Science
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When was the World Wide Web Born?
First off, there is a distinction to be made between the internet and the World Wide Web. The internet has been around since the 1960s, though the average person wasn’t aware of its existence. Those utilizing its power back then were a few select professionals working in government and research. When the World Wide Web came along in 1989, it was the perfect time. It came about after the expansion of all the multitudes of interconnected networks and other infrastructure necessary to lay the foundation. Sir Tim Berners-Lee is responsible for inventing the World Wide Web. He was a British computer scientist. His creation of HTML, HTTP, and URLS opened up the…
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World’s Oldest Calculator
The Antikythera Mechanism, oldest known calculator, is even older than first thought. It was found in 1900 as part of a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera. The technological complexity of this device, which is believed to have charted moving planets, marked the passing of days and years, and also may have predicted eclipses, was designed ahead of any other similar invention by more than 1000 years. Argentinian researchers have corrected the original creation date of 100 to 150 BC, determined by radiocarbon dating analysis, to an earlier date of 205 BC. , since discovering an eclipse prediction calendar dial on the back of the mechanism that predicted a May 12, 205 B.C. solar eclipse. Read More
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Jonas Salk’s 100th Birthday
The History of Polio is forever and inextricably linked with Jonas Salk . Salk’s eagerly anticipated achievement of inoculation against the much feared polio virus was made public on April 12, 1955 Not long after the announcement of the success of the Salk Vaccine , Jonas appeared in what would become a well-known television interview with Edward R. Murrow. When Murrow asked why he did not obtain a patent on his medical discovery, Salk famously said in response, “Would you patent the sun?” His response left the impression that it was a morally motivated decline on Salk’s part that resulted in an unpatented invention. But there are other details that point to the possibility of an altogether different reason having less to do with…
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IBM Introduces the System/360
May the computers unite and with that revolutionary concept the IBM System/360 was born. Before the uniting of computers into a network of systems, each was its own creation uniquely customized for each of IBM’s clients. It has been 50 years since the 360 mainframe was introduced in 1964. It boasted the first mainframe computers that IBM customers could optimize from a lower cost model to something upgraded in power. ABC News
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Brooklyn Bridge History: The first crossing of the East River
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The History of DNA
On Saturday, Feb. 28, 1953, New York Times, in an ironically understated setting for such an ultimately world reknown and Nobel Prize winning reveal, scientists Watson and Crick announced during lunch at the English pub the Eagle, that they had discovered the secret of life. However, the necessary foundation had long been established, before the scientific work on the structural properties of the double helix brought DNA to the spotlight of the mainstream. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was discovered in the late 1860s by Friedrich Miescher. It probably comes as a surprise to most, that it was Swiss chemist Miescher who first identified the ingredients for human life. Most people associate the momentous finding with…
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Einstein’s God Letter
Below is an excerpt from the letter Einstein wrote in German in the year 1954. This letter, coined the “God Letter” by a Los Angeles-based auction agency, is up for auction on Ebay with a starting bid of $3 million. The World renown physicist wrote the letter to Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind a year before his death. The letter sheds some light on the religious views he held towards the end of his 76 years of life. “For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a…
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O-Ring failure in Challenger Disaster: A Case of Corruption
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Neil Armstrong’s Death at 82
I am very saddened to learn of the passing of Neil Armstrong today. Neil and I trained together as technical partners but were also good friends who will always be connected through our participation in the mission of Apollo 11. Whenever I look at the moon it reminds me of the moment over four decades ago when I realized that even though we were farther away from earth than two humans had ever been, we were not alone. Virtually the entire world took that memorable journey with us. I know I am joined by millions of others in mourning the passing of a true American hero and the best pilot…
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Information Innovation in History
“But this is not another rant against email. Email is magic. It enables abundant, free communication. Consider how far we have come in less than a century: In 1915 — the year my grandfather was born — Alexander Graham Bell picked up a telephone in New York and made the country’s first transcontinental call to San Francisco. Adjusting for inflation, the price of a 3-minute call back then was $440. Today, I video chat through my Gmail account with friends in Budapest or Tokyo — for free. Seriously, magic.” Tech Fortune Four basic periods Characterized by a principal technology used to solve the input, processing, output and communication problemsof the…
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The Inventor of the Telephone
1870 May 28 Older brother Melville Bell dies of tuberculosis at the age of 25. July-August Alexander Graham Bell, his parents, and his sister-in-law, Carrie Bell, emigrate to Canada and settle in Brantford, Ontario. 1871 AprilMoving to Boston, Alexander Graham Bell begins teaching at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes. 1872 March-June Alexander Graham Bell teaches at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Boston and at the American Asylum for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. April 8 Alexander Graham Bell meets Boston attorney Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who will become one of his financial backers and his father-in-law. Fall Alexander Graham Bell opens his School of Vocal Physiology in Boston…
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Buzz Aldrin Made History in 1969 with Walk on Moon
Buzz Aldrin along with Neil Armstrong on this day in history, July 20, back in 1969, accomplished the amazing journey to the moon. Here are some interesting facts about his life. Aldrin’s mother’s maiden name was Moon. The first plane he ever flew in belonged to Standard Oil and was completely covered with a painting of an eagle. The name of the craft that Aldrin and Armstrong used to break away from the Apollo 11 rocket and land on the moon was Eagle. The eagle is also featured on a patch on Aldrin’s spacesuit. As a child, Aldrin enjoyed underwater diving and collecting rocks. As an adult, Aldrin trained for his…