Today in Tech History – January 18

1902 – Nikola Tesla filed a patent application for wireless energy transmission. The patent was granted 12 years later. We’re still waiting for the kinks to get worked out.

1903 – The first two-way transatlantic communication and first wireless telegram was sent between North America and Europe. Us President Teddy Roosevelt and King Edward VII. They wrote to each other how awesome the wireless telegraph was.

1911 – First Plane Landing on a Ship

             Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco harbor, the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.

1938 – J.W. Bryce Outlines the Harvard Mark I

             J.W. Bryce writes a memorandum formalizing IBM’s development of a computing machine for Harvard Mark I, completed in 1944. The Harvard Mark I was the first fully automatic machine to be completed and three additions or subtractions a second; its memory stored 72 numbers. Several of J.W. Bryce’s major inventions – high speed multiplying, dividing, cross adding, the read-out, and the emitter – were utilized in the Harvard Mark I.

1983 – Franklin Ace 1200

             During the CP/M Show, Franklin Electronic Publichers revealed the Franklin Ace 1200 computer. The main feature of this computer (like the other Franklin computers before) was the fact they copied Apple’s ROM and operating system code.

The Ace 1200 came with a Zilog Z80 processor a 1 MHz, 48K RAM, 16K ROM, 2-5.25 Floppy disks and four expansion slots. The computer was announced here but didn’t come out until 1984. It cost the consumer $2,200.

At that same show, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 Model 12 for $3,200.

1995 – Yahoo.com Registered

             The domain name yahoo.com is registered. Previously, the web site was called “David and Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web”. I think they chose wisely.

2005 – The Superjumbo is Unveiled

             The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet and nicknamed the “Superjumbo”, is unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France.

2012 – Many websites, led by Reddit, Wikipedia and others, conducted an Internet “blackout” to protest the US SOPA/PIPA bills.

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