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Comparative Timelines
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1520
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1521
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1522
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1523
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1524
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1525
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1526
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1527
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1528
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1529
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1530
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1531
Sebastian Münster publishes Horologiographia, a treatise on the construction of sun dials.
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1532
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1533
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1534
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1535
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1536
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1537
Niccolò Tartaglia publishes Nova Scientia, a treatise on gunnery science. This was Tartaglia's first published work and was described by Matteo Valleriani as: ... one of the most fundamental works on mechanics of the Renaissance, indeed, the first to transform aspects of practical knowledge accumulated by the early modern artillerists into a theoretical and mathematical framework. Then dominant Aristotelian physics preferred categories like "heavy" and "natural" and "violent" to describe motion, generally eschewing mathematical explanations. Tartaglia brought mathematical models to the fore. One of his findings was that the maximum range of a projectile was achieved by directing the cannon at a 45-degree angle to the horizon.
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1538
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1539
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1540
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1541
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1542
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1543
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1544
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1545
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1546
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1547
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1548
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1549
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1550
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1551
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1552
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1553
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1554
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1555
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1556
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1557
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1558
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1559
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1560
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1561
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1562
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1563
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1564
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1565
Roger Taverner writes his Arte of Surveyinge.
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1566
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1567
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1568
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1569
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1570
Giovanni Padovani publishes a detailed treatise on the construction of sundials, Opus de compositione et usu multiformium horologiorum solarium, in Venice.
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1571
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1572
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1573
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1574
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1575
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1576
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1577
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1578
English seaman William Bourne publishes a manual, Inventions or Devises, Very Necessary for all Generalles and Captaines, as wel by Sea as by Land, including an early theoretical description of a submarine.
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1579
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1580
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1581
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1582
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1583
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1584
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1585
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1586
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1587
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1588
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1589
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1590
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1591
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1592
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1593
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1594
Bevis Bulmer sets up a system at Blackfriars, London, for pumping a public water supply.
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1595
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1596
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1597
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1598
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1599
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1600
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1601
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1602
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1603
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1604
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1605
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1606
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1607
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1608
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1609
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1610
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1611
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1612
The first flintlock musket likely created for Louis XIII of France by gunsmith Marin Bourgeois.
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1613
Richard Braithwaite coined the phrase computer.
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1614
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1615
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1616
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1617
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1618
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1619
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1620
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1621
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1623
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1624
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1625
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1626
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1627
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1628
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1629
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1630
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1631
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1632
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1633
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1634
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1635
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1636
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1637
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1638
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1639
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1640
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1641
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1642
Pascal's calculator or the Pascaline constructed
The mezzotint printmaking method was invented by the German amateur artist Ludwig von Siegen. Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonality by roughening the plate with thousands of little dots made by a metal tool with small teeth, called a "rocker." In printing, the tiny pits in the plate hold the ink when the face of the plate is wiped clean. A high level of quality and richness in the print can be achieved.
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1643
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1644
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1645
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1646
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1647
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1648
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1649
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1650
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1651
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1652
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1653
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1654
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1655
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1656
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1657
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1658
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1659
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1660
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1661
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1662
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1663
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1664
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1665
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1666
Samuel Morland builds a mechanical calculator that will add and subtract
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1667
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1668
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1669
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1670
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1671
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1672
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz invents the Staffelwalze (stepped drum, or stepped reckoner), the first mechanical calculator that could perform all four mathematical operations. Its intricate precision gearwork, however, was somewhat beyond the fabrication technology of the time; mechanical problems, in addition to a design flaw in the carry mechanism, prevented the machines from working reliably. Despite the mechanical flaws, it suggested possibilities to future calculator builders. The operating mechanism, invented by Leibniz, called the stepped cylinder or Leibniz wheel, was used in many calculating machines for 200 years, and into the 1970s with the Curta hand calculator. In discussing his invention, Leibniz wrote Indignum enim est excellentium virorum horas servii calculandi labore perire, qui Machina adhibita vilissimo cuique secure transcribi posset — For it is unworthy of distinguished men to waste their time with slavish calculations, which can be done safely with the use of this machine by anyone else.
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1673
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1674
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1675
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1676
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1677
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1678
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1679
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1680
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1681
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1682
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1683
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1684
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1685
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1686
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1687
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1688
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1689
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1690
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1691
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1692
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1693
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1694
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1695
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1696
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1697
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1698
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1699
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1700
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1701
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1702
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1703
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz invents the Binary System
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1704
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1705
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1706
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1707
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1708
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1709
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1710
Jakob Christoph Le Blon, an engraver, invents three-color printing.
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1711
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1712
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1713
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1714
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit constructs a mercury thermometer with a temperature scale.
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1715
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1716
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1717
Johann Heinrich Schulze makes fleeting sun prints of words by using stencils, sunlight, and a bottled mixture of chalk and silver nitrate in nitric acid, simply as an interesting way to demonstrate that the substance inside the bottle darkens where it is exposed to light.
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1718
Porcelain is first manufactured in Vienna.
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1719
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1720
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1721
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1722
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1723
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1724
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1725
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1726
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1727
Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that silver nitrate darkened upon exposure to light.
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1728
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1729
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1730
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1731
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1732
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1733
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1734
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1735
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1736
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1737
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1738
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1739
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1740
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1741
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1742
The Microscope Made Easy, by Henry Baker, introduces the construction and use of the microscope to the layman.
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1743
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1744
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1745
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1746
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1747
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1748
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1749
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1750
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1751
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1752
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1753
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1754
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1755
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1756
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1757
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1758
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1759
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1760
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1761
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1762
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1763
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1764
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1765
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1766
Bifocal spectacles are invented by Benjamin Franklin.
First fire escape patented, consisting of a wicker basket on a pulley and chain.
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1767
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1768
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1769
James Watt patents the modern steam engine, which finds wide use in manufacturing. It is an early milestone of the Industrial Revolution.
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1770
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1771
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1772
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1773
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1774
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1775
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1776
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1777
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1778
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1779
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1780
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1781
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1782
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1783
Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier make first public balloon flight.
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1784
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1785
First balloon flight across English Channel (Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries).
French balloonists Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier and Jules Romain are killed when their Royal Balloon crashes near Boulogne, France, June 15, 1785, in what is considered the first aerial disaster.
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1786
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1787
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1788
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1789
Bourbon Whiskey is first created by Elijah Craig in Bourbon, Kentucky.
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1790
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1791
Charles Babbage is Born
John Stone, Concord, Massachusetts, patents a pile driver.
