In 1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company merged with its subsidiary and took its name, International Business Machines Corporation AKA IBM.

In 1989 – The Department of Defense put the NAVSTAR II-1 into orbit, the first of 24 satellites that will make up the global positioning system.

In 2011 IBM’s Watson, an AI computer system competed against Jeapardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Watson cleaned up winning $77,147 to Mr. Jennings’s $24,000 and Mr. Rutter’s $21,600.

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In 1895 – French patent No. 245,032 was issued for ‘appareil servant à l’obtention et à la vision des épreuves chrono-photographiques, AKA the Cinématographe,’ a combined motion-picture camera and projector.

In 1946 – ENIAC (the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) the first practical, all-electronic computer was unveiled at the Univ. of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of
Electronics. The New York Times carried the report the next day.

In 2001 – Microsoft gave the first public look at their new version of Windows, called Windows XP, formerly codenamed Whistler.

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In 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone for the first time in public at the Salem Lyceum Hall. The demonstration ended with the sending of the first telephone news dispatch which was received by the Boston Globe.

In 1973 – Along Interstate 71 in Ohio, the first metric distance road signs to be erected in the US were put in place. They informed of the distance between Colubus and Cleveland and Columbus and Cincinnati.

In 2001 – The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touched down on 433 Eros after transmitting 69 close up pictures. It became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

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In 1847 – Proud parents Samuel and Nancy welcomed their seventh and last child into the world. Thomas Edison would grow up to embody the word inventor.

In 1970 – With the launch of Osumi 5, Japan became the fourth country (after the US, USSR and France) to place a satellite into orbit.

In 1997 – The Space Shuttle Discovery launched on Mission STS-82 with the objective of making significant upgrades to the scientific capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope. The upgrades helped turn the Hubble from a punchline, to one of the greatest telescopes ever created.

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