Learn an interesting fact to share with friends and increase your Geek Cred!
In 1956 , the Whirlwind at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology became the first computer to use a keyboard to allow direct user input. Other computers accepted instructions issued using dial, punch cards, and switches. The Whirlwind was also the first computer to display real time […]
Geek Fact for July 4th – The Keyboard and Hotmail Read More »
In 2001, Apple Computer stopped producing and marketing its Power Mac G4 Cube due to disappointing sales. One gripe many people had with the Cube was its lack of conventional Audio input and output. Instead, it came with an external USB amplifier and a set
Geek Fact for July 3rd – G4 Cube, Windows and Comets Read More »
In 1953, IBM announced the IBM 650, the world’s first mass-produced computer. Over 2,000 systems were produced between the first shipment in 1954 and its final manufacture in 1962. The IBM 650 ran programs from punch cards and stored numbers up to ten digits long
In 1977, FORTRAN-80, Microsoft’s second language product, was released at a cost of $500 for an individual license. The name FORTRAN is an acronym for FORmula TRANslation, because it was designed to allow easy translation of math formulas into code. Learn more at http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Cassini-Huygens/SEMVOZ1VQUD_0.html In
In 1948, three scientists from Bell Telephone Laboratories demonstrated the transistor. Besides explaining that the transistor could probably replace the vacuum tube, little was said of the transistor’s future applications. The scientists, John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley, were awarded a Nobel Prize
In 2007, the original iPhone was released. The iPhone featured a touchscreen, virtual keyboard, 2-megapixel camera and 8 GB of storage and sold for $599 with a 2-year contract with Cingular (now AT&T). Apple sold a mind-boggling 700,000 iPhones on its release weekend. Learn more
In 1983, NASA launched the Galaxy 1 satellite. The Galaxy 1 was used for general communications services, such as television relay, voice and data. It was dedicated to cable television transmission across the US. Learn more at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1983-065A
In 1929, the first mechanically scanned color television was demonstrated by Bell Laboratories in New York City. It consisted of three complete systems of photoelectric cells, amplifiers, glow-tubes, and color filters, with a series of mirrors to superimpose the red, green, and blue images into
In 1974, the first UPC bar code reader was used. At a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a laser beam in an NCR checkout terminal with a bar code reader read the UPC bar code symbol on a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum and automatically
In 1974 , Texas Instruments was awarded a patent for the TI-2500 DataMath microcalculator which it applied for in 1967. The inventors were James H. Van Tassel, Jerry D. Merryman, and Jack St. Clair Kilby. The TI-2500 Datamath was the first calculator sold by Texas Instruments.
In 1963, the first demonstration of a home video recorder took place at BBC Studios, London. While it was arguably a revolutionary development in home entertainment, machines were expensive and could not meet the needs brought on by the onset of color programming. Learn more
In 1912, Alan Turing, a pioneer in computer theory, was born. Alan Turing is best known for the Turing machine, a theoretical computing machine that could serve as an idealized model for mathematical calculation. Learn more at http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TuringMachine.html
In 1978, Pluto’s moon, Charon, was discovered by James Christy. Charon is almost half the size of Pluto. The little moon is so big that Pluto and Charon are sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system. Learn more at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Plu_Charon
In 1948, the first stored computer program was run, on Manchester Mark I. The program was to determine the highest factor of a number. The number chosen was quite small, but within days they had built up to trying the program on 218, and the
