In 1811 – Elisha
Otis was born. He invented a safety brake that prevented
elevators from falling if the hoisting cable broke. Thank him every
time you get in an elevator. In 1958 – The nuclear submarine USS
Nautilus became the first watercraft to reach the
geographic North Pole. Commanding Officer, Commander William R.
Anderson, announced to his crew, “For the world, our country, and
the Navy – the North Pole.” In 1977 – Tandy Corp of Texas held a
New York press conference to announce that it will manufacture the
TRS-80.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech
History at Merritt’s Books
site.

In 1870 – The world’s first underground tube railway, (the Met had been the first underground non-tube railway) Tower Subway, opened in London, running from Lower Thames street to Vine Street. It closed after 4 months of operation.

In, 1880 – Parliament officially adopted Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the official time of Great Britain.

In 1902 – Mina Spiegel Rees was born in Ohio and became one of the earliest female computer pioneers. She ran the Office of Naval Research, where she organized work on early computers like the Harvard Mark I.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

In 1873 – Andrew Smith Hallidie took his San Francisco cable car for its first test run. The tracks ran from Clay and Kearny Streets for 2800 feet to a hill 307 feet above.

In 1967 – The US Navy recalled Captain Grace Murray Hopper to active duty to help develop the programming language COBOL.

In 1981 – MTV began broadcasting in the United States, playing The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star, and changing how we view music forever.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.