History Schmistory: December 12. Is anybody out there?

1901: Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal in Newfoundland. The Message? “What kind of name is gooey elbow macaroni?”

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Guglielmo,_Marchese_Marconi._Colour_lithograph_by_Sir_L._War_Wellcome_V0003849.jpg

Leslie Ward [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: December 7. “We’ve been expecting you”

1995: The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis. Jupiter bakes a cake.

By NASA [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: December 2. Hubble Trouble.

1993: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavor on a mission to repair the damaged Hubble Space Telescope, and, of course, terminate the culprits…

By NASA/Kim Shiflett [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By NASA/Kim Shiflett [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 21. News from the Prince of Patents.

1877: Thomas Edison announces his latest invention, the phonograph, the first instrument able to reproduce a recorded sound, and one of the few inventions Edison might actually deserve a little credit for.

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 17. Not your ordinary cat toy…

1970: Douglas Engelbart successfully patents the computer mouse. His patent for computer cheese is still pending.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/SRI_Douglas_Engelbart_2008.jpg

By SRI International (SRI International) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia CommonsBy SRI International (SRI International) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 11. Coooold-snap!

1911: Apocalyptic expectations went wild the last time we saw an 11/11/11, as The Great Blue Norther, a cold snap that produced record highs and lows on the same day, barreled through the central US, leaving much of the bewildered population with contrasting habiliments.

By Adriano Agulló [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Adriano Agulló [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 8. Rays of Hope.

1895: Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-Ray almost completely by accident. And that’s when the fun began!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Historical_X-ray_nci-vol-1893-300.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Historical_X-ray_nci-vol-1893-300.jpg

History Schmistory: October 13. Speaking of Galaxies…

1773: The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier (‘s awesome telescopes.)

By NASA and European Space Agency [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By NASA and European Space Agency [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: October 10. What about Spaceland Security?

1967: The Outer Space Treaty, signed by over sixty nations including the US, the UK and the Soviet Union, becomes official. It serves as a binding promise to keep space open for everyone to explore, and to not use it to store and/or fire weapons of mass destruction. Many feel the agreement only makes it easier for outside forces to take advantage of the opportunity.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Astronaut-EVA.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Astronaut-EVA.jpg

A Name You Should Know: Bill Lear

Most people who do know the name, credit him as the developer of the luxury aircraft, the Learjet, but there are plenty of even better reasons to sing the praises of Bill Lear. Anyone who listens to music in their vehicles must give him credit for inventing the first car radio and then the eight-track tape player. Not enough for you? OK, then, he also basically invented radio navigation AND autopilot technology. On top of that he even had a great sense of humor. He named his daughter Shanda… Shanda Lear… brilliant!!

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