Category: History

Apple History

Apple II’s 35-year-old operating system is now open to the public

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As reported on Engadget. By Matt Brian In a world of super-fast OS X and Windows machines, it’s easy to forget that early desktop computers were a lot more basic. That was the case for the Apple II, Cupertino’s first mass-market computer that utilized a cassette tape for data storage and just 4K of memory. Now, more than 35 years after its release, the Computer History Museum is making the original DOS source code for the iconic computer…

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Art History

Over $1.35 billion in Nazi art found hidden behind ‘mountains of rotting food’

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As reported on The Verge. By Aaron Souppouris Over 1,500 paintings previously thought destroyed in World War II have been found in Germany after officials followed up on a hunch. Three years ago, customs officials performed a routine check on a train from Switzerland. On the train was Hildebrandt Gurlitt, a Munich resident who reportedly had a “shifty demeanor.” They could never have imagined that the reason for Gurlitt’s behavior was an unimaginable “treasure trove” of…

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History Tech

Time Machines – Wireless wonder

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As reported on Engadget. By Jon Turi Welcome to Time Machines, where we offer up a selection of mechanical oddities, milestone gadgets, and unique inventions to test out your tech-history skills. This device famously exhibited the potential of tuned radio waves and their ability to wirelessly convey a signal. In 1899, it transmitted a message successfully from Britain, across the English Channel’s 32-mile expanse, to a receiver in France. Its business-minded inventor went on to pioneer an industry…

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History Tech

Time Machines: A PC pioneer

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As reported on Engadget. By Jon Turi Welcome to Time Machines, where we offer up a selection of mechanical oddities, milestone gadgets, and unique inventions to test out your tech-history skills. This digital device was released in 1971, just prior to the announcement of the first commercially available microprocessor. It offered a personal computing experience at a relatively affordable price and, in 1986, it was selected as the winner in the Computer Museum’s “Earliest PC Contest.” Head past…

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History Story

Man Pieces Together Historic Train Cars for High-Speed Cross-Country Journey

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As reported on Wired. BY DOUGLAS WOLK Musician Eleanor Friedberger acts in a short video piece the Station to Station crew is directing during a pitstop in the town of Raton, NM. Photo: Bryan Derballa/WIRED Musician Tim Koh and music curator Henrietta Tiefenthaler work on their various devices in the dining car on the train ride to Santa Fe, NM. Photo: Bryan Derballa/WIRED Enigmatic switches on the Station to Station train. Photo: Bryan Derballa/WIRED Chef Leif…

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Article History

1,200 years later, lost city discovered in the jungles of Cambodia

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As reported on The Verge. By Amar Toor A team of archaeologists from Australia has discovered an ancient city that had been buried under the jungles of Cambodia for more than 1,000 years. The 1,200-year-old city, known as Mahendraparvata, was uncovered in the Siem Reap region of Cambodia, atop a mountain known as Phnom Kulen, where thousands of pilgrims used to perform spiritual ceremonies. As the Age reports, the city is believed to predate the famed Angkor Wat temple…

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History Tech

Another rare, working Apple 1 signed by Steve Wozniak headed to auction

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As reported on The Verge. By Dieter Bohn Currently, there are estimated to only be six working models of the original Apple 1 left, and one of them is going up for auction in Germany on May 25th. Computerworldreports that it was originally purchased by one Fred Hatfield, who also received a letter signed by Steve Jobs offering an upgrade from the $666.66 Apple-1 to an Apple II 4K motherboard for another $400. According to Mike Willegal, who has…

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History Internet

CERN celebrates 20 years of a free, open web by restoring world’s first website

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As reported on Engadget. By James Trew The web as we know it was famously invented by Tim Berners-Lee while working atCERN, but it wasn’t until a few years later — 1993 to be precise — that it’d truly be set free. On April 30 of that year, Berners-Lee’s then employer would make the technology behind the WWW available license free, bundling a basic browser and some key chunks of code into the deal. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of…

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Culture Health History Imagery

‘Could you poison your child?’: images from a century of medical propaganda

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As reported on The Verge. By Amar Toor Health, history, and design collide at the National Library of Medicine The US National Library of Medicine is much more than a library about medicine. Founded in 1836, the Maryland-based NLM is home to the world’s largest collection of biomedical resources, including old books, videos, and scientific studies. It also houses a fascinating online collection of public service announcements and health-related propaganda — a century-spanning trove of posters, advertisements, and pamphlets from…

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History Tech

Bill Gates, 18-year-old Harvard freshman, is looking for a job

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As reported on The Verge. By Sam Byford The event that saw Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen pose for a classic photo reenactment has turned up another gem from the pair’s early history. Seattle’s Living Computer Museum held a gathering last night for many of founder Paul Allen’s friends and fellow technological luminaries, and it also managed to dig up Gates’ and Allen’s pre-Microsoft resumes. At the time Gates was a freshman at Harvard; he said he’d be…

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