigs Disease. This leaves him paralyzed and an emergency tracheotomy leaves him unable to speak on his own. He has overcome this with the help of some really neat technology. It's a custom developed computer system attached to his chair that converts text to voice. He controls this auto complete program with his fingers and is able to communicate freely with those around him. He can now gives lectures and appear on talk shows. The only problem the English Hawking has with the program is that it gives him an American accent.

Tech History Made on January 7, 1927

On this day in 1927 the first transatlantic phone call was made. While many homes had telephones, communication between the US and Europe was made by telegraph. AT&T teamed up with the British government to make the first phone call from the US to England. The first call was made between AT&T's president, Walter Sherman Gifford (seated in the photo) in his office in New York, and the secretary of the British Post Office, Sir George Evelyn Pemberton Murray. These early transatlantic phone calls were completed by converting the telephone signal to radio waves, sending the signal across the ocean, then converting the signal back to telephone on the other shore. 31 calls were made that day at a cost of $25 dollars a minute, all of which had such poor sound quality that the two parties could barely understand each other. Almost makes your cell phone bill seem reasonable, doesn't it?

Tech History Made on January 4, 1809

On this day in 1809 Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France. Braille was blind from a youth and read in school by feeling letters (like the ones you're reading now) raised on paper.It was not easy to do, especially differentiating between letters such as O and D. So Braille designed a system of raised dots that represented all the letters of the alphabet and numbers. He patterned his system after a code French soldiers used to communicate. Braille's system (known today of course simply as "braille") spread worldwide afters Louis Braille's death in 1852. Below, you see this paragraph written in braille.

Tech History Made on January 3, 1977

On this day in 1977 Apple was born. 31 years of innovation has brought us the Macintosh, OS X, iTunes, iPod, iMac, iPhone and the Mac Mini. Many people give Apple credit for popularizing the personal computer with Lisa, which sported the first mouse. We aren't Apple fanboys over here but we do love our green iPod Nano.

Top 5 Articles of 2007

2007 has been a great year for the Grinn Blog. We've had some great feedback from all of you, and launched two new series articles, This Weekends Tech Deals, and Historic Tech from Today. But the articles that keep you guys coming back are exactly the ones we wanted this blog to be all about: The articles that help you be more productive with your tech, and keep the tech from keeping you down! With that I bring you a review of the top 5 most popular articles of 2005:

1. Incorporate Google Calendar Into Outlook
Published way back in April of 2006, this still remains our most popular article. It is a detailed how-to for syncing your Google Calendar with Microsoft Outlook using a program called Remote Calendars.

2. Add to Google Calendar by Talking Into Your Cell
You guys sure like your Google Calendars. This article introduces our Jott2GCal application that allows you to add (and now retrieve) Google Calendar events using the popular Jott service. Since then Jott has released their own Google Calendar implementation, but you guys seem to like ours, so we'll keep developing it!

3. Your Connection to the Server Has Been Lost
We had a problem and had a heck of a time finding the solution. So, when we did resolve the issue, we posted about it to share that solution with you. This article serves to correct the infamous "Your connection to the server has been lost" issue with Battlefield 2142, and apparently it serves it's purpose well because it claims the #3 spot on our list.

4. How to Fix the Azureus Disk Read Error
Yet another case of us sharing in an issue. We found a compatibility issue between the popular P2P application Azureus and Google Desktop. Here, we tell you the simple measures you can take to resolve this issue.







5. 10 REALLY Weird Instructables
If you have yet to visit "The world's biggest show-and-tell", instructables.com, you should start with our list of the wierdest. Does anyone else find a list making the list of our 5 most popular articles a little ironic?

Tech History Made on December 27, 1773

If he were still alive then today would be Sir George Cayley's 234th birthday. Deemed the "Father of Aerodynamics" Cayley study the engineering of flight over a century before the first powered flight in 1903. He is mainly noted in history for his piloted gliders, one of which is pictured to the left. Cayley performed many experiements that laid to him discoverying the four forces involved in flight: thrust, lift, drag and gravity. A review of his school notebooks reveals that he had a passion for flight at a young age. Some of his drawings at the young age of nineteen are believed by many to be models of the principles of a lift-generating inclined plane.

Tech History Made on December 26, 1791

Thanks tochee@hawaii.edu for the video

Many brilliant inventors never lived to see their inventions completed. Charles Babbage, who was born on this day in 1791, was no exception. He was the first to attempt to construct a programmable computer. He was never able to complete the machine, but his uncompleted works are displayed at the London Science Museum. In 1991 his plans were used to construct a perfectly functioning difference engine (seen in the video above.) In 2000 the printer he had designed for the difference machine was constructed with success. The printer is considered a highly complex machine concept for the 19th century. It makes you wonder what Babbage would have accomplished had he lived in our day.

