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QWERTY Typewriter Patented
June 23, 1868 The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first practical and commercially successful typewriter, is patented. Perhaps most notable in the design of the Sholes and Glidden (which would later become the Remington No. 1 typewriter) is the use of the QWERTY keyboard, which is still the most popular keyboard layout in the world.…
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SpaceShipOne – First Private Space Flight
June 21, 2004 Financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, SpaceShipOne becomes the first spacecraft developed by the free market to enter spaceflight. Launched from a mothership named White Knight, SpaceShipOne flew just beyond the atmosphere into the threshold of space then glided back to Earth. SpaceShipOne would later win the $ 10 million Ansari X…
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SEAC Machine Dedicated
June 20, 1950 The National Bureau of Standards dedicated the SEAC (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer) in Washington. The SEAC was the first computer to use all-diode logic, a technology more reliable than vacuum tubes, and was the first stored-program computer completed in the United States. Magnetic tape in the external storage units stored programming information,…
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Viking 1 Enters Mars Orbit
June 19, 1976 The Viking 1 spacecraft enters the into orbit around the planet Mars 10 months after being launched from Earth. Viking 1 would become the first US spacecraft to land on Mars and the first spacecraft overall to successfully soft land and perform a mission on Mars. The post Viking 1 Enters Mars…
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Microsoft Introduces BASIC for 8086
June 18, 1979 In use at the time by over 200,000 computers with the Z80 and 8080 processors, Microsoft BASIC is introduced for the 8086 16-bit microprocessor. By being one of the first to offer a version of the BASIC programming language for a 16-bit processor and making it compatible with their 8-bit versions of BASIC,…
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DES Cracked
June 17, 1997 A group of users organized over the Internet cracked the Data Encryption Standard — the strongest legally exportable encryption software in the United States — after five months of work. The United States bans stronger encryption software out of fear that it would be used by terrorists, but companies designing the software say such…
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Ford Motor Company Incorporated
June 16, 1903 Henry Ford incorporates the Ford Motor Company with ten investors and $ 28,000. Ford will begin building automobiles on Mack Avenue in Detroit in a converted factory that previously produced wagons. The post Ford Motor Company Incorporated appeared first on This Day in Tech History. This Day in Tech History Tech History…
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Gates Announces Transition from Microsoft
June 15, 2006 Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft (Steve Ballmer was CEO at this point) announces that he will transition out of his day-to-day role at Microsoft by July 2008 in order to dedicate more time to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The post Gates Announces Transition from Microsoft appeared first on This Day…
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Charles Babbage Unveils Difference Engine
June 14, 1822 Charles Babbage unveils his design for a machine he called the Difference Engine, the first example of a mechanical computing machine. The British government funded the building of a Difference Engine, which Babbage never actually completed. However, Babbage’s design for the Difference Engine and his later Analytical Engine spurred future designs of…
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Charles Babbage Unveils Difference Engine
June 14, 1822 Charles Babbage unveils his design for a machine he called the Difference Engine, the first example of a mechanical computing machine. The British government funded the building of a Difference Engine, which Babbage never actually completed. However, Babbage’s design for the Difference Engine and his later Analytical Engine spurred future designs of…