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Mouse created
The first computer mouse was publicly unveiled in 1968 by its inventor, Douglas C. Engelbart. He invented the computer mouse in 1964 — two decades before it would ship with the first Apple Macintosh -
ARPANET created
ARPANET establishes 1st computer-to-computer link, October 29, 1969. The first-ever computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), the precursor to the Internet, on October 29, 1969. -
First email sent
Sent by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971, the email was simply a test message to himself. The email was sent from one computer to another computer sitting right beside it in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it traveled via ARPANET, a network of computers that was the precursor to the Internet. -
GPS released to public
GPS/GIS: The Global Positioning System was opened for use by civilian aircraft in 1983, beginning a trend that ' combined with great advances in geographic information systems and mapping tools ' led to agency data visualized in layered maps and cars telling their drivers where to turn. -
Network file systems unveiled, now known as the Cloud
The file system that brought us to the age of network storage. No longer would your data be hostage to the computer in which it was created ' or to backup tape. -
Walkman unveiled
Sony built the prototype just as the 1970s were coming to a close. By the end of the decade, Walkman had come to be the generic term for portable audiocassette players, and Sony had extended the brand into videocassettes and CDs (the Discman). For those of us who spent the '90s carrying around enormous cases of CDs and trying to stop our portable players from skipping, however, the iPod decade couldn't come fast enough. -
World Wide Web makes its debut
Invented by Tim Berners-Lee, it would soon change the way governments, business and people operate. -
First consumer web browser developed
It made the Web work for the rest of us. -
Adobe PDF software created
Lawyers and other control freaks love it! Also, it was perhaps the first truly effective document- sharing technology. -
JPEG image format introduced
Lit up the Web with images. -
JAVA unveiled
Write once, run all over the Web. Also a favorite of outsourced Indian web developers -
Universal Serial Bus (USB) introduced
Got all the device manufacturers to settle on one device bus. Cats, meet herder. Useful for small data drives, and that one USB fan you got at the Dollar Tree that gives off a weird smell