New York City traffic regulation creates first one-way street.
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1792
Guillotine first used (to execute highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier).
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1793
France becomes first country to use the metric system.
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin (cotton enGINe), a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, allowing for much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. By reducing the labor of removing seeds, the cotton gin made cotton growing more profitable, thereby raising demand for slave labor. The first federal census of 1790 counted 697,897 slaves; by 1810, there were 1.2 million slaves, a 70 percent increase. Slavery spread from the seaboard to some of the new western territories and states as new cotton fields were planted, and by 1830 it thrived in more than half the continent. Within 10 years after the cotton gin was put into use, the value of the total United States crop leaped from $150,000 to more than $8 million.
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1794
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1795
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1796
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1797
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1798
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1799
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1800
Thomas Wedgwood conceives of making permanent pictures of camera images by using a durable surface coated with a light-sensitive chemical. He succeeds only in producing silhouettes and other shadow images, and is unable to make them permanent.
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1801
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1802
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1803
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1804
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1805
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1806
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1807
Robert Fulton develops the first practical steamboat, the Clermont, which sails from New York City to Albany and back.
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1808
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1809
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1810
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1811
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1812
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1813
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1814
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1815
Ada, Lady Lovelace, is Born
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1816
Nicéphore Niépce succeeds in making negative photographs of camera images on paper coated with silver chloride, but cannot adequately "fix" them to stop them from darkening all over when exposed to light for viewing.
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1817
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1818
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1819
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1820
The Arithmometer was the first commercially successful mechanical calculator patented
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1821
Michael Faraday invents the electric motor and generator.
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1822
Charles Babbage takes first steps in the construction of machines that would compute numbers
Nicéphore Niépce abandons silver halide photography as hopelessly impermanent and tries using thin coatings of Bitumen of Judea on metal and glass. He creates the first fixed, permanent photograph, a copy of an engraving of Pope Pius VII, by contact printing in direct sunlight without a camera or lens. It is later destroyed; the earliest surviving example of his "heliographic process" is from 1825.
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1823
Physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) describes the liquification of chlorine in On fluid chlorine. Faraday finds that gasses of certain kinds, when kept under constant pressure, will condense until they cool. This latter discovery ushers in the beginning of mechanical methods of refrigeration.
Small-scale drilling for oil begins at Baku, a Russian port city on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, now the capital of Azerbaijan. The drilling marks the beginning of the modern petroleum industry, and by 1900 nearly half the world's oil will come from the Baku oil fields.
(no entry for this year)
1824
Nicéphore Niépce makes the first durable, light-fast camera photograph, similar to his surviving 1826-1827 photograph on pewter but created on the surface of a lithographic stone. It is destroyed in the course of subsequent experiments.
(no entry for this year)
1825
The Erie Canal (from Albany to Buffalo, New York) opens on October 26, connecting the Midwestern U.S. with the Atlantic Ocean, via the Great Lakes, and stimulating the development of Fort Dearborn (know today as Chicago), Cleveland and Columbus Ohio, and upstate New York cities like Rochester, Syracuse and Little Falls.
The first passenger steam railway opens, between Stockton and Darlington, England.
The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper, is published.
1826
Photograph by Joseph Ni pce: View from the Window at Le Gras, the world's first permanent photograph.
The first photographic images produced by Joseph-Nicéphore Ni pce
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1827
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1828
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1829
The first steam locomotive to operate on a U.S. railroad begins service between Carbondale and Honesdale, Pennsylvania. The engine, "The Stourbridge Lion", has been imported from the Stephenson Engine Works in London.
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1830
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1831
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1832
In November, the New York and Harlem Railroad begins service, and heralds the start of rapid mass transit in New York City. Two horse-drawn rail cars operate every 15 minutes between 14th Street and Prince Street, along the Bowery. The fare is 25 cents.
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1833
Ada Lovelace Meets Charles Babbage
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1834
Hércules Florence, a French-Brazilian painter and the isolate inventor of photography in Brazil, coined the word photographie for his technique, at least four years before John Herschel coined the English word photography.
Charles Babbage invents the "analytical engine" — the forerunner of the modern computer.
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1835
Henry Fox Talbot produces durable silver chloride camera negatives on paper and conceives the two-step negative-positive procedure used in most non-electronic photography up to the present.
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1836
Alonzo D. Phillips, a shoemaker from Springfield, Massachusetts, patents the phosphorous match.
Twice-told Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is published and is an immediate best-seller.
1837
Charles Babbage published a paper describing a mechanical computer that is now known as the Analytical Engine
Samuel F. B. Morse sends his first message by electric telegraph — "What hath God wrought!" — on an experimental line between Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland.
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1838
The S.S. Sirius and the S. S. Great Western are the first ships powered entirely by steam to cross the Atlantic. Both ships are designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859).
Voices of the Night, the first book of poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), is published.
1839
Louis-Jacques-Mand Daguerre perfects and presents the daguerreotype process as the first publicly available photographic process (which for nearly twenty years was also the one most commonly used). To make the image, a daguerreotypist would polish a sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish, treat it with fumes that made its surface light sensitive, expose it in a camera for as long as was judged to be necessary, which could be as little as a few seconds for brightly sunlit subjects or much longer with less intense lighting; make the resulting latent image on it visible by fuming it with mercury vapor; remove its sensitivity to light by liquid chemical treatment, rinse and dry it, then seal the easily marred result behind glass in a protective enclosure.
Henry Fox Talbot publicly introduces the paper-based process he worked out in 1835, calling it "photogenic drawing", but it requires much longer exposures than the daguerreotype and the results are not as clear and detailed.
John Herschel introduces hyposulfite of soda (now known as sodium thiosulfate but still nicknamed "hypo") as a highly effective fixer for all silver-based processes. He also makes the first glass negative.
Sarah Anne Bright creates a series of photograms, six of which are known to still exist. These are the earliest surviving photographic images created by a woman.
Although a bicycle consisting of a frame and wheels has existed for years, blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan (1813-1878), introduces the first bicycle in its modern form, with brakes and pedals. The bike has iron tires and weighs nearly 60 pounds.
Inventor Erastus Brigham Bigelow (1814-1879) introduces the power loom in Massachusetts.
The first electric clock is built by physicist Carl August Steinheil (1801-1870).
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1840
First American patent issued in photography to Alexander Wolcott for his camera.
The first postage stamp, called the "Penny Black" and bearing the image of Queen Victoria, is issued in England.
