The 1970's Mr. Ried's Social Studies Class by William McGraw The 1970s was a very important decade in the technological field. For example, VCR's were introduced in homes, Sony introduced the Walkman, a portable cassette player, and the first test-tube baby was born. IBM created the first memory disk, also known as the “floppy disk”, in 1970. The reason it was called a “floppy disk” was because of its ability to bend easily. The first memory disk was 8 inches long and had a coating of magnetic iron oxide. Its creator was an engineer named Alan Shugart. The floppy disk's original purpose was to load microbes into the controller of “Merlin”( IBM 3330). In 1976, Alan Shugart created a smaller disk that 5 ¼ inches for Wang Laboratories. By 1978, more than ten different companies were making 5 ¼ inch disks. In the 1960's and early 1970's, all calculators were large and had to be used on desk tops. Bell Punch Co. LTD and Sum-lock Compometer LTD in England introduced the “Anita” which is claimed to be the first fully electronic desk top calculator. It weighed a total of 33 pounds. All of that changed when Texas Instruments, Inc. (USA). The inventors were Jack Kilby, Jerry Merryman, and Jim Van Tassel. The calculator that they made was capable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Jean Paul Getty III was the grandson of a successful oil tycoon. He was also a troubled teenager who had started using drugs and drinking alcohol at an early age. But in 1973, Paul Getty was at the age of 16, kidnapped in Rome, Italy by common criminals. His ransom was a total of $17 million. Before the ransom had been payed, the captors had cut off Getty's ear and sent it to a local newspaper in Rome. Along with the severed ear, the captors sent another note stating that they would settle to a smaller amount of $2.8 million. Paul Getty Sr, agreed to pay $2.2 million and Paul Getty, said he would pay the remaining fee. Paul Getty III was then released after 5 months of being held captive. He then became even more dependent on drugs and alcohol. At the age of 18, he married a German film maker and moved to New York, which cost him to disinherit the family fortune. In 1981, Paul Getty III had a stroke and woke up paralyzed from the neck down. After this disaster, Paul Getty III started to improve his condition. He then died at the age of 54 in 2011. The Terracotta army was an army created for the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di. The army was purpose was to recreate and maintain the empire during the afterlife. The army was discovered in 1974 by a farmer in Lintong county near Xi'an City. Now over 6,000 soldiers have been uncovered. All of the soldiers, weapons, animals, and vehicles are an actual life-size replica of the emperor's army. Another interesting fact about the army is that no two soldiers are alike. Each soldier had a different facial expression stance. Over 1 million people visit the army every year making it one of the most popular attractions in China. Microsoft is one of the most successful computer companies in the world. It was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Major products developed Microsoft are Microsoft Office, Macintosh, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Microsoft's first Word program was created in 1985. It's program title was Microsoft Word 1.0. Since then, the company has developed many more Microsoft Office programs. In 2001, Microsoft released its game console, the Xbox. At first the Xbox was not expected to be a hit, but as Halo: Combat Evolved was released, the Xbox became very popular. In 2005, the new Xbox was released, called the Xbox 360. It was an even better model than the first. In 1976, an outbreak of the Ebola virus swept over Zaire, Africa. The virus received its name from a river in Zaire, Africa. The Ebola virus is a virus that is often fatal and is spread between monkeys and humans through close personal contact. In one month, there was a total of 318 cases. Of the 318 cases, there was 280 deaths and 38 survivors. The symptoms from the virus start an average of 16 days after infection. In the earlier stages of the infection, symptoms include fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches, and loss of appetite. After the disease progresses, the symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal and chest pains, and a sore throat. There have only been two other outbreaks of the virus since 1976. In May 25, 1977, Star Wars was released. It became one of the largest science-fiction/fantasy universes in the world. The director's name was George Lucas, already known for his first movie, American Graffiti. The starring cast of Star Wars were Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford. Each of them were new to the film industry. Parts of the Tatooine scenes were filmed in northern Africa. In the movie's first week of release, it earned $1,554,475. From the success of A New Hope, five other movies were made including a prequel series. The first “test-tube” baby was born in Great Britain in 1978. At birth, the baby was 5 lbs, 12 oz. The baby's name was Louise Joy Brown. Louise's parents were Lesley and John Brown. They reason they partook in the vitro fertilization procedure was because they had been unable to produce a child for 9 years. The doctors in charge of the