We’re remembering several “firsts” this week, including an electric shaver, a solar powered satellite and the first domain name… It all happened This Week in Tech History.
This week in 1931 – Schick Dry Shaver, Inc, displayed the first electric shaver in Stamford, CT. This early electric razor did not meet widespread acceptance.
1958 – The U.S. Navy launched the Vanguard 1 satellite. It was the first solar-powered satellite and was used to measure the shape of Earth. Although communication with the satellite was lost in 1964, it remains the oldest man-made object still in orbit, together with the upper stage of its launch vehicle.
1985 – The first Internet domain name, symbolics.com, was registered for free. By 1995, domain names were no longer free to register and the company Network Solutions managed the registration process. Domain registration prices were $100 for two years of registration per domain name. By 2014, most .com domain name registration prices had dropped to about $10-$15 per year.
And this week in 1994 – Apple Computer introduced the Power Macintosh. The machine featured a 60 MHz processor, and was available with either 8 or 16 MB of RAM, and a 160 or 250 MB hard drive.