The oil-immersion microscope is invented by Giovanni Battista Amici (1786-1863), a former professor of mathematics who is now the director of the observatory at the Royal Museum in Florence, and an astronomer to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The objective lens of this microscope is immersed in a drop of oil which sits on top of the object under study; this helps to minimize aberrations caused by the light source.
Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) [essay II in Essays: First Series] is published.
The first novel in the series called "Leatherstocking Tales", The Deerslayer, by James Fennimore Cooper (1789-1851), is published
1841
William Henry Talbot patents the Calotype process, the first negative-positive process making possible the first multiple copies.
Henry Fox Talbot introduces his patented calotype (or "talbotype") paper negative process, an improved version of his earlier process that greatly reduces the required exposure time.
In Paris, street lights made from arc lamps are demonstrated.
In May, Edgar Allan Poe's (1809-1849) story "The Masque of the Red Death" appears in Graham's Magazine.
1842
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1843
Jerome Increase Case, a 24 year-old farmer from Oswego County, New York, introduces the J. I. Case Threshing Machine. The J. I. Case Company will manufacture farm equipment and will become the largest thresher producer in the world.
The first tunnel under the Thames opens on March 25, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859). {a]The Thames Tunnel{/a} connects Rotherhithe and Wapping, London. Although it was a triumph of civil engineering, the Thames Tunnel was not a financial success. It had cost a fortune to build — £454,000 to dig and another £180,000 to fit out — far exceeding its initial cost estimates. Proposals to extend the entrance to accommodate wheeled vehicles failed owing to cost, and it was only used by pedestrians. It became a major tourist attraction, attracting about two million people a year, each paying a penny to pass through.
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1844
In Hartford, Connecticut, dentist Horace Wells (1815-1848) uses nitrous oxide as an anesthetic; he is the first to do so.
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" appears in the New York Evening Mirror. Poe's collection The Raven and Other Poems is published.
1845
Francis Ronalds invents the first successful camera for continuous recording (the first "movie camera") of the variations in meteorological and geomagnetic parameters over time. A copy of Ronalds' paper describing describing his device maybe obtained HERE.
The bridge spanning the Allegheny River, at Pittsburgh, designed by engineer John Augustus Roebling (1806-1869), opens in May. It is the first wire cable suspension aqueduct bridge in the world.
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1846
Nitroglycerine is discovered by chemist Ascanio Sobrero (1811-1870), although he uses to term "pyroglycerine". Because of the risks involved in its production, it will not be manufactured commercially for more than a decade.
The lock-stitch sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe (1819-1867).
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1847
The rotary, or "lightning" printing press is patented by Richard March Hoe (1812-1886). It is used first by the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
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1848
Edmond Becquerel makes the first full-color photographs, but they are only laboratory curiosities: an exposure lasting hours or days is required and the colors are so light-sensitive that they sometimes fade right before the viewer's eyes while being examined.
Henry David Thoreau's A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and "Resistance to Civil Government" (often referred to as "Civil Disobedience") are published.
1849
A unmanned Montgolfier balloon is used to drop bombs on Venice. This is the first time a bombing has been conducted from the air.
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1850
"Bibless overalls" made of canvas are sold by the 20 year-old Levi Strauss in San Francisco. Within three years he will switch to denim and dye his pants indigo blue.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables and The Snow Image and Other Twice-Told Tales both appear.
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, is published.
1851
Arithmometer: first commercially successful mechanical calculator launched
The fast-acting Collodion process invented by Frederick Scott Archer. Images require only two or three seconds of light exposure. Collodion process, mostly synonymous with the "collodion wet plate process", requires the photographic material to be coated, sensitized, exposed and developed within the span of about fifteen minutes, necessitating a portable darkroom for use in the field. Collodion is normally used in its wet form, but can also be used in humid ("preserved") or dry form, at the cost of greatly increased exposure time. The latter made the dry form unsuitable for the usual portraiture work of most professional photographers of the 19th century. The use of the dry form was therefore mostly confined to landscape photography and other special applications where minutes-long exposure times were tolerable.
Isaac Singer patents the continuous-stitch sewing machine.
The Erie Railroad, now controlled by Daniel Drew, becomes the first rail line connecting the Great Lakes with New York City, and begins to compete with the Erie Canal as a transportation route.
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes her anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
1852
In South Bend, Indiana, Clement and Henry Studebaker found Studebaker Brothers. Joined by a third brother, John, in 1858, the company will become the world's largest maker of wagons and carriages.
In Sweden, safety matches are patented by J. E. Lundstrom.
The brown paper bag is invented.
The elevator is invented, facilitating the future development of skyscrapers.
The U.S. state of Pennsylvania adopts a non-standard railroad gauge in order to prevent New York's Erie Railroad from establishing a route, through Pennsylvania, to Ohio.
Henry David Thoreau's Walden, or Life in the Woods is published.
1854
André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri credited with introduction of the carte de visite (English: visiting card or calling card) format for portraiture. Disdéri uses a camera with multiple lenses that can photograph eight different poses on one large negative. After printing on albumen paper, the images are cut apart and glued to calling-card-size mounts. Photographs had previously served as calling cards, but Disdéri's invention of the paper carte de visite (i.e. "visiting card") enabled the mass production of photographs. On 27 November 1854 he patented the system of printing ten photographs on a single sheet (although there is no evidence that a system printing more than eight actually materialized). Disdéri's's cartes de visite were 6×9 cm, about the size of conventional (nonphotographic) visiting cards of the time, and were made by a camera with four lenses and a sliding plate holder; a design inspired by the stereoscopic cameras. The novelty quickly spread throughout the world. According to a German visitor, Disdéri's studio became "really the Temple of Photography - a place unique in its luxury and elegance. Daily he sells three to four thousand francs worth of portraits". The fact that these photos could be reproduced inexpensively and in great quantity brought about the decline of the daguerreotype and ushered in a carte de visite craze as they became enormously popular throughout Europe and the United States. Disdéri also invented the twin-lens reflex camera.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" appears.
Poet Walt Whitman publishes a volume of twelve poems, Leaves of Grass, at his own expense, and meets with no commercial success.
1855
A mercury pump is developed by inventor Heinrich Geissler, to produce vacuum tubes. The first cathode rays will be observed in these tubes, after they are modified and improved by Sir William Crookes.
Engineer Frederick Taylor carries out "time-motion" studies of workers with the idea of making their labor more efficient. He will pioneer the "scientific management" of the workplace.
(no entry for this year)
1856
A railway bridge spanning the Mississippi opens between Rockville, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer, will defend the legality of the bridge before the Supreme Court, in response to a "right of way" suit brought by a steamship company.
