On this day: April 1

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1958 • neutral • 6 views

Early satellite failure in April 1958 provokes public alarm

A 1950s-era rocket on a coastal launch pad at dawn with technicians and simple tracking antennas in the background; vintage vehicles and utilitarian equipment indicate early spaceflight operations.

On April 1, 1958, the failure of one of the first U.S. satellite attempts intensified Cold War anxieties as technicians and officials scrambled to explain a mission that did not reach its objectives, prompting public confusion and media scrutiny.

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1976 • neutral • 7 views

Apple Computer Founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, April 1976

Early 1970s workshop table with electronic components, a single-board computer circuit on a workbench, soldering tools, and cardboard boxes in a modest garage-like room.

On April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak formally founded Apple Computer Company, marking the start of a company that would play a central role in the personal computer revolution of the late 20th century.

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1960 • neutral • 8 views

First Weather Satellite Begins Sending Images to Earth

TIROS-1 satellite schematic and a black-and-white television-style image of Earth's cloud cover as seen from early satellite photography.

On April 1, 1960, the United States launched TIROS-1, the first satellite to send usable television images of Earth's weather from orbit, beginning a new era in meteorology and global observation.

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1900 • neutral • 7 views

Kodak’s Brownie ushers in mass-market photography

An early 1900s scene showing a simple Brownie box camera on a wooden table beside a roll of roll film and a Kodak developing box, set in a modest domestic parlor with period-appropriate furnishings.

On April 1, 1900, Eastman Kodak introduced the Brownie camera, a simple, affordable box camera that made snapshot photography widely accessible and helped create the mass market for amateur photography.

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