Learn an interesting fact to share with friends and increase your Geek Cred!
In 1996, IBM’s Deep Blue defeated chess champ Gary Kasparov. This victory marked the first time that a current world champion had ever been beaten by a computer opponent under normal tournament conditions. Kasparov had easily defeated Deep Blue’s predecessor, Deep Thought, two years earlier. […]
In 1870, the United States Weather Bureau was authorized by Congress. The weather bureau is officially known as the National Weather Service (NWS) and is a department of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Learn more at http://www.history.noaa.gov/noaa.htm
In 1924, John Joseph Carty of the Bell Telephone System spoke in Chicago, IL. His speech was carried across the nation on the first coast-to-coast radio hookup. An estimated fifty million people heard the speech. Read more about John Carty at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._Carty
In 1984, U.S. astronaut Bruce McCandless made the first untethered space walk. Bruce McCandless helped to develop the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a rocket-propelled backpack that was worn by an astronaut during shuttle spacewalks. During STS-41-B, aboard the Challenger space shuttle as a Mission Specialist,
In 1923, Edward E. Barnard, discoverer of Jupiter’s fifth moon, died at age 65. Jupiter’s moon, Amalthea, was the last satellite to be found without a photographic aid. He also discovered a nearby star that now bears his name, Bernard’s Star (shown here). Learn more
In 1971, Apollo 14 Commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the fifth human to walk on the Moon. He and astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell explored the lunar surface. An innovation that allowed an increase in the range of lunar surface exploration and the amount of
In 2010, Yahoo! sold HotJobs to Monster.com for a reported $225 million. Part of the deal included a provision that installs Monster as the exclusive provider of job ads on Yahoo’s home page for three years in the U.S. and Canada. Read more at http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10447082-265.html/a>
In 1966, Soviet Luna 9 accomplished the first soft landing on the Moon. Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft landing and to transmit photographic data from the Moon’s surface to Earth, preceding the U.S. Surveyor 1 soft lander by about
In 1996, Ray McIntire, the inventor of STYROFOAM®, died at age 77. During World War II, when rubber was in short supply, McIntire’s work focused on developing a rubber-like substance that could be used as a flexible insulator. The result was extruded polystyrene foam, or
In 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed over Texas when returning to Earth, killing all seven crew members. The crew consisted of Shuttle Commander Rick D. Husband; Shuttle Pilot William C. McCool; Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson ; Mission Specialists David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla
In 1961, Ham was the first primate in space. Ham’s name was an acronym for H olloman A ero M ed. His sub-orbital flight aboard the Redstone Mercury rocket was very similar to the flight that Alan Shepard would take later that year. Read more
In 2007, Microsoft released Windows Vista. For the most part, early Vista reviews were mostly favorable. However, consumers were slow to adopt Windows Vista due to some heavy-duty hardware requirements and effort involved in upgrading from XP to Windows. The corporate world did not rush
In 1810, Earnest Kummer, a German mathematician, was born. Earnest Kummer made major contributions to function theory. In addition, his work on number theory led to a major breakthrough on Fermat’s Last Theorem. Learn more at http://fermatslasttheorem.blogspot.com/2006/01/ernst-eduard-kummer.html
In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members. The crew of Space Shuttle Challenger consisted of Mission Commander Francis R. Scobee; Pilot Michael J. Smith; Payload Specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe; Mission Specialists Judith A.
