Today in Tech History – – May 27, 2018

1931 – Auguste Piccard and Charles Knipfer took the first manned trip into the stratosphere when they rode in a pressurized cabin attached to a balloon to an altitude of 51,800 feet.

http://books.google.com/books?id=rh3YOHLvUv8C&pg=PT30&lpg=PT30&dq=may+27+1931+Auguste+Piccard+and+Charles+Knipfer&source=bl&ots=xO1JisUKos&sig=kl1iga6vBsdejUaq2558cXndkjY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hr-aUda2IeGriALCloCgBw&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ

1959 – After almost a decade, MIT shut down its Whirlwind computer. It ran 35 hours a week at 90 percent utility using an electrostatic tube memory.

http://www.computerhistory.org/tdih/May/27/

1986 – Dragon Quest was released in Japan. It combined the full-screen map of Ultima with the battle and statistics-oriented screens of Wizardry and paved the way for RPG games.

http://www.giantbomb.com/dragon-warrior/3030-16305/

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