Geek Facts for October 5th – A Visionary and the IBM ThinkPad
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Geek Facts
Learn an interesting fact to share with friends and increase your Geek Cred!
Geek Facts for October 4th – Sputnik, HP and Palm
In 1957, the Space Age began when Russia launched Sputnik I into Earth orbit. Sputnik I was the world’s first artificial satellite. It was about the size of a beach ball and weighed only 183.9 lbs. (83.6 kg.). It took about 98 minutes to orbit
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Geek Fact for October 3rd
In 1995, Be introduced the BeBox. The BeBox featured two 66MHz PowerPC 603, up to 256MB RAM, 16-bit CD-quality sound and four serial ports. Despite advanced features in the BeBox operating system, it was unsuccessful mainly because it was not compatible with anything else in
Geek Fact for October 2nd
In 1853, French astronomer and physicist François Jean Dominique Arago died. Arago originally supported the particle theory of light. In 1811, he conducted research along with Augustin-Jean Fresnel that changed his mind. They discovered that two beams of light polarized in perpendicular directions do not
Geek Facts for October 1st – The First CD Player, IBM, Purdue and NASA
In 1982, Sony launched the first consumer compact disc (CD) player in Japan. The CDP-101 was available in the US the following March for $1,000. A review in Stereophile magazine stated …some aspects of the sound I heard are quite unlike what most of us
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Geek Fact for September 30th
In 1882, the world’s first hydroelectric power plant began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. Thomas Edison’s New York plant would use steam power to drive its generators whereas the Appleton plant used the natural energy of the Fox River. Learn more at
Geek Facts for September 29th – The First Word and Snow on Mars
In 1983, Microsoft released a word processor called Word for MS-DOS 1.00. Microsoft provided a free demonstration copy with every copy of PC World magazine. It’s the first time that a magazine included a floppy disk. Learn more about Microsoft’s history at http://www.brighthub.com/computing/windows-platform/articles/45030.aspx. In 2008,
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Geek Fact for September 28th
In 1925, Seymour Cray, “the Father of Supercomputing”, was born. Seymour Cray designed a series of computers that were the fastest in the world for decades. He also founded the company, Cray Research. Seymour Cray died on October 5, 1996. Learn more at http://www.computer.org/portal/web/awards/seymourbio.
Geek Fact for September 27th
In 1930, Alan Shugart, an important developer of disk drive technology, was born. The floppy disk drive was invented by IBM engineers led by Alan Shugart. In addition, in 1979, he cofounded Seagate Technology, the first company to make 5.25-inch hard disks. Alan Shugart died
Geek Fact for September 26th
In 1983, Cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov were saved from an exploding Soyuz T-10 launch. Fuel spilled around the base of the rocket and caught fire at T-90 seconds. The control cables for the escape system had already burned and the Soyuz crew could
Geek Fact for September 25th
In 1956, TAT-1, the first submarine transatlantic telephone cable system, was inaugurated. Before TAT-1, voice was carried across the Atlantic on unreliable and expensive radio channels. TAT-1 operated until 1978. Learn more at http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:The_First_Submarine_Transatlantic_Telephone_Cable_System_(TAT-1),_1956.
Geek Fact for September 24th
In 1970, the Soviet robotic space probe, Luna 16, made the first automated return of lunar samples. This was the first unmanned round-trip mission to the Moon. It represented the first lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and the third overall, following NASA’s
Geek Facts for September 23rd – Android Debut and the IBM WorkPad
In 2008, Google and T-Mobile USA unveiled the T-Mobile G1, the first cellphone to feature the Android OS. The G1 featured version 1.6 (Donut) of the Android mobile operating system. It went on sale the next month, priced at $179 for a two-year contract. Learn
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Geek Fact for September 22nd
In 1997, Compaq introduced the Compaq Deskpro 4000N, the first Net PC. Net PCs relied more on server computers than typical PCs. Up to hundreds of Net PCs were tethered to a single server. Learn more at http://news.cnet.com/Compaq-debuts-first-Net-PC/2100-1001_3-203456.html.