Geek Facts

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.

In 1988, IBM introduced software for artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is the study of man-made computational devices and systems which can be made to act in a manner which would be considered to be intelligent. Learn more at http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~isb9112/dept/phil341/wisai/WhatisAI.html.

In 1977, the “Wow! Signal” event occurred when a radio signal was received from deep space. The “Wow! Signal” event occurred at Ohio State University where its radio telescope, The Big Ear, received the signal. The event got its name from the notation made by

In 1984, IBM released PC DOS version 3.0. This was in conjunction with the release of the IBM PC-AT, for which PC DOS 3.0 provided support the AT’s new 1.2MB floppy disks. Learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_DOS#PC_DOS_3.x.