In 1967 – NASA launched a Saturn V rocket carrying Apollo 4, a test craft launched from Cape Kennedy. It was the first launch in the Apollo program and the first time using the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center.

In 1979 – The NORAD computers detected a massive Soviet Nuclear Strike. Thankfully raw data from satellites were reviewed along with early warning radar, proving it was a false alarm. A technician had loaded a test tape but failed to switch the system status to “test”. Oops!

In 2004 – The Mozilla Foundation released Firefox 1.0. It featured tabbed browsing and a popup blocker.

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In 1870 – The US Weather Bureau (someday to become the National Weather Service) issued its first weather warning for a storm on the Great Lakes. It was accurate, but there was no high-pitched beep yet.

1887 – German immigrant Emile Berliner patented a successful system of sound recording that used flat disks instead of cylinders. The first versions were made of glass. Talk about your broken records.

In 1895 – German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen, working in his lab in Wurzburg noticed a strange effect while studying vacuum tubes covered in black cardboard. He eventually saw his own skeleton and went on to publish a paper “On a new kind of rays.” The rays would end up being called X-Rays.

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In 1960 – The JOSS (Johniac Open Shop System) conversational time-sharing service began on the Rand Corporation’s Johnniac computer. Time sharing reduced the time programmers had to wait after turning in their punch cards.

In 1994 – University of North Carolina student radio station WXYC began what is considered the world’s first Internet radio broadcast. DJ Michael Shoffner set it up. The simulcast continues today.

In 1996 – NASA launched the Mars global surveyor, humanity’s return to Mars after a 10-year absence. The mission discovered much about the Geology of the planet.

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In 1928 – The New York Times began flashing headlines outside its offices in Times Square using an electronic sign that wrapped around the 4th floor. And an icon was born.

In 1935 – Edwin Armstrong presented his paper “A Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation” to the New York section of the Institute of Radio Engineers, braving the skepticism of AT&T’s John Renshaw Carson who wrote previously that FM radio had no particular advantages over AM.

In 1980 – Microsoft signed a contract with IBM to create an operating system for the new IBM PC. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer had convinced the heritage tech company that they were not only talented enough to pull it off, but that they should be paid a royalty on the software.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.