1984 – The SETI Institute, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was founded by Thomas Pierson (CEO), and Dr. Jill Tarter. No luck so far, but they keep looking.
http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/3992/November-20-SETI-Institute-is-founded
1985 – Microsoft finally released Version 1.0 of Windows. It was considered slightly inferior to competitors like DESQview and the Macintosh.
https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1985
1998 – The first module of the International Space Station launched. Zarya, also called the Functional Cargo Block, provided electrical power, storage and propulsion. It’s now consigned to being used for storage.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/1998/iss3.html
Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.