Computers halt a launch, Google is incorporated and Code Red Worm returns. All on today’s On This Day from TestHuddle.
1988 – Computers Take Control
Just seconds before ignition, a computer halts an engine test in preparation for the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The computer controlling the shuttle’s engines determined that a valve wasn’t closing fast enough and sent a major component failure command to all three engines, telling them to shut down. The new test and computer systems are a response from NASA’s for higher standards of safety after the Challenger explosion in 1986.
1998 – Hello Google!
Google is Incorporated as a privately held company. Developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the search engine was originally called “Back Rub”. The incorporation is brought on by Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim writing a cheque for $100,000 to Google Inc, a company which did not exist at the time he wrote the cheque.
2001 – Code Red Worm returns in another form
A re-write of the Code Red worm, named Code Red II, begins spreading across the Internet. The worm is designed to exploit a security hole in the indexing software included as part of Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS) web server software. China is especially hard-hit. The image shows countries affected by the virus.
If you would like to add anything to these events, or know of other significant technology events that happened on this day in history, feel free to comment below.
Images: Getty/Wikipedia