During Easter vacation from London's Royal College of Chemistry, 18-year-old William Henry Perkin synthesized mauve, or aniline purple — the first synthetic dyestuff — from chemicals derived from coal tar. Mauve was enthusiastically adopted by the fashion industry in England and synthetic dyes quickly destroyed the market for natural substances derived from plants like indigo and madder. Perkin's creation was an accident — he was trying to synthesize quinine.
The "Bessemer process" for making inexpensive steel, which involves using blasts of cold air to decarbonize melted pig iron, is developed by inventor Henry Bessemer.
The 458-mile Wabash and Erie Canal opens after 24 years, and is the largest canal ever dug in the U.S. By 1860, however, sections will begin to be close, and, unable to compete for railroads, the entire Canal will be closed by 1874.
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1857
In Burrville, Connecticut, commercial production of Gail Borden's patented "condensed milk" begins. The product is made from skim milk, without any fat and without a number of nutrients found in cow's milk.
In California, Tokay, Zinfandel, and Shiraz grapes (all from Hungary) are first planted, and Italian honeybees are introduced. This is the beginning of the U.S. wine and honey industries. In North America, honey bees are an artificially introduced and invasive species.
Robert Wilhelm von Bunsen (along with Henry Roscoe) publish a design for a laboratory burner in Poggendorff's Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 100:84-85.
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1858
J. Schweppe & Co. Ltd. patents a quinine tonic water that they will begin selling in 1880.
John Landis Mason patents a reusable glass jar.
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1859
In Titusville, Pennsylvania, commercial production of petroleum begins, with drilling of the first well by Edwin Laurentine Drake. The well will produce approximately 400 gallons/day.
The first internal combustion engine is developed by Jean-Joseph-Etienne Lenoir. The engine uses coal gas.
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1860
Herman Hollerith was born 29th February 1860
Emil Erlenmeyer invents the flask.
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1861
Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer
James Clerk Maxwell presents a projected additive color image of a multicolored ribbon, the first demonstration of color photography by the three-color method he suggested in 1855. It uses three separate black-and-white photographs taken and projected through red, green and blue color filters. The projected image is temporary but the set of three "color separations" is the first durable color photograph.
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1862
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1863
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1864
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1865
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1866
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1867
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Louisa May Alcott publishes Little Women.
1868
Louis Ducos du Hauron patents his numerous ideas for color photography based on the three-color principle, including procedures for making subtractive color prints on paper. They are published the following year. Their implementation is not technologically practical at that time, but they anticipate most of the color processes that are later introduced.
Wallace Clement Ware Sabine becomes the first acoustical engineer and uses acoustic principles to design Boston's Symphony Hall.
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1869
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1870
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1871
Richard Leach Maddox invents the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process. Negatives no longer had to be developed immediately. Long before his discovery of the dry gelatin photographic emulsion, Maddox was prominent in what was called photomicrography - photographing minute organisms under the microscope. The eminent photomicrographer of the day, Lionel S. Beale, included as a frontispiece images made by Maddox in his manual 'How to work with the Microscope'.
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1872
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1873
QWERTY keyboard invented
Hermann Wilhelm Vogel discovers dye sensitization, allowing the blue-sensitive but otherwise color-blind photographic emulsions then in use to be made sensitive to green, yellow and red light. Technical problems delay the first use of dye sensitization in a commercial product until the mid-1880s; fully panchromatic emulsions are not in common use until the mid-20th century.
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1874
Thomas J. Watson Sr. is born
The first electric tram operates in New York City.
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1875
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Mark Twain publishes Tom Sawyer.
1876
Ferdinand Hurter and Vero Charles Driffield begin systematic evaluation of sensitivity characteristics of photographic emulsions the science of sensitometry. They also invent a photographic exposure estimation device known as an actinograph. In 1920, William Bates Ferguson edits a memorial volume: The Photographic Researches of Ferdinand Hurter & Vero C. Driffield: Being a Reprint of Their Published Papers, Together With a History of Their Early Work & a Bibliography of Later Work on the Same Subject.
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1877
Phonograph Invented by Edison On December 15th, Thomas Edison applied for a patent for his phonograph. Edison initially believed it would be used to record business sessions, or family voices. Edison became famous with this invention and was invited to the White House for a demonstration.
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1878
Willgodt T. Odhner granted a patent for a calculating machine
Eadweard Muybridge uses a row of cameras with trip-wires to make a high-speed photographic analysis of a galloping horse. Each picture is taken in less than the two-thousandth part of a second, and they are taken in sufficiently rapid sequence (about 25 per second) that they constitute a brief real-time "movie" that can be viewed by using a device such as a zoetrope, a photographic "first".
Heat ripening of gelatin emulsions is discovered. This greatly increases sensitivity and makes possible very short "snapshot" exposures.
The world's first oil tanker — the Zoroaster — is launched, in the Caspian Sea. The ship was designed by Ludvig Nobel, the brother of Alfred Nobel.
The first electric street lighting appears, in London.
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1879
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1880
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1881
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1882
The first hydro-electric plant opens, in Wisconsin.
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1883
Scheutz invents the first printing calculator
German engineer Gottlieb Daimler creates a portable engine that leads to the age of the automobile.
(no entry for this year)
1885
James Dewar invents a thermos bottle in which heat is prevented from leaking via vacuum between two glass walls. The model becomes known as the Dewar Flask.
The world's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Company Building, is erected in Chicago.
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1886
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1887
Dorr E. Felt was granted a patent for the Comptometer.
Introduction of the Comptometer by Felt & Tarrant Co
Celluloid film base introduced.
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1888
Babbage's Analytical Engine Operates For The First Time
Burroughs Receives Patent for Calculating Machine
Introduction of its adder-lister by William Seward Burroughs
Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera.
Louis Le Prince makes Roundhay Garden Scene. It is believed to be the first-ever motion picture on film.
John Boyd Dunlop, trained as a veterinary surgeon, devises the first practical pneumatic tire in response to a request from his son for a more comfortable tricycle. His first effort involved an inflated section of garden hose, fitted to the rear wheels of the tricycle. Although born in Scotland, Dunlop spent most of his life in Northern Ireland, where his image occurs on the current £10 note, issued by the Northern Bank.
(no entry for this year)
1889
Herman Hollerith lodges patent for Punch Card technology
Nintendo is founded
The first commercially available transparent celluloid roll film is introduced by the Eastman Company, later renamed the Eastman Kodak Company and commonly known as Kodak.
