This Day in Computer History: September 12

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This Day in Computer History

1958

Jack St Clair Kilby demonstrated the first integrated circuit (IC) in history to a small group of researchers and executives at Texas Instruments. The miniaturized circuit proves that resistors and capacitors manufactured of the same material can be integrated on a single chip. The prototype was composed of five components: germanium mesa transistors, resistors, and capacitors linked by wires, all mounted on a germanium board half an inch long and thinner than a toothpick. February 6, 1959, Kilby will apply for a patent, and he will receive it on June 23, 1964.

1959

The Soviet Union launches the Lunik II space probe, which will become the first man-made object to strike the Moon, aboard a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket. It will soft-land in Palus Putredinis, east of Mare Serenitatis, on September 13th at 22:02:04 UT.

1960

IBM’s Data Processing Division introduced the IBM 1410 midrange business data processing system. It’s large volume storage facilities and fast input/output units are key selling points. Initial orders for the system are in excess of three thousand five hundred units, which made the system notable for being the most widely-accepted data processing machine to date.

1962

In a speech given at Rice University, President John F. Kennedy announced that America should attempt to put men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth. In the speech, he stated, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” For two generations and more, the so-called “Space Race” will be one of the fundamental driving forces behind computer technology.

1983

Apple Computer reduced Lisa computer’s price. Systems with software will cost between $8,190 and $9,995 or $6,995 without software.

1985

At the annual Apple Computer board meeting, Steve Jobs announced that he would be starting a new company with several “lower-level” employees which will build computers for the college market.

1991

Sony introduced the Data Discman handheld computer, which is capable of operating on small compact discs (CDs). It hit shelves in November. Price: $550

1994

Mosaic announced the release of its first products, the Mosaic Netscape browser and a line of servers.

2005

eBay publicly announced that it would acquire the VOIP provider Skype in a deal valued at US$2.6 billion, with an additional $1.5 billion performance-based contingency. The company’s stock value increases as analysts speculate that the company’s telephony, banking, and auction services may be combined to expand into business markets.

Sun Microsystems unveiled new Opteron-based Unix servers, including the Sun Fire X2100, X4100 and X4200 servers designed from the ground-up to address the power consumption difficulties of most data centers.

2006

At the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California, Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs made a series of significant product announcements. First, the company released the second generation iPod Shuffle, which it promotes as “the most wearable iPod ever.” The device will be ready in October 2006, and will be shipped to retailers Friday, November 3, 2006. The company’s second major announcement is the iTV digital receiver, which allows users to play downloaded media delivered over an Internet connection via a computer on televisions. iTunes 7 is also released. This version marks a significant advance in the service, introducing movie downloads from four major studios, including Disney and Pixar and a drastically improved video resolution of 640×480 (VGA).

Corel released the Paint Shop Pro 11 bitmap and vector graphics editor for Windows.

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

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