Today in Tech History – December 22

1666 – Seven mathematicians and seven physicists gathered by Jean-Baptiste Colbert met in the king’s library to found the French Academy of Sciences.

1845 – The First Euphonium

             The Euphonium – often mistaken for a Tuba – was created. It was also coined in later years as “P.T. Barnums’ Euphonium. The word itself comes from the Greek word Euphonos – or Sweet voiced. The Euphnium is pitched in concert B♭. Although a 3 valve instrument, professional Euphoniums have a 4^th valve for compensation.

1882 – The First Electric Christmas Tree Lights

             Edward Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison, has walnut-sized bulbs made specifically for him to wire his Christmas Tree with electric lights. The 80 red, white and blue bulbs formed the first set of electric Christmas Tree lights in history. Prior to this, people would traditionally decorate their trees with wax candles. 

1885 – A patent for a gravity switchback railway was issued to La Marcus Thompson of Coney Island, New York. You and I might call it a “roller coaster.”

1955 – The FINAC, the Italian Mark I*, Is Inaugurated

              The FINAC, the Italian Mark I*, is inaugurated in Rome. The Mark I*, the commercial prototype of Manchester’s Mark I, was built by English Ferranti Ltd., for UNESCO’s International Computational Center in Rome.

1968 – At 3:01 PM Eastern time, Apollo 8 transmitted the first US. Live telecast from a manned spacecraft in outer space.

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