Today in Tech History – April 3

1617 – Scottish Mathematician Napier Dies

             John Napier – a Scottish mathematician most famous for inventing logarithms and an early device called Napier’s Bones – dies at age 67. Napier’s Bones consisted of multiplication tables inscribed in strips of wood or bone, making for quick calculations. (They were called “bones” because of the material used to make the better quality versions – bone or ivory.). His logarithmic system provided the basis for the invention of the slide rule around the same time and logarithms were the principal means by which calculation was performed until the advent of the digital computer. Napier was born I Merchiston, Scotland in 1550.

1966 – First Spacecraft to Orbit Moon

             The Soviet space probe Luna 10 becomes the first spacecraft by the USSR from an Earth orbiting platform on March 31, 1966. Luna 10’s battery will operate for 460 lunar orbits before deactivating as planned on May 30, 1966.

1973 – First Cell Phone Call

              Martin Cooper made the first handheld cellular phone call in public. Walking down the streets of New York, Cooper – the General Manager of Motorola’s communication system division – talked on the phone. It’s not the first cellular call since car phones have been around before then. The phone is also known as the “Brick” cell phone.

1981 – Adam Osborne unveiled the Osborne 1 at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. It cost $1,795 at retail.

2000 – US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled Microsoft violated the nation’s antitrust laws by using its monopoly position in personal computer operating systems to stifle competition.

2010 – The first Apple iPad went on sale in the US, starting at $499.

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