The Secret of Monkey Island was the first point ’n’ click video game to have a full soundtrack with different tunes tailored for specific parts of the game. Michael Land wrote the music and was the only musician to have a permanent job at LucasArts. The sequel, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge, went further and was the first game to use LucasArts’ iMUSE sound system, which allowed music to be synchronized with the on-screen action. This heralded a new era of audio in gaming and
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The earliest Playstation 2 game to allow online play was Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, published by Activision, released in 2001. Unlike later online titles this could be done without the need for an adaptor, by using a standard usB connector and a dial-up connection.
Rodney Harrison (USA) playing for the San Diego Chargers (1994-2002) and the New England Patriots (2003-present) became the first player in NFL history to record to record at least 20 career interceptions and 20 career quarterback sacks.
A “Ponzi” scheme is a form of fraudulent investment, where large returns are promised but, instead of being paid for by the profit on real investments, they are paid for from subsequent investors enticed by the high interest rates offered. They are reliant on an ever-increasing flow of money from new investors and will ultimately fail because the earnings are less than the payments – the most recent investors losing their money. They are called “Ponzi” schemes after Charles Ponzi, an Italian who moved to
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On April 28 1999, at 10:30 am (GMT), the first ever phone call took place between people at the north and the south poles. It was accomplished by Mike Comberiate and Andre Fortin (both NASA, USA). It became a conference call, coordinated from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and lasted 45 minutes. Taking part in the call were: George Morrow, Tom Carlson, Joel Michalski, Mike Comberiate, Claire Parkinson, Vince Hurley and Ron Ruhlman. The participants in the call have the following affiliations: G Morrow (NASA’s
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It’s been said, and with some justification, that the most widely published fiction is most publishers’ sales figures. Fiction was transformed into fact, however, with the setting-up of the world’s first point-of-sale records system for books. Launched in January 2001, Nielsen BookScan records point-of-sale data from 33,500 bookshops around the world to produce the most accurate record of worldwide book sales so far produced.
The earliest prehistoric salamanders date back 165 million years. Fossilised remains of thousands of individuals have been discovered in volcanic ash beds in China and Mongolia. As well as their skeletons, impressions of soft tissue of Chunerpeton tianyiensis, and stomach contents have been preserved. Previously, the earliest known salamanders dated back around 65 million years. These animals are related to salamanders which currently inhabit North America and Asia. The discoveries are part of an ongoing programme of research by the University of Chicago, US, and
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Marine propulsion by steam engine was first achieved in 1783 when the Marquis Jouffroy d’Abbans (1751-1832) ascended a reach of the river Saône near Lyon, France, in the 180-tonne (397,000 lb) paddle steamer Pyroscaphe. The first successful power-driven vessel was the tug Charlotte Dundas, a stern paddle-wheel steamer built for the Forth and Clyde Canal in 1801-2 by William Symington (1763-1831), using a double-acting condensing engine constructed by James Watt (1736-1819).
The earliest crossing of the Atlantic by a power vessel, as opposed to an auxiliary-engined sailing ship, was a 22-day voyage begun in April 1827, from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to the West Indies, by the Curaçao. She was a 38.7 m (127 ft) wooden paddle boat of 445 tonnes (981,000 lb), built as the Calpe in Dover, Kent in 1826 and purchased by the Dutch Government for a West Indian mail service.
Among the first few announcements made when Barack Obama (USA) took office in January 2009 was the news that the president, an avid emailer, would use email to stay in touch with senior staff and personal friends during his presidency. However the title for the first US President to use email in office goes to President Bill Clinton (USA), who sent one e-mail as a test and another, with the help of his staff, to astronaut John Glenn while the astronaut was in orbit on
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