In 1982, Sony launched the first consumer compact disc (CD) player in Japan.
The CDP-101 was available in the US the following March for $1,000. A review in Stereophile magazine stated
…some aspects of the sound I heard are quite unlike what most of us are familiar with from analog sources. The most immediately noticeable characteristics of the CD sound are its awesome lack of background noise and its almost unbelievable freedom from strain during the loudest passages.
Learn more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/sony-cdp-101-compact-disc-player-page-2.
In 1954, IBM announced the 705 EDP mainframe computer.
The 705 EDP’s magnetic core memory was capable of performing thousands of calculations per second. Problems which formerly required weeks or months to solve were solved in a matter of minutes.
Learn more at http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/mainframe_PP705.html.
In 1958 , the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was founded.
The driving force in the formation of the agency was the launch of the Sputnik satellite on October 4th, 1957.
Learn more at http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_29.html.
In 1962, the world’s first academic department of computer science is established at Purdue University.
M.S. and Ph.D. programs were initially established. The undergraduate program would be established in 1968. Purdue’s first Ph.D. degrees were awarded in 1966, one year after the University of Pennsylvania awarded the very first Ph.D. degree in computer science.
Learn more at http://www.cs.purdue.edu/history/history.html.
