1966 – Luna 10 became the first spacecraft to enter lunar orbit. It completed its first orbit in two hours 58 minutes.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1966-027A/
1973 – Martin Cooper, general manager of Motorola’s Communications Systems Division made the first handheld portable phone call from a New York City street to Joel S. Engel at rival Bell Labs. Presumably he gloated at least a little.
http://inventors.about.com/cs/inventorsalphabet/a/martin_cooper.htm
1981 – Adam Osborne unveiled the Osborne 1 at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. It cost $1,795 at retail.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383022,00.asp/
2000 – US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled Microsoft violated the nation’s antitrust laws by using its monopoly position in personal computer operating systems to stifle competition.
http://money.cnn.com/2000/04/03/technology/microsoft_report//
2010 – The first Apple iPad went on sale in the US, starting at $499.
https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/03/05iPad-Available-in-US-on-April-3.html/
Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.