Today in 20th Century Tech History

March 9 in 20th century tech history

In 1932: The Ford Flathead engine, the first mass-produced V8 engine, enters production.

In 1936: The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In 1979: Voyager 1 discovers volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.

In 1979: Scientists discover a ring around Jupiter while examining photographs taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

In 1992: The Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers.

In 1936: First flight of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft.

In 1943: First flight of the Gloster Meteor jet fighter aircraft, the Allies' first operational jet.

In 1979: Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Jupiter, passing within 172,000 miles.

In 1982: Soviet space probe Venera 14 arrives at the planet Venus.

In 1998: NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water to support a human colony.

In 1925: Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to have his inauguration broadcast on radio.

In 1959: Space probe Pioneer 4 flies past the Moon and enters orbit around the Sun.

In 1994: Space shuttle mission STS-62 is launched.

In 1915: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor of NASA, is founded.

In 1969: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.

In 1997: The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, opens after 30 months of construction.