in a 30×50-foot room, contained around 18,000 vacuum tubes, and required 130 kilowatts of power per hour to operate. Soon afterward it was used by the Army Ordinance Department at Aberdeen, Maryland, for calculations and data storage.
Computer Mouse
The world debut of the first computer mouse was on December 9, 1968, at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco, California. The 1,000 or so computer professionals in attendance saw a live demonstration of the mouse by inventor Douglas C. Engelbart and a group of researchers from the Stanford Research Institute of Palo Alto, California. This first mouse was a 3-button hand-operated pointing device that enabled the computer user to manipulate text or images on a computer screen. It was originally referred to as an X-Y position indicator for a display system. On November 17, 1970, Engelbart was issued a patent for his computer mouse, so named because the “tail” came out the end.
Computer Virus
In the early 1970s, the Creeper computer virus was first detected on ARPAnet, a U.S. military computer network. The virus, written for the Tenex operating system, was capable of independently gaining access through a modem and could duplicate itself to remote systems. When it infected other networks, the taunt of “I’M THECREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN” appeared. The Creeper was a malicious program that replicated itself to networked computers and deleted files. Its creator is still unknown. A copycat virus called the Reaper was released soon after the Creeper began making its rounds. The Reaper found the Creeper once inside the computer systems and destroyed it. Many think both programs were instigated by the same creator.
Concrete Highway
In 1891, the town of Bellefontaine, Ohio, experimented with the first concrete highway pavement project on sections of some of its roads, including Main Street. But it was 1909 when the Greenfield Township (now northwest Detroit) of Wayne County, Michigan, built the first mile of concrete highway on Woodward Avenue between Six and Seven Mile Roads. The first concrete highway was 1.2 miles long, 24 feet wide, 6.5 inches thick, and cost around $13,500. The success of this project furthered the development of modern automobile highways.
Contact Lenses
Believe it or not, in 1508, Leonardo da Vinci described and sketched the first ideas for contact lenses. An expert at optics and lenses, he described them as tiny removable lenses to be worn in contact with the eye, to rest directly on the cornea. Made of glass, the same as regular eyeglasses, the contact lenses would improve the wearer’s vision. His notes and illustrations were meticulously inscribed backward, only to be read with the aid of a mirror. Although he envisioned the product and set the precedent for others, Leonardo da Vinci’s contact lenses never came to fruition.
In 1801, Thomas Young, an English scientist and researcher, took the idea of the contact lens and made one to correct his own vision. His lens must have been terribly uncomfortable—it was a ¼-inch-long glass tube that was filled with water and strapped to his face.
Cookbook
A Sicilian Greek named Archestratus wrote the first known cookbook in 350 B.C.E. It was called Hedypatheia, which meant “pleasant living” or “life of luxury,” and was recorded in classical Greek hexameters. The food in this first cookbook for “ones of the leisure class” was prepared in bite-size portions to be eaten without cutlery. (That probably meant a flat, pita-style bread for scooping up portions and a raised bread for absorbing soup.) The cookbook called for two courses. The first, or deipnon, was commonly strong-flavored appetizers served prior to the meat and fish dishes. The second, or symposium, was wine served with specially chosen flavors and food dishes to accompany the drinking session and entertainment.
Corporation
The Benedictine Order of the Catholic Church was the first corporation of any notable
Computer Mouse
The world debut of the first computer mouse was on December 9, 1968, at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco, California. The 1,000 or so computer professionals in attendance saw a live demonstration of the mouse by inventor Douglas C. Engelbart and a group of researchers from the Stanford Research Institute of Palo Alto, California. This first mouse was a 3-button hand-operated pointing device that enabled the computer user to manipulate text or images on a computer screen. It was originally referred to as an X-Y position indicator for a display system. On November 17, 1970, Engelbart was issued a patent for his computer mouse, so named because the “tail” came out the end.
Computer Virus
In the early 1970s, the Creeper computer virus was first detected on ARPAnet, a U.S. military computer network. The virus, written for the Tenex operating system, was capable of independently gaining access through a modem and could duplicate itself to remote systems. When it infected other networks, the taunt of “I’M THECREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN” appeared. The Creeper was a malicious program that replicated itself to networked computers and deleted files. Its creator is still unknown. A copycat virus called the Reaper was released soon after the Creeper began making its rounds. The Reaper found the Creeper once inside the computer systems and destroyed it. Many think both programs were instigated by the same creator.
Concrete Highway
In 1891, the town of Bellefontaine, Ohio, experimented with the first concrete highway pavement project on sections of some of its roads, including Main Street. But it was 1909 when the Greenfield Township (now northwest Detroit) of Wayne County, Michigan, built the first mile of concrete highway on Woodward Avenue between Six and Seven Mile Roads. The first concrete highway was 1.2 miles long, 24 feet wide, 6.5 inches thick, and cost around $13,500. The success of this project furthered the development of modern automobile highways.
Contact Lenses
Believe it or not, in 1508, Leonardo da Vinci described and sketched the first ideas for contact lenses. An expert at optics and lenses, he described them as tiny removable lenses to be worn in contact with the eye, to rest directly on the cornea. Made of glass, the same as regular eyeglasses, the contact lenses would improve the wearer’s vision. His notes and illustrations were meticulously inscribed backward, only to be read with the aid of a mirror. Although he envisioned the product and set the precedent for others, Leonardo da Vinci’s contact lenses never came to fruition.
In 1801, Thomas Young, an English scientist and researcher, took the idea of the contact lens and made one to correct his own vision. His lens must have been terribly uncomfortable—it was a ¼-inch-long glass tube that was filled with water and strapped to his face.
Cookbook
A Sicilian Greek named Archestratus wrote the first known cookbook in 350 B.C.E. It was called Hedypatheia, which meant “pleasant living” or “life of luxury,” and was recorded in classical Greek hexameters. The food in this first cookbook for “ones of the leisure class” was prepared in bite-size portions to be eaten without cutlery. (That probably meant a flat, pita-style bread for scooping up portions and a raised bread for absorbing soup.) The cookbook called for two courses. The first, or deipnon, was commonly strong-flavored appetizers served prior to the meat and fish dishes. The second, or symposium, was wine served with specially chosen flavors and food dishes to accompany the drinking session and entertainment.
Corporation
The Benedictine Order of the Catholic Church was the first corporation of any notable
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