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A Day in the Past

Inventions

179 stories through the year, in calendar order. Tap one to visit its day.

January

1 Jan 1983 ARPANET switches to TCP/IP, creating the InternetThe ARPANET, an early American computer network, switched to using a set of rules called TCP/IP. These rules let different computer networks connect …
1 Jan 1985 The first mobile phone call is made in BritainThe first British mobile phone call was made by Michael Harrison to his father, Sir Ernest Harrison. Sir Ernest was the first chairman of Vodafone, w…
2 Jan 1921 R.U.R., the play that introduced the word 'robot', is first performedThe science fiction play R.U.R. by the Czech writer Karel Čapek had its first performance, in a theatre in Hradec Králové. The letters stand for 'Ros…
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
3 Jan 1957 The Hamilton Watch Company sells the first electric watchThe Hamilton Watch Company introduced the first electric watch. It was the first company to make and sell a wristwatch powered by a small battery. Th…
Photo: Ofbarea, Public domain
3 Jan 1977 Apple Computer officially becomes a companyApple Computer was incorporated, which means it was officially set up as a company, by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They had started the business th…
6 Jan 1838 Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashesAmerican inventor Alfred Vail and his colleagues showed a telegraph system that sent messages using dots and dashes. It was the forerunner of Morse c…
7 Jan 1785 A gas balloon makes the first flight across the English ChannelFrench inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American doctor John Jeffries flew from Dover, in England, to Calais, in France, in a gas balloon. It was t…
Photo: J. Newton, sculpsit ; R. Livesay, pinxit, Public domain
7 Jan 1894 Thomas Edison films someone sneezingThomas Edison made a short kinetoscope film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee William Kennedy Dickson received a patent for motion p…
7 Jan 1904 Marconi's company chooses CQD as a radio distress callThe Marconi International Marine Communication Company announced that ships in distress, or needing help, should send the radio call 'CQD'. It was on…
7 Jan 1927 The first telephone service across the Atlantic opensThe first commercial telephone service across the Atlantic Ocean began, linking New York City and London. For the first time, customers could pay to …
8 Jan 1889 Herman Hollerith is granted a patent for his punched-card machineAmerican inventor Herman Hollerith received a patent for his tabulating machine. It used electricity to count information stored as holes punched in …
9 Jan 1816 Humphry Davy's safety lamp is tested in a coal mineHumphry Davy's new safety lamp was tested at Hebburn Colliery, a coal mine. In mines, flammable gases such as methane, called firedamp, could explode…
Photo: Scan made by Kogo, Public domain
9 Jan 1839 The daguerreotype photography process is announced in ParisThe French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype, an early way of taking photographs. It was the second photographic process ever made avai…
9 Jan 1923 Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flightSpanish engineer Juan de la Cierva made the first successful flight in his autogyro, a stable aircraft with spinning blades. An autogyro has a rotor …
9 Jan 2007 Steve Jobs introduces the first iPhoneApple's boss, Steve Jobs, introduced the first iPhone at a Macworld event in San Francisco. The smartphone had a 3.5-inch touchscreen that could sens…
10 Jan 1985 Clive Sinclair launches the C5 electric tricycleInventor Sir Clive Sinclair unveiled the Sinclair C5, a small one-person tricycle powered by a battery and pedals. Its top speed was only 15 miles pe…
Photo: Grant Mitchell, CC BY 2.0
13 Jan 1942 Henry Ford patents a car made from soybean plasticCar maker Henry Ford patented a car made almost entirely of plastic, fixed to a metal frame. The plastic was made using soybeans and other crops. The…
Photo: Ford Motor Company. Photographic Department, Public domain
13 Jan 1942 A test pilot makes the first escape using an ejection seatGerman test pilot Helmut Schenk became the first person to escape from a failing aircraft using an ejection seat. Ice had stopped the controls of his…
14 Jan 1973 Elvis Presley's Hawaii concert is broadcast by satelliteElvis Presley, known as the 'King of Rock and Roll', performed a concert in Honolulu, Hawaii, called Aloha from Hawaii. It was beamed live by satelli…
15 Jan 1885 Wilson Bentley takes the first known photo of a snowflakeWilson Bentley, a 19-year-old from a farm in Jericho, Vermont, in the USA, took the first known photograph of a snowflake. After much experimenting, …
15 Jan 1892 James Naismith publishes the rules of basketballPE teacher James Naismith published the rules of basketball, a new game he had invented. Teaching at a college in Springfield, Massachusetts, he need…
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
15 Jan 2001 The first edit is made to WikipediaThe first edit was made to the new online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It appeared on the site's home page and said: 'This is the new WikiPedia!' Wikipedi…
17 Jan 1706 Born: Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin was an American printer, scientist, inventor and statesman. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and helped to w…