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1890
Herman Hollerith designs tabulating machines for 1890 U.S. Census
Hypertext Pioneer Vannevar Bush Is Born
US Census Bureau announces results using Herman Hollerith's machine
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1891
Gabriel Lippmann announces a "method of reproducing colors photographically based on the phenomenon of interference".
William Kennedy Laurie Dickson develops the "kinetoscopic" motion picture camera while working for Thomas Edison.
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1892
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1893
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1894
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1895
Auguste and Louis Lumière invent the cinématographe.
Cornflakes are invented in Battle Creek, Michigan, by John Harvey Kellogg — the chief medical officer of the Battle Creek sanitarium.
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1896
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1897
America's first subway opens, in Boston.
Russian physicist Alexander Popov uses an antenna to transmit radio waves over a distance of 5 km.
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1898
Kodak introduces the Folding Pocket Kodak.
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1899
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1900
Kodak introduces their first Brownie, a very inexpensive user-reloadable point-and-shoot box camera.
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1901
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1902
Arthur Korn devises practical telephotography technology (reduction of photographic images to signals that can be transmitted by wire to other locations).Wire-Photos are in wide use in Europe by 1910, and transmitted to other continents by 1922.
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1903
The first motor taxis appear in London
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1904
The Rolls-Royce company is founded in Britain.
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1905
The first motorized buses operate in London.
The first neon signs appear.
Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle.
1906
Computer Pioneer Grace Hopper is Born
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1907
The Autochrome plate is introduced. It becomes the first commercially successful color photography product.
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1908
Kinemacolor, a two-color process known as the first commercial "natural color" system for movies, is introduced.
General Motors Corporation is formed.
The Ford Motor Company produces the first Model T. Ultimately, more than 15 million will be produced.
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1909
Kodak announces a 35 mm "safety" motion picture film on an acetate base as an alternative to the highly flammable nitrate base. The motion picture industry discontinues its use after 1911 due to technical imperfections.
The plastic age begins with the first commercial manufacture of Bakelite.
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1910
Three companies merge to become C-T-R
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1911
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1912
Thomas Edison introduces a short-lived 22 mm home motion picture format using acetate "safety" film manufactured by Kodak.
Vest Pocket Kodak using 127 film.
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1913
Roland Garros, a French aviator, becomes the first person to fly across the Mediterranean. Garros' original plan was to fly from St. Raphael in France to Bizerta, Tunisia, with the possibility of a fueling stop on Sardinia. En route, the trip seemed to be going well, so he skipped the refueling stop and flew directly to Bizerta, where he arrived at 1:45pm, with about five liters of fuel left in his tank.
Oskar Barnack develops a prototype camera for testing 35mm movie film. This device, now often referred to as an UR-Leica, was quickly recognized as a miniature camera for producing still images. A dozen years later, the first commercially available 35mm still camera was marketed as the Leica I.
Kodak makes 35 mm panchromatic motion picture film available on a bulk special order basis.
Hans Geiger unveils his radiation detector.
(no entry for this year)
1914
Thomas J. Watson Sr. joins C-T-R
Kodak introduces the Autographic film system.
The World, the Flesh and the Devil, made in Kinemacolor, is the first dramatic feature film in color released.
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1915
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1916
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1917
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1918
Core memory inventor Jay Forrester is born
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1919
ENIAC Designer Presper Eckert Is Born
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1920
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1921
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1922
Kodak makes 35 mm panchromatic motion picture film available as a regular stock.
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1923
Integrated Circuit Co-Inventor Jack Kilby is Born
Harold Edgerton invents the xenon flash lamp for strobe photography.
The 16 mm amateur motion picture format is introduced by Kodak. Their Cine-Kodak camera uses reversal film and all 16 mm is on an acetate (safety) base.
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1924
C-T-R becomes IBM
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1925
First patent for a transistor in Canada lodged
January 1925 Douglas Engelbart is Born
Supercomputer Pioneer Seymour Cray is Born
The Leica I 35mm still camera was introduced at the Leipzig Spring Fair in Germany, thereby launching the 35mm format for portable photography.
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1926
Kodak introduces its 35 mm Motion Picture Duplicating Film for duplicate negatives. Previously, motion picture studios used a second camera alongside the primary camera to create a duplicate negative.
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1927
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1928
Introduction of 80-columns card format
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1929
Herman Hollerith Died
1930
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1931
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1932
"Flowers and Trees", the first full-color cartoon, is made in Technicolor by Disney.
Kodak introduces the first 8 mm amateur motion picture film, cameras, and projectors.
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1933
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1934
IBM 405 Alphabetical Accounting Machine introduced
The 135 film cartridge is introduced, making 35 mm easy to use for still photography.
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1935
Becky Sharp, the first feature film made in the full-color "three-strip" version of Technicolor, is released.
Introduction of Kodachrome multi-layered color reversal film (16 mm only; 8 mm and 35 mm follow in 1936, sheet film in 1938).
1936
At Cambridge Alan Turing invented the principle of the modern computer
Konrad Zuse Files For Patent
Agfacolor Neu (English: New Agfacolor) color reversal film for home movies and slides.
Introduction by IHAGEE of the Ihagee Kine Exakta 1, the first 35 mm SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera.
(no entry for this year)
1937
Alan Turing Defines the Universal Machine
ILLIAC IV Designer Slotnick is born
The AtanasoffBerry Computer first conceived
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1938
Zuse Z1 built by Konrad Zuse
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1939
Hewlett Packard Founded
Agfacolor negative and positive 35 mm color film stock for professional motion picture use (not for making paper prints).
The View-Master 3-D viewer and its "reels" of seven small stereoscopic image pairs on Kodachrome film are introduced.
(no entry for this year)
1940
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1941
Zuse Z3 machine completed
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1942
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer is completed
Kodacolor, the first color film that yields negatives for making chromogenic color prints on paper. Roll films for snapshot cameras only, 35 mm not available until 1958.
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1943
The Colossus Mark 1 computer is delivered to Bletchley Park
The First Computing Journal
Work begins on ENIAC
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1944
First Harvard Mark 1 shipped
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1945
Grace Hopper recorded the first actual computer "bug"
Patent is Filed for the Harvard Mark I
Vannevar Bush publishes his ideas for MEMEX, a proto-hypertext system and forerunner to the World Wide Web
(no entry for this year)
1946
Alan Turing Proposal For 'ACE' Automatic Computing Engine
ENIAC Unveiled
ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer was announced
Frederick Williams Receives Patent for RAM device
(no entry for this year)
1947
J Lyons executives report on the potential of computers to automate clerical work
The Williams tube won the race for a practical random-access memory
Dennis Gabor invents holography.
