Today in 20th Century Tech History

July 2 in 20th century tech history

In 1900: First Zeppelin takes flight over Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.

In 1928: W3XK, the first television station in the US and likely the world, begins broadcasting a 48-line mechanical television signal from Wheaton, Maryland. It was operated by Charles Jenkins Laboratories.

In 1937: Pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.

In 1908: SOS officially becomes the international Morse code distress signal.

In 1979: Sony introduces the Walkman.

In 1905: Albert Einstein publishes the article " On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", where he introduces special relativity.

In 1953: The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.

In 1995: Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir for the first time on mission STS-71.

In 1938: The first passenger aerial tramway in North America is dedicated in Franconia, New Hampshire.

In 1965: The first commerical telephone conversation over a satellite takes place via Intelsat I between America and Europe.

In 1923: Capt. Lowell Smith and Lt. John Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane.

In 1954: The world's first nuclear power station, the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, opens near Moscow.

In 1967: The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London.

In 1927: The Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster opens.

In 1936: The Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first fully controllable helicopter, takes its maiden flight.

In 1974: The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time in a retail store, to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

In 1976: The CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing structure on land until 2007, is opened in Toronto.