18 Jan 1896 An X-ray machine is shown in public for the first timeH. L. Smith exhibited a machine for making X-rays for the first time. X-rays had been discovered only the year before by the German scientist Wilhelm…
18 Jan 1911 Eugene Ely makes the first aeroplane landing on a shipAmerican pilot Eugene Ely landed his aeroplane on a platform built on the warship USS Pennsylvania, anchored in San Francisco Bay. It was the first t…
18 Jan 2005 The Airbus A380, the world's biggest airliner, is unveiledThe first Airbus A380 was shown to the world at a ceremony in Toulouse, France. It is the largest passenger airliner ever built and the only one with…
19 Jan 1736 Born: James WattJames Watt was a Scottish inventor and engineer, born on 19 January by the old calendar then used in Britain. While working at the University of Glas…
Photo: Carl Frederik von Breda, Public domain
19 Jan 1883 Edison's first electric lighting system with overhead wires beginsThe first electric lighting system to use overhead wires, built by inventor Thomas Edison, started working in Roselle, New Jersey, in the USA. That y…
Photo: Louis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios, restored by Michel Vuijlsteke, Public domain
20 Jan 1775 Born: André-Marie AmpèreAndré-Marie Ampère was a French scientist and mathematician who helped to found the science of electromagnetism, which studies how electricity and ma…
21 Jan 1976 Concorde begins its first scheduled passenger flightsConcorde, a supersonic airliner built jointly by Britain and France, began flying paying passengers on scheduled routes. Supersonic means faster than…
Photo: Eduard Marmet, CC BY-SA 3.0
22 Jan 1927 The first radio commentary of a football match is broadcastTeddy Wakelam and Cecil Lewis gave the first commentary of a football match on British radio. The game, between Arsenal and Sheffield United at Highb…
22 Jan 1970 The Boeing 747 jumbo jet carries its first passengersThe Boeing 747 began passenger service with the airline Pan Am on the route between New York and London. It was the world's first wide-body airliner,…
22 Jan 1984 Apple's famous '1984' advert introduces the Macintosh computerDuring the Super Bowl, America's biggest American football game, Apple Computer showed a TV advert called '1984' to introduce its new Macintosh compu…
23 Jan 1957 Inventor Fred Morrison sells his flying disc, later called the FrisbeeAmerican inventor Fred Morrison sold the rights to his flying disc to the toy company Wham-O. The company later renamed the toy the Frisbee. Wham-O a…
23 Jan 1993 Mosaic, the first popular web browser, is releasedThe first version of Mosaic, a web browser created by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina, was released. A web browser is a program for viewing pages on th…
Photo: Charles Severance, CC0
25 Jan 1915 Bell opens the first coast-to-coast telephone line in the USAAlexander Graham Bell opened the first telephone service right across the United States. Speaking from New York, he talked to his former assistant Th…
25 Jan 1947 A patent is filed for the earliest known electronic gameThomas Goldsmith Jr. filed a patent for a 'cathode-ray tube amusement device', the earliest known electronic game. A patent is a legal document that …
26 Jan 1926 John Logie Baird gives the first demonstration of televisionScottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of true television pictures, showing moving images of people. His audience was…
Photo: Baird Television, Public domain
27 Jan 1880 Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his electric light bulbAmerican inventor Thomas Edison received a patent for his incandescent lamp, a type of electric light bulb. In this kind of bulb, electricity heats a…
Photo: Arnaud 25, CC BY-SA 3.0
27 Jan 2010 Apple introduces the first iPadApple introduced the first iPad, a tablet computer. Smaller, lighter and more powerful models followed, such as the iPad Mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro.…
28 Jan 1958 Lego files a patent for its famous building bricksThe Danish toy company Lego filed a patent in Denmark for the design of its plastic bricks. A patent protects an inventor's design. Lego bricks inter…
29 Jan 1886 Carl Benz patents the first practical motor carGerman engineer Carl Benz received a patent for his petrol-powered motor car, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. It is considered the first practical modern…
Photo: DaimlerChrysler AG, CC BY-SA 3.0
30 Jan 1862 USS Monitor, the US Navy's first ironclad warship, is launchedThe United States Navy launched USS Monitor during the American Civil War. It became the first ironclad, or iron-armoured, warship to serve in the US…
Photo: Public domain, Public domain
30 Jan 1920 The company that became carmaker Mazda is foundedThe company that became the Japanese carmaker Mazda was founded by Jujiro Matsuda. At first it was called Toyo Cork Kogyo and made cork, the material…
31 Jan 1858 Brunel's giant steamship Great Eastern is finally launchedThe SS Great Eastern, an iron steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched at Millwall on the River Thames in London. It was by far th…

February

September

29 Sep 1885 Blackpool opens the world's first practical electric tramwayAn electric tramway opened in Blackpool, Lancashire. It is described as the first practical public electric tramway in the world. Trams still run on …
Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), CC BY-SA 4.0

October

November

December