Harold Edgerton develops the Rapatronic camera for the U.S. government.
(no entry for this year)
1948
1949
EDSAC performed its first calculations
EDSAC ran its first programs
EDVAC goes onlline
Jay Forrester Records "Core Memory" Idea
Professor Bill Phillips unveils Phillips Hydraulic Economic Modelling Computer at the LSE
The Contax S camera is introduced, the first 35 mm SLR camera with a pentaprism eye-level viewfinder.
(no entry for this year)
1950
The first Elliott 152 computer appeared
Zuse sold first Z4 computer
(no entry for this year)
1951
Ferranti Mark 1 delivered to Manchester University
LEO I computer became operational
The first UNIVAC was delivered
UNIVAC-1 goes online
Ralph Ellison publishes Invisible Man.
1952
CBS News Uses UNIVAC Computer to Predict Election
Grace Hopper completes the A-0 Compiler
Heinz Nixdorf founded Nixdorf Computer
Bwana Devil, a low-budget polarized 3-D film, premieres in late November and starts a brief 3-D craze that begins in earnest in 1953 and fades away during 1954.
(no entry for this year)
1953
IBM announces the Model 650 computer
Jay Forrester installed magnetic core memory at MIT
1954
20th September First FORTRAN Program Runs
IBM Announces Model 705 Computer
Jack Tramiel starts Commodore
Leica M Introduced
(no entry for this year)
1955
Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs is Born
Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft Corporation, was born
English Electric Deuce Computers introduced
ENIAC is retired
(no entry for this year)
1956
First keyboard used to input data
IBM brings out the Magnetic Disk Memory
IBM introduces the IBM 350
Jay Forrester Receives Patent on "Core" Memory
Pegasus, produced by Ferranti Ltd., went into service in March 1956
Wang Sells Core Memory Patent to IBM
(no entry for this year)
1957
BCS - British Computer Society is Founded
CDC Introduces 1604 Computer
DEC is founded
Ferranti Mercury Introduced
FORTRAN-1 is formally published
May 1957 LEO II Installed
First Asahi Pentax SLR introduced.
First digital computer acquisition of scanned photographs, by Russell Kirsch et al. at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (now the NIST).
(no entry for this year)
1958
Jack Kilby created the first integrated circuit
(no entry for this year)
1959
COBOL is introduced
The Xerox 914 is the first office copier for sale
AGFA introduces the first fully automatic camera, the Optima.
Nikon F introduced.
(no entry for this year)
1960
DEC released its first mini computer: PDP-1
(no entry for this year)
1961
Clive Sinclair founds Sinclair Radionics
Computerized spreadsheets for use in business accounting developed
LEO III completed in 1961
Minivac 601 Computer Launched
Robert Noyce Awarded Patent for "Integrated Circuit"
(no entry for this year)
1962
"Music from Mathematics" LP was created using an IBM 7090 computer
The first commercial Modem manufactured
The Machester Atlas was inaugurated on 7th December 1962
(no entry for this year)
1963
Douglas Engelbart Invents the Mouse
First edition of the ASCII standard was published.
Theodore H (Ted) Nelson coins the word Hypertext
Kodak introduces the Instamatic.
(no entry for this year)
1964
BASIC language developed
First operation of BASIC
First operation of Ferranti Atlas
Graphic tablet developed
IBM releases the System 360 range of commercial computers
Introduction of CDC 6600
Introduction of DEC PDP-7 18-bits minicomputer
First Pentax Spotmatic SLR introduced.
(no entry for this year)
1965
Commodore Business Machines (CBM) is founded.
DEC unveils the PDP-8,
Introduction of Wang 300 electronic calculator
Moore's Law coined
(no entry for this year)
1966
Introduction of DEC PDP-9
The hand-held pocket calculator was invented at Texas Instruments in 1966
(no entry for this year)
1967
Barclays Bank in the UK claims to have installed the first cash dispenser
Elliott Automation merged with English Electric
Introduction of DEC PDP-10
First MOS 10 by 10 active pixel array shown by Noble
(no entry for this year)
1968
CDC Introduces the 7600 Supercomputer
Douglas C. Engelbart publicly demonstrates the mouse
IBM tests a 8in floppy disc
Integrated Circuits First Used in Apollo Moon shot
Introduction of HP-9100 desk calculator
Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore found Intel Corporation
T J Watson and IBM granted patent for the DRAM
(no entry for this year)
1969
AMD Advanced Micro Devices is founded
ARPANET launch the world's first successful packet-switched wide area computer network
DEC PDP-15 Introduced
First flight to Moon of Apollo XI with Raytheon Apollo Guidance Computer
Honeywell releases the H316 "Kitchen Computer",
Intel announces a 1 kilobit RAM chip
Plessey buys out Ferranti's numerical Control Interests
(no entry for this year)
1970
5200 computers installed in Britain
Computer terminals in homes predicted for 1980
DEC introduces the PDP-8/E
IBM 370/145 introduced
Open University to install ICL 32K 1902A computer
Univac 1110 is introduced
UNIX is developed
Xerox opens the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
(no entry for this year)
1971
Burroughs introduces L500 Visible Record Model
DEC launches Giant Mini PDP-11/45
DEC launches PDP-11/03
Decsystem 10 introduced
First Network Email sent by Ray Tomlinson
IBM's Thomas J Watson retires
Intel Introduces the World's First EPROM
Intel Launches the First Microprocessor - The 4004
Nixdorf merge with AEG-Telefunken
Olivetti launches P602 "minicomputer"
(no entry for this year)
1972
£1.3m RAF order for Cossor Terminals
370/125 and OCR reader from IBM
ARPA Network - UK gets link to major US network
ASC developed by Texas Instruments
Atanasoff Official "Inventor" of Computer
Atari Introduces Pong
Burroughs Launch L8000 Range of Computers
Burroughs launches L7000 range on UK market
C programming language developed
Clive Sinclair introduces the first pocket calculator
Development of standard OS to be halted
First e-mail program developed
First Infra-red Data Link transmission in the UK
Flat screen terminal introduced by Burroughs
Foundation of Cray Research Inc by Seymour Cray
Fujitsu and Hitachi in joint deal
GE Time Sharing Service
Hewlett-Packard introduces the HP-35
Honeywell's 700 range comes to the UK
IBM's DOS/VS
NCR 399
Problems with IBM 370/155 and 370/165
Sigma 6
SITA Network
Space Craft Pioneer 10 & 11 use Custom CPU in TTL
Terminal range boosted by Burroughs TC 3500
The Future of ICL as a British-controlled going concern
The Intel 8008 was introduced
The Magnavox Odyssey, the first video game console, is released
UK launch for Burroughs L8000 range
Worlds first IBM 370/135 installed in Britain
Integrated Photomatrix (Noble) demonstrates for 64 by 64 MOS active pixel array
(no entry for this year)
1973
8" floppy & first "Hard Drive introduced by IBM
Bob Metcalfe invents Ethernet
Britain exports more computing equipment than it imports
Gary Kildall writes CP/M
IBM 370/145 product range released
IBM in Nigeria
IMSAI is founded. In 1973
The Micral was the earliest commercial, non-kit personal computer
Xerox Alto personal computer was developed at Xerox PARC
Fairchild Semiconductor releases the first large image forming CCD chip: 100 rows and 100 columns of pixels.
