The earliest reception of television at sea occurred in April 1928 on board the Cunarder Berengaria, when the chief wireless operator, S.W.Brown (UK) received low-definition pictures of his fiancée, Dora Slevey (UK) on a TV set that were transmitted from London, UK by the Baird Company.
Stonkers, the first real-time strategy (RTS) game, where you control both your world or troops and their actions in battle, was created by John Gibson in 1983. GWR Video Gamer’s Edition 2008.
On 1-2 December 1982 at the Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, Barney Clark (USA) a dentist from Des Moines, Washington, was the first recipient of an artificial heart at the age of 61. The surgeon was Dr William C. DeVries and the heart was a Jarvik 7 designed by Dr Robert K. Jarvik (b. 11 May 1946). The patient died on 23 March 1983, 112 days later.
This occurred in Lake Alexandrina, Australia, during the late 19th century. Following the development of a scum of Nodularia spumigene covering the lake surface, dogs, sheep, pigs, horses, and cattle all died after drinking water from this lake. This blue-green algal species produces nodularin, a hepatotoxin, which causes blood to collect in the liver, in turn inducing circulatory shock and sometimes bringing about death by internal haemorrhaging.
While early TV shows were broadcast live, the first sci-fi series to be pre-recorded was Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (syndicated, 1953). Recorded shows allowed for better planning and reuseable sets and more impressive effects – particularly important for the science-fiction genre.
Symbolics.com was the first domain name ever registered, according to NetNames Ltd. It was registered on March 15 1985
The earliest rhythm action video game was PaRappa the Rapper, which was released in 1996. The game saw players taking on the role of a cartoon dog, pressing the right button at the right time to make him perform raps.
The earliest launch of a liquid-fuelled rocket (patented 14 Jul 1914) was by Dr Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) of the USA, at Auburn, Massachusetts, USA on 16 Mar 1926, when his rocket reached an altitude of 12.5m 41ft and travelled a distance of 56m 184ft.
The first to row the Atlantic East to West from mainland Spain to West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago) is Leven Brown (UK) who rowed solo in Atlantic Wholff between 26 August 2005 – 26 January 2006.
The first to row the Atlantic East to West from Europe (Portugal) to South America (Guyana), land to land, is Stein Hoff (Norway), who rowed solo in Atlantic Star II between 10 August – 14 November 2002.