Today in Tech History – February 21

1858 – First Burglar Alarm Installed

                The first electrical burglar alarm is installed by inventor Edwin T. Holmes in Boston, Massachusetts.

1878 – First Telephone Book Published

                 The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut by the New Haven Telephone Company. It lists twenty-one names. You probably have at least twice as many names in your cell phone today!

                                                                   

1893 – Edison Patents Light Switch, Sort Of

             Thomas Edison receives three US patents on this day, two of which are in essence the first light switches: “Cut Out for Incandescent Electric Lamps” (US Patent 491,992) and “Stop Device.” (US Patent 491,993).

1937 – Waldo Waterman flew the first test flight of the Arrowbile, and found the aircraft easy to fly and virtually spin and stall proof. It is considered the first successful flying cat to actually fly.

                                                                   

1947 – Edwin H. Land demonstrated his one-step instant camera and film at a meeting of the Optical Society of America. The first Polaroid camera was on sale within two years.

                                                                   

1986 – The Legend of Zelda, the first in the ongoing series, was released in Japan for Nintendo’s Famicom console.

1996 – Cox Enterprises Buys into Digital Domain

              Cox Enterprises announces it was buying a one-third interest in Digital Domain, a computer-generated special effects company, in order to heighten the use of special effect in media. The deal reflects “another step in the rapid convergence of various computer, software, entertainment and media companies,” The New York Times wrote.

                                                                   

2001 – iMac Special Edition

             At Macworld Expo in Tokyo, Japan, Apple Computer introduced the iMac Special Edition. It would be available in Flower Power, Dalmatian Blue, or Graphite designs. This special edition would only be available for 1 year as chip technology was climbing fast.

“iMac has evolved into an entertainment center, where you can create desktop movies, manage your digital music library and custom music CDs,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iMovies and iTunes are so easy to learn and use, even your parents can use them without getting confused.”

The iMac Special Edition featured a 500 or 600 MHz PowerPC G3 processor, 64 or 128 MB RAM, 256 KB Lever 2 cache, a CD-RW drive, and a 15-inch monitor. Price: US$1199-1499.

 



If you like this post kindly comment below and do share your response. Thanks for reading.