(no entry for this year)
1974
GA LSI 12/16 and LSI16
introduction of Intel 8080 2MHz microprocessor
MITS completes the first prototype Altair 8800 microcomputer
NCR 250-6000
Philips P852M
The Z-80, 8 bit processor is designed by Zilog Corp
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center designed the Alto
(no entry for this year)
1975
Bill Gates and Paul Allen sign a licensing agreement with MITS
CP/M operating system finished
Cray 1A announced
First meeting of the Homebrew Club
Microsoft Founded
MITS Altair launched on the cover of Popular Electronics magazine
Bryce Bayer of Kodak develops the Bayer filter mosaic pattern for CCD color image sensors.
(no entry for this year)
1976
Apple 1 Released
Burroughs introduce the large B7700 series
Dec System 20 introduced
Intel introduce SBC-80/10 "computer on a card"
Last slide rule manufactured today
Seymour Cray demonstrates CRAY-1 - The first vector-processor supercomputer
Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne Found Apple Computer Inc.
The 5 1/4" flexible disk drive was introduced
Steadicam becomes available.
(no entry for this year)
1977
Commodore International shows its Commodore PET 2001
Radio Shack announces TRS-80 computer
Science of Cambridge Ltd Formed
The Apple II launched
The MK14 was introduced by Science of Cambridge
The RCA CDP1802 microprocessor was used in the Galileo spacecraft
(no entry for this year)
1978
Acorn Computers Ltd formed in Cambridge, UK
Texas Instruments introduced Speak & Spell
VisiCalc Spreadsheet is born
(no entry for this year)
1979
"VisiCalc" introduced
Acorn System 1 Launched
Apple II+ Launched
Microsoft moves from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Bellevue, Washington
(no entry for this year)
1980
Acorn Atom Launched
Apple Computers Initial Share Offering
Microsoft Signs Contract with IBM to Create Operating System
Sinclair ZX80 Launched
The Apple III was announced
(no entry for this year)
1981
Acorn BBC Micro Launched
HP-41 calculator Used In Space Shuttle
IBM announced that it was launching a personal computer using an Intel 8088
IBM introduces personal computer with Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0
Introduction of Osborne portable computer in a suitcase
Microsoft incorporates
Sinclair ZX81 Computer Launched
Space Shuttle uses Intel 8086 and RCA 1802
The first portable computer is launched
VIC-20 Released in Europe & US
(no entry for this year)
1982
Commodore 64 Released
Dragon 32 Released
Introduction of Cray X-MP supercomputer
Introduction of Intel 80286 at 6 MHz, with 134,000 transistors
Sinclair launches the ZX Spectrum computer
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Launched
(no entry for this year)
1983
Apple Lisa Launched
Introduction of spreadsheet program 1-2-3 by Lotus,
Microsoft Introduced 2-button Mouse
Microsoft Introduces Windows
The famicom is released in Japan
(no entry for this year)
1984
Apple launches Macintosh 128K
Creation of Dell Computer Corporation by Michael Dell
First ARM Processors Powered Up
IBM and Compaq introduce the IDE interface
IBMs new 3480 cartridge tape system introduced
Introduction of IBM PC/AT based on Intel 80286
Macintosh 512K Launched
Novelist William Gibson coins the term cyberspace
(no entry for this year)
1985
Commodore 128 Released
Cray X-MP Supercomputer Begins Operation
First Commodore Amiga Released
Introduction of Intel 386
Microsoft Windows Launched
Olivetti buy 49% of Acorn Computers
Steve Jobs founds NeXT Computers Inc.
(no entry for this year)
1986
Acorn BBC Master Compact Launched
Acorn BBC Master Launched
Apple Macintosh Plus launched
First PC virus is released with "Brain"
Microsoft moves to corporate campus in Redmond, Washington
Microsoft stock goes public
Nintendo NES released
Kodak scientists invent the world's first megapixel sensor.
(no entry for this year)
1987
Commodore release the Amiga 500 and the Amiga 2000
Macintosh II released
Windows 2 was launched
(no entry for this year)
1988
IBM announces 3 millionth PS/2 personal computer
RISC OS is released
The first worm experience appears
The NeXT (68030 CPU) computer is introduced after two years of research
Unisys takes over Convergent Technologies
(no entry for this year)
1989
Apple introduces the Macintosh SE/30
Apple Macintosh Portable Released
ICL introduces DRS model 40 and 45
Tim Berners-Lee toyed with the idea of web pages and hyperlinks
(no entry for this year)
1990
Commodore releases the Amiga 3000
Hubble Space Telescope uses 386 processor
Introduction of IBM RS/6000
Microsoft launches Windows 3.0
(no entry for this year)
1991
Apple releases the PowerBook 100
First E-mail From Space Is Sent from a Mac Portable
Linus Torvalds from Finland releases Linux version 0.02
Silicon & Synapse founded
Sun Microsystems Starts Java Technology
(no entry for this year)
1992
Commodore releases the the Amiga 500+
Internet freed from Government control
Microsoft Releases Windows 3.1
Photo CD created by Kodak.
1993
Apple Newton Message Pad announced
Commodore released the CD32 model
Compaq Introduces Presario
Foundation of Nvidia
IBM Announces a loss of $4.97m for 1992
Intel Ships "Pentium" Chip"
Introduction of Apple Newton PDA
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory begins work on image-capturing devices using CMOS or active pixel sensors.
(no entry for this year)
1994
Netscape Communications Corporation is founded
Silicon & Synapse changes its name to Blizzard Entertainment
Yahoo founded January 1994
Nikon introduces the first optical-stabilized lens.
