In 1978 – Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) sent the first unsolicited mass commercial email to 600 west coast ARPANET users. The message informed users of DEC’s new computer and operating system with ARPANET support, the DECSYSTEM-2020 and TOPS-20.

In 1997 – In New York City, Gary Kasparov began his re-match match against IBM’s Deep Blue computer. He had won the previous match in February 1996 4-2.

In 2000 – A “geocache” was hidden outside Beaver Creek, Oregon, kicking off the first “Great American GPS Stash Hunt” and the hobby now called geocaching.

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In 1887 – 65-year-old Rev. Hannibal Goodwin applied for a patent on his nitrocellulose flexible film. He beat the Eastman Kodak company by two years, but his vaguely-worded patent led to a 27-year legal battle.

In 1983 – Microsoft announced the two-button Microsoft Mouse built for IBM computers and meant to be used with the new Microsoft Word processor. Only 5,000 sold of the 10,000 made.

In 2000 – The United States government shut off Selective Access of the GPS system. That meant accurate positioning was no longer restricted to the US military. Positioning accuracy on the first day without Selective Access went from a 45-meter radius to a 6-meter radius.

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

In 1884 – Construction began in Chicago on the Home Insurance Building, generally acknowledged as the first steel-frame high-rise skyscraper.

In 1959 – Shortly after construction had begun, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland was officially named in honor of the pioneering rocket scientist.

In 1964 – Thomas Kurtz and John Kemeny of Dartmouth College, launched a time-sharing system using a language meant to be learned quickly, called BASIC.

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