TODAY IN TECH HISTORY – April 3, 2018

1966 – Luna 10 became the first spacecraft to enter lunar orbit. It completed its first orbit in two hours 58 minutes.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1966-027A/

1973 – Martin Cooper, general manager of Motorola’s Communications Systems Division made the first handheld portable phone call from a New York City street to Joel S. Engel at rival Bell Labs. Presumably he gloated at least a little.

http://inventors.about.com/cs/inventorsalphabet/a/martin_cooper.htm

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

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383022,00.asp/

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.

http://money.cnn.com/2000/04/03/technology/microsoft_report//

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

https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/03/05iPad-Available-in-US-on-April-3.html/

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.