1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. 1590 – Luis de Carabajal the younger is tortured by the Inquisition in Mexico City. 1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter...
The Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) has begun installing life preservers along the Esplanade, following an extensive dialog with community leaders about the need for additional safety measures to aid in rescuing people who fall (or jump) into the Hudson River. This map highlights (in red) the seven locations where the Authority plans to install...
One of the first life preservers installed on the Esplanade,
near the point of Wagner Park.
1497 – The Bonfire of the Vanities occurs, during which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy. 1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified. “The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced...
Damage-range comparison between a moderate New Madrid zone earthquake in 1895 (magnitude 6.8) and a similar Los Angeles event 1994 (magnitude 6.7).
RE: Of Occupancy and Occupation ( BroadsheetDAILY February 6 ) To the editor: My head is spinning! Are we under attack by Albany? By the Governor, by the Legislature? In December, Governor Cuomo signed the long-awaited bill requiring a minimal minority of BPC Residents to be on the BPCA Board while attaching an “Approval Message.” It...
The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio has posted an online, interactive map that tracks progress toward its ambitious goal of creating 300,000 units of affordable housing by the year 2026. For Lower Manhattan residents (or people who wish to live here), the map illustrates a stark reality. Since Mr. de Blasio’s administration took office...
AD 60 – The earliest date for which the day of the week is known. A graffito in Pompeii identifies this day as a dies Solis (Sunday). In modern reckoning, this date would have been a Wednesday. 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland becomes King upon the death of his brother...
Jack Kilby and his integrated circuit.
Jack Kilby's demonstration of the first working integrated circuit 'IC' in 1958 revolutionized the field of microelectronics.
Instead of using discrete transistors, resistors, and capacitors to form a circuit, Kilby's IC design integrated a transistor, a capacitor, and the equivalent of three resistors all on the same chip.
The first IC was made out of a thin slice of germanium (the light blue rectangle, seen above) as a bulk resistor and contained a single bipolar transistor (under the large aluminum bar in the center). It had four input/output terminals (the small vertical aluminum bars), a ground (the large bar on the far right) and wires of gold. The microchips of today have been improved by hundreds of innovations, but Kilby's prototype was an important early step. ( National Museum of American History)
