This Day in Computer History: November 12

This Day in Computer History

1937

Alan Turing published “On Computable Numbers with an Application to the Entscheidungs-problem.” In the ground-breaking paper, Turing describes what would later become the basis for the theory of computability. The abstract engine described in the paper, which would later be renamed the “Turing Machine,” introduced many of the fundamentals of computing that other later be independently made reality by a wide range of inventors.

1975

A small Seattle-based software firm officially began using the “Microsoft” tradename “to identify computer programs for use in automatic data processing systems; pre-programming processing systems; and data processing services including computer programming services.”

1983

Microsoft’s Windows operating system was first mentioned on Usenet.

1984

Lotus Development released the Jazz office suite for the Macintosh 512K, which would ultimately be a commercial failure due to overpricing and the lack of brand recognition caused when the suite wasn’t given a “Lotus” branding. Price: $595.

Newsweek magazine published the renounced article “The Night of the Hackers“ by Richard Sandza that introduced a nation of computer enthusiasts to the world of BBS culture.

1990

Bill Gates kicked off the Fall ‘90 COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada with the keynote speech, “Information at Your Fingertips.” At the event, a number of market leaders introduced their latest technologies. IBM introduced its 486-based PS/2 90 and 95, Microsoft introduced its Windows 3.0 operating system, Motorola introduced its 68040 microprocessor, and SCO introduced its Open Graphics Operating System.

Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau published a paper in which they propose the development of what would later become the World Wide Web.

1997

Iomega announced that it had surpassed ten million Zip drive sales.

1998

Be announced BeOS Release 4 for Intel and PowerPC systems. The new version featured improved integratation with Windows, improved interaction with files, and a complete range of keyboard shortcuts. Price: $69.95 (online) / $99.95 (retail).

2000

At the Comdex trade show, Bill Gates demonstrated Microsoft’s proposed Tablet PC initiative, under which Windows would bundle applications capable of converting handwritten pen strokes from a stylus into usable graphics.

2001

Advanced Micro Devices announces the 950MHz mobile Duron processor. Price: $160.

Advanced Micro Devices announces the 1.2GHz mobile Athlon 4 processor. Price: $525.

An uncompressed real-time gigabit HDTV transmission is broadcast via a wide-area IP network for the first time in history on the “Internet2.”

2007

JUGENE, the first supercomputer to feature 65536 processors, went online at the Jülich Research Centre with a processing speeds in excess of 167 TFLOPS. At the time of its initial launch, it was Europe’s fastest computer and the sixth fastest in the world.

This post is part of the series: A Chronology of Computer History for the Month of November: This Day in Computer History

This series provides a daily account of what happened on this day in the history of computing and technology. It discusses developments, breaking news, new releases and global implications that occurred as a result of these ground breaking events.

1. This Day in Computer History: November 4
2. This Day in Computer History: November 5
3. This Day in Computer History: November 6
4. This Day in Computer History: November 7
5. This Day in Computer History: November 9
6. This Day in Computer History: November 10
7. This Day in Computer History: November 11
8. This Day in Computer History: November 12
9. This Day in Computer History: November 13
10. This Day in Computer History: November 14
11. This Day in Computer History: November 15
12. This Day in Computer History: November 16
13. This Day in Computer History: November 17
14. This Day in Computer History: November 18
15. This Day in Computer History: November 19
16. This Day in Computer History: November 20
17. This Day in Computer History: November 21
18. This Day in Computer History: November 22
19. This Day in Computer History: November 24
20. This Day in Computer History: November 25
21. This Day in Computer History: November 26
22. This Day in Computer History: November 27
23. This Day in Computer History: November 28
24. This Day in Computer History: November 29
25. This Day in Computer History: November 30