Tech History Made on December 25, 2003

On this day in 2003 Great Britain lost their beagle. Unfortunately, it would take more than posting fliers to insure the return of Beagle 2, the spacecraft Great Britain intended to land on Mars. All contact was lost with the lander 6 days before it was to land. It may have skipped of the atmosphere, missed the planet all together, burned up in Mars' atmosphere, crash landed, or just had a systems error that terminated communication ability. No one really knows for sure since it was never heard from again. The Beagle 2 was named after Charles Darwin's ship the HMS Beagle. Its purpose was to search for Martian life past or present on Mars, just as Darwin searched for new organisms on voyage. Darwin's ship is also believed by some people to have burnt up in Mars' atmosphere. Of course, those "people" are Sherri Shepherd.

[ The Beagle 2 (left) being sniffed by a beagle (right) ]

Tech History Made on December 24, 1906

On December 24th, 1906 the first audio radio broadcast was produced. Reginald Fessenden used an alternator transmitter to broadcast a program between his stations in Brant Rock, Massachusetts and Machrihanish, Scotland. The program consisted of him singing O Holy Night and reading from the Bible. All this was done by Fessenden taking a basic electric alternator and speeding it up in order to produce a steady wave. This in turn produced a continuous radio signal when connected to an aerial. Then he placed a carbon microphone in the transmission line so that sounds could be added to the transmission. It took many years and a lot of money (GE's money) to develop the prototype.

Tech History Made on December 23, 1947

On this day in 1947 the first transistor was demonstrated by Bell Laboratories. According to Wikipedia, a Transistor is "a semiconductor device, commonly used as an amplifier or an electrically controlled switch. The transistor is the fundamental building block of the circuitry in computers, cellular phones, and all other modern electronic devices." In fact, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a modern electronics device more complex than a flashlight that doesn't use a transistor. I guess you could say Ma Bell is one of the many mothers of modern technology.

Tech History Made on December 22, 1964

Yesterday we posted on the maiden flight of the F-14 Tomcat. Well, today in 1964 the SR-71 Blackbird took its maiden flight. The Blackbird, was the first aircraft shaped to reduce its radar cross section. However, unlike the "stealth" planes that would follow it, the Blackbird can be tracked by radar. The aircraft remained the fasted, highest flying manned aircraft for its entire career. It broke the absolute speed record, 2, 193.1669 mph, and absolute altitude record, 85,068.997 feet in 1976. Other aircraft have flown higher than this but not in sustained flight. This we know from declassified information, but we will not know the true extent of this aircraft's abilities until all records are made public. The Blackbird's crews referred to it as Habu which is a venomous snake found in Japan. As for us here at Grinn.net, we like the plane because its shape reminds us of Cobra Commander. GOOOO JOE!

Tech History Made on December 21, 1970

On this day in 1970 the F-14 Tomcat took its maiden flight. The F-14 Tomcat is a two seat, variable geometry wing aircraft with supersonic twin engines. The F-14 was put into service by the US Navy in 1972 and replaced the F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 was retired from the US Navy in 2006 but a few exported models still remain in use by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.

Tech History Made on December 20, 1951

On this day in 1951 the world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant went into production. It only produced enough power to light four 200-watt light bulbs, but that's enough to count! The Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-1) is still located in the Idaho desert 18 miles southwest of the town of Arco, but has been decommissioned since 1964. By the time it was closed the reactor was able to generate enough energy to power its building. The purpose of the reactor was not to build an effective power plant, but to prove that a breeder reactor was even possible. Today, it is a US National Historic Landmark and open to be toured by visitors.

Tech History Made on December 19, 1972

On this day in 1972 the last manned Apollo mission returned to earth, thus ending (for now) the moon's exploration by man on foot. On this mission Schmitt and Cernan collected a record amount of geological samples, a total of 240 pounds. Schmitt is also the first and last scientist to walk on the moon. Apollo 17 also broke several other records including the longest manned lunar landing flight, longest total lunar surface extravehicular activities, largest lunar sample return, and longest time in lunar orbit. The famous picture known as "the blue marble" was also taken on this mission. Although many countries have since planned for moon walks, no one has since Schmitt and Cernan left the moon 35 years ago. NASA plans to return men to the moon in 2019 with Orion 17.