(no entry for this year)
1995
Microsoft launches Windows 95
Nvidia's NV1 launched
"Kodak DC40 and the Apple QuickTake 100 become the first digital cameras marketed for consumers."
(no entry for this year)
1996
Apple Computer buys NeXT
eBay is founded by Jeff Skoll and Pierre Omidyar
Eastman Kodak, FujiFilm, AgfaPhoto, and Konica introduce the Advanced Photo System (APS).
(no entry for this year)
1997
IBM's Deep Blue Beats Gary Kasparov at Chess
IBM announces RS/6000 SP Deep Blue
zon.com, an online bookseller, goes public
first known publicly shared picture via a cell phone, by Philippe Kahn.
(no entry for this year)
1998
Apple Release the iMac
Foundation of Google by Larry Page and Sergey Brin
Introduction of Apple iMac
Microsoft launches Windows 98
(no entry for this year)
1999
Napster the first file sharing program introduced
Nvidia releases GeForce 256
The Millennium bug is taken seriously
(no entry for this year)
2000
Intel ES7000 server from Unisys introduced
Microsoft launches Windows 2000
J-SH04 introduced by J-Phone, the first commercially available mobile phone with a camera that can take and share still pictures.[13]
(no entry for this year)
2001
Apple Launches a New Music Device - The iPod
Microsoft Releases Windows XP
(no entry for this year)
2002
Microsoft and partners launch Tablet PC
(no entry for this year)
2003
Microsoft launches Windows Server 2003
(no entry for this year)
2004
Firefox 1.0 Introduced
First Ubuntu Linux operating system Released
Microsoft returns $75 billion to shareholders
(no entry for this year)
2005
Google now indexes over 8 billion pages
AgfaPhoto files for bankruptcy. The production of Agfa brand consumer films ends.
(no entry for this year)
2006
Microsoft announces Bill Gates transition
Dalsa produces a 111 megapixel CCD sensor, the highest resolution at that time.
(no entry for this year)
2007
iPhone introduced
Microsoft launches Windows Vista and Office 2007
(no entry for this year)
2008
Android operating system released
The HD player war comes to an end
Virus Found On Computer In Space Station
Polaroid announces it is discontinuing the production of all instant film products, citing the rise of digital imaging technology.
(no entry for this year)
2009
FujiFilm launches world's first digital 3D camera with 3D printing capabilities.
Kodak announces the discontinuance of Kodachrome film.
(no entry for this year)
2010
Apple iPad Launched in the UK
Apple Surpasses Microsoft as Most Valuable Technology Company
First Tweet sent to Twitter on VIC-20
(no entry for this year)
2011
Steve Jobs retires as CEO of Apple
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, dies age 56
Lytro releases the first pocket-sized consumer light-field camera, capable of refocusing images after being taken.
(no entry for this year)
2012
Google Brain watches Youtube, recognises cats.
Wii U released
Wikipedia and others Go Dark in protest anti-piracy law
(no entry for this year)
2013
Edward Snowden Leaks Top Secret Documents
PlayStation 4 released
Suicide of Aaron Swartz
Xbox One released
(no entry for this year)
2014
Amazon buys Twitch for £585m
Android watches go up for preorder
Bill Gates returns to Microsoft as Technology Adviser
Bletchley park officially opens to the public
Facebook buys Oculus
Facebook buys WhatsApp
Nvidia at GPU Technology Conference
The Queen opens a new 'Information Age' Gallery at the Science Museum
(no entry for this year)
2015
Apple posts biggest quarterly profit in history
Apple reveals Apple Watch
Microsoft reveals HoloLens headset
(no entry for this year)
2016
(no entry for this year)
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2017
(no entry for this year)
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2018
(no entry for this year)
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2019
(no entry for this year)
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2020
(no entry for this year)
(no entry for this year)
2021
(no entry for this year)
(no entry for this year)
2022
(no entry for this year)
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2023
(no entry for this year)
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2024
(no entry for this year)
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2025
(no entry for this year)
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2026
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2027
(no entry for this year)
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2028
(no entry for this year)
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2029
(no entry for this year)
ESP Quick Facts
ESP Origins
In the early 1990's, Robert Robbins was a faculty member at Johns Hopkins, where he directed the informatics core of GDB — the human gene-mapping database of the international human genome project. To share papers with colleagues around the world, he set up a small paper-sharing section on his personal web page. This small project evolved into The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project.
ESP Support
In 1995, Robbins became the VP/IT of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. Soon after arriving in Seattle, Robbins secured funding, through the ELSI component of the US Human Genome Project, to create the original ESP.ORG web site, with the formal goal of providing free, world-wide access to the literature of classical genetics.
ESP Rationale
Although the methods of molecular biology can seem almost magical to the uninitiated, the original techniques of classical genetics are readily appreciated by one and all: cross individuals that differ in some inherited trait, collect all of the progeny, score their attributes, and propose mechanisms to explain the patterns of inheritance observed.
ESP Goal
In reading the early works of classical genetics, one is drawn, almost inexorably, into ever more complex models, until molecular explanations begin to seem both necessary and natural. At that point, the tools for understanding genome research are at hand. Assisting readers reach this point was the original goal of The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project.
ESP Usage
Usage of the site grew rapidly and has remained high. Faculty began to use the site for their assigned readings. Other on-line publishers, ranging from The New York Times to Nature referenced ESP materials in their own publications. Nobel laureates (e.g., Joshua Lederberg) regularly used the site and even wrote to suggest changes and improvements.
ESP Content
When the site began, no journals were making their early content available in digital format. As a result, ESP was obliged to digitize classic literature before it could be made available. For many important papers — such as Mendel's original paper or the first genetic map — ESP had to produce entirely new typeset versions of the works, if they were to be available in a high-quality format.
ESP Help
Early support from the DOE component of the Human Genome Project was critically important for getting the ESP project on a firm foundation. Since that funding ended (nearly 20 years ago), the project has been operated as a purely volunteer effort. Anyone wishing to assist in these efforts should send an email to Robbins.
ESP Plans
With the development of methods for adding typeset side notes to PDF files, the ESP project now plans to add annotated versions of some classical papers to its holdings. We also plan to add new reference and pedagogical material. We have already started providing regularly updated, comprehensive bibliographies to the ESP.ORG site.
ESP Picks from Around the Web (updated 06 MAR 2017 )
Old Science
Weird Science
Treating Disease with Fecal Transplantation
Fossils of miniature humans (hobbits) discovered in Indonesia
Dinosaur tail, complete with feathers, found preserved in amber.
Astronomy
Mysterious fast radio burst (FRB) detected in the distant universe.