The co-founder of Adobe systems is born, remote computing takes its first steps and a standard for wireless networks is established. All on today’s On This Day from TEST Huddle.
1939 – Charles Geschke is born
On this day in 1939, the co-founder (along with John Warnock) of Adobe Systems, Charles Geschke is born. Charles attended Xavier University where he graduated with a BA in classics and an M.Sc in mathematics and from there achieved a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. He first taught mathematics at John Carroll University from 1963 to 1968. He met his co-founder at Xerox, where after meeting opposition from the management for their ideas, they left to form Adobe Systems.
1940 – Remote Computing
At the Bell Telephone Labs, an engineer Dr. George R. Stibitz, demonstrates the first example of “remote computing.” Having created built the “Model 1 Complex Number Calculator” a year before at Bell Laboratories, he leaves it in New York City and travels to New Hampshire with a teleprinter, where he allows attendees of the American Mathematical Society at Dartmouth College to enter equations that are transmitted down phone lines and calculated remotely, before the answers are returned to what will later be described as an astounded audience. Wiremen had arranged the hookup between the college and the computer in the Bell Labs building on West Street in New York, New York a day before the demonstration. It took about one minute for the computer to respond accurately via teletype to problems sent to it.
2009 – Wireless Network Standard
After exactly six years and almost a dozen drafts, the IEEE Standards Board approves the IEEE 802.11n wireless networking standard. The new wireless network standard 802.11n offers a significant increase in network throughput over its predecessors, 802.11a and 802.11g, boosting the maximum raw data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s.
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: Wikipedia
