Geek Facts

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.

In 1972, Texas Instruments (TI) entered the electronic calculator market with the introduction of three models. TI-2500 Also known as the Datamath, it offered four-function, full-floating decimal point with an eight-digit LED display. Also rechargeable it was originally priced at $149.95 when announced in April

In 1954
, the first program written in the FORTRAN programming language was executed. FORTRAN, which is an acronym for “FORmula TRANslator,” was invented at IBM for technical and scientific applications by a team lead by John Backus. Learn more at http://objectmix.com/cobol/205902-ot-happy-birthday-fortran.html.

In 1982, the emoticon was born. Research Professor Scott E. Fahlman at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh  proposed the use of an emoticon to express humor for the first time anywhere. Here is his original post to the Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science department’s general

In 2011, NASA scientists announced the discovery of a circumbinary planet, a planet the orbits two stars. Known as Kepler-16b, it is located 200 light-years from Earth. Previous research had hinted at the existence of circumbinary planets. Learn more at http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/15sep_doublesuns/.

In 1968, the Soviet Zond 5 spaceship, the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, was launched. In addition to a biological payload of turtles, wine flies, meal worms, plants, seeds, and bacteria, in the pilot’s seat was a 68.9 inches

In 1939, the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 became the first practical helicopter to ever successfully lift off. Designer Igor Sikorsky piloted the vehicle as it lifted off the ground to an altitude of roughly three feet for a duration of about ten seconds. Learn more at http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/sik_vs-300.php.

In 1877, English mathematician and astronomer James Jeans was born. One of Jeans’ major discoveries, named Jeans length, is a critical radius of an interstellar cloud in space. It is a function of the temperature and density of the cloud as well as the mass

In 1990
, the first Internet search engine, Archie, was launched. Archie was an index of FTP archives created by by Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan, and Mike Parker at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Archie got its name from “archives”. It was shortened to Archie to