Tech History Made on December 18, 1661

On this day in 1661 Christopher Polhem was born on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Polhem had much trouble with financing his education as he grew up. He loved mathmatics and mechanics but soon realized he needed to learn latin. A vicar gave him lessons in exchange for hand crafting a complex clock. Later he proved himself eligible for enrollment at Uppsala University by repairing 2 clocks for the professor of mathematics.

Polhem made a name for himself by revolutionizing mining in Sweden with his water driven track system for moving ore. In 1699 he built a completely automated factory, powered by water. Automation was unusual at the time and the factory failed due to non acceptance by the workers of the day. The factory was destroyed by a fire in 1734. Rather ironic for a water run factory.


Today, Polhem can be seen on the back of the 500 Swedish kronor bank note. That's a long way to come from earning your education with fixed clocks.

Tech History Made on December 17, 1903

Today's tech is immortalized on the back of the North Carolina quarter. On this day in 1903 the first manned, motor powered air craft was flown by the Wright brothers. The plane, manned by Orville, was in the air for 12 seconds and went of distance of 120 ft. The brothers had a bicycle business in Ohio but couldn't help tinkering with kites gliders and other flying things. All that tinkering paid off as they are now a huge part of the history of aviation.

Tech History Made on December 16, 1910

December 16, 1910: Henri Coandă, caught unaware of the power of his new invention the Coandă-1910, found himself briefly airborne before losing control and crashing to the ground. The Coandă-1910 was the first jet-powered aircraft.

Tech History Made on December 15, 1983

Many think the that the famous "1984" commercial from Apple was only aired once during the Super Bowl of 1984. However, on this day in 1983 the ad was shown late at night on a small TV station in Twin Falls, Idaho so that it would qualify for the 1983 advertising awards.

Tech History Made on December 14, 1902

On this day in 1902 the very first section of cable for was laid from America to the Philippines, China and Japan. This cable was used for telegraphs that would travel the 9612 miles of cable. Prior to this messages had to travel across the Atlantic to the Far East via Capetown and the Indian Ocean, or via London to Russia, then across the Russian landline to Vladivostock, then by submarine cable to Japan and the Philippines. The splicing of the cable at Ocean Beach (pictured above) was done amidst much fanfare including a brass band and dignitaries, drawing a large crowd.

The project took $12 million to complete - equivalent to about $280 million today. Upkeep was so expensive that in 1951 the Commercial Pacific Cable Company had to close its doors and, like everything else these days, was merged with AT&T.

Tech History Made on December 13, 1849

"Dynamite Gun." It just sounds awesome. On this day 158 years ago Edmund Louis Gray Zalinski was born. He would go on to invent a weapon very popular in the 1890's. By age 16 Zalinksi was a lieutenant in the army. He was an explosives expert and invented the equipment for making trenches, a new kind of bayonet and a telescopic sight for aiming artillery. Then he invented the dynamite gun: A weapon that would shoot a stick of dynamite at your enemies (or friends, if you're a really really big jerk.)


Dynamite could not be used in a normal cannon because the heat and shock from the launch would cause the dynamite to explode before ever leaving the barrel. So Zalinski used an air gun. Zalinski did not invent the air gun but improved it for use with dynamite. For this reason he is considered the inventor of the dynamite gun. The dynamite gun was primarily suited for use against ships, but soon lost favor to other technologies like torpedoes and water mines.

Tech History Made on December 12, 1901

December 12th, 1901: Marchese Guglielmo Marconi received, for the first time in history, transatlantic radio-wave signals. He was in Newfoundland and received the signal from his assistants in England 4800 miles away. Marconi's interest in the radio signal spawned from his studies of Hertz's electromagnetic wave experiments. Hertz found that when electricity was arched between two poles, invisible waves were produced. Marconi used Hertz's discovery to transmit a signal across greater and greater distances, eventually working up to his 4800 mile feat. Later in life Marconi would go on to become the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Tech History Made on December 11, 1964

"This evening I would like to use this lofty and historic platform to discuss what appears to me to be the most pressing problem confronting mankind today. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man's scientific and technological progress.

"Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers."

Spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. on this day in 1964.

Tech History Made on December 10, 1843

What is accredited by most as the first computer program, was written 159 years ago today by a woman named Augusta Ada Byron King. Her mother raised her strictly and with a great education in hopes that young Augusta would not grow mad like her father, the great poet Lord Byron. Augusta was exceptional at mathematics and soon met Charles Babbage, an inventor of calculating machines. His Analytical Engine, which was never completed, was originally documented and published in French. Augusta translated the manuscript into English and added ways in which the engine could be instructed to perform certain tasks: A computer program. Inevitably her mother's valiant effort to save Augusta from her fathers fate was defeated. Augusta lived out her final days as a drug addict and gambler.