How’s the Weather

These questions concerning various ’firsts’ also all relate to today’s date, January 7th.

W.S. Gifford.
Library of Congress

One

The first ‘official’ commercial transatlantic telephone service was established on this date. In what decade, and between what two cities, was the connection made?

Two

The first observation of the Galilean moons was made with two being visible. Who made this first observation and in what century was it made?

Three

In 1985, which country’s space agency launched the Sakigake spacecraft, the first deep space probe launched by a nation other than the United States or the Soviet Union?

Four

What first three-letter distress signal was established in 1904, only to be replaced two years later by SOS?

Five

In 1954, the Georgetown-IBM experiment at the head office of IBM in New York City was the first public demonstration of a computer doing which of these?

  1. Performing arithmetic and complex mathematical calculations
  2. Scanning text and graphics
  3. Translating from one input language to another output language

Good luck! I’ll post the answers later today.

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Author: Scott F

As a retired trivia writer, editor and quiz compiler, I wholeheartedly agree with Bertrand Russell’s quote: “There’s much pleasure to be gained in useless knowledge.” Trivia of all sorts has always fascinated me, and for many years, I’ve written and compiled trivia for various media, including traditional TV and radio quiz shows, newspapers and magazines, apps, and other digital platforms.

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