1899 – A US patent was issued for an “Electric Device,” invented by David Misell, which used D size batteries laid end to end in a paper tube with a light bulb and a brass reflector at the end. The batteries only lasted long enough for a “flash” of light, hence the name Flashlight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Patent_617,592.png
1946 – The Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories in New Jersey received the first echoes off the Moon of an experiment to send the first radio transmissions through outer space.
1949 – In response to Columbia’s new 33-RPM long playing record, RCA kicked off a platter war introducing the seven-inch diameter 45 rpm “single” in the US.
http://www.wired.com/2012/01/new-format/
1962 – NASA announced plans to build the C-5, a three-stage rocket launch vehicle. It became better known as the Saturn V, which launched every Apollo Moon mission.
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/display.html
2008 – Sony BMG became the last major label to agree to sell DRM-free MP3s.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080118185346/http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205602334&subSection=All+Stories
Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.