This week in 1901 – The Victor Talking Machine Company was incorporated. After a merger with Radio Corporation of America, RCA-Victor became the leader in phonographs and many of the records played on them.
1957 – The first Earth satellite was launched into space by the Soviet Union. The craft circled the earth every 95 minutes at almost 2,000 miles per hour. “Sputnik I” fell from the sky on January 4, 1958.
1980 – Ethernet specifications were first published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.
1982 – Sony launched the first consumer compact disc player, model number CDP-101. It was available at a list price of about $730.
1996 – The Nintendo 64 video game system, known as the first ‘true’ 64-bit system, hit North American shelves. That first day, Nintendo sold 500,000 systems, with the 
Mario64 game selling the same with it. Needless to say, Nintendo’s system was a big success.