Geek Facts

In 1831, English chemist Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction using his induction ring. Faraday succeeded in the “induction” or generation of electricity in a wire by means of the electromagnetic effect of a current in another wire. The induction ring was the first electric transformer.

In 1789, 
Sir William Herschel discovered Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. Enceladus is the eighth of Saturn’s moons and is its sixth largest. It was named after a Greek Titan who rebelled against the gods and who was later defeated in battle by Aphrodite and buried under

In 1902, 
Conrad Hubert received a patent for the first flashlight with an on/off switch in a cylindrical case. With the development of smaller, more powerful “D” cell batteries, it became practical to carry a hand-held battery-powered torch or “flash light”, so called because the

In 1989, the first ring of Neptune was discovered. The ring was confirmed by NASA’s Voyager 2 which was the first spacecraft to observe the planet Neptune. Learn more at http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/image/neptune.html.

In 1888, 
William Seward Burroughs was granted a patent for the “Calculating-Machine.” In 1886, Burroughs was a founder of the American Arithmometer Company which, in 1904, became the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. In 1953, it became the Burroughs Corporation and in 1986, merged with Sperry

In 1985, the Xerox 914 copier took its place at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The culmination of inventor Chester Carlson’s work on the xerographic process, the Xerox 914 copier was introduced in 1959. It was one of Xerox’s most successful products

In 1985, Microsoft released the first version of QuickBASIC (QB). It was released on a single 5.25″ 360KB floppy disk. QuickBASIC versions 2.0 and later contained an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Learn more at http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/QuickBASIC.htm. In 1993, Version 2.00 of the MS-DOS bulletin board system

In 1877, Asaph Hall discovered Mars’ moon, Phobos. Phobos is named after the Greek god, Phobos, whose name means fear. Learn more at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mar_Phobos.