This week in 1879 – Thomas Edison delighted an audience in Menlo Park, New Jersey. He gave his first public demonstration of incandescent lighting
1952 – The first transistorized hearing aid was offered for sale by Sonotone Corporation.
1977 – Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated in Cupertino, California after being launched in Steve Jobs’ Garage.
1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet as we know it.
And this week in 1997 – In an attempt to nudge its Microsoft Network into a more competitive position (vs. America Online), 
Microsoft announced the purchase of Hotmail, the free Web-based e-mail service.