Today in Tech History – February 5, 2018

Today in Tech History logo1850 – The first US patent for push-key operation of a calculating machine was issued to Dubois D. Parmelee of New Paltz, NY.

http://www.google.com/patents/US7074

1944 – At Bletchley Park in Great Britain, the Colossus Mk I attacked its first Lorenz-encrypted message. Enigma had been cracked but Lorenz was a tougher cipher used in communications between Hitler and his generals in World War II.

http://www.zdnet.com/colossus-celebrates-70th-anniversary-at-national-museum-of-computing-7000026002/

1974 – The US space probe Mariner 10 returned the first close-up images of Venus and became the first spacecraft to use a gravity assist from one planet to help it reach another.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1973-085A

1999 – Victoria’s Secret’s online fashion show became the first major webcast, attracting an estimated 1.5 million viewers worldwide. Proving even back then, the Internet is for shopping.

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9902/05/vicweb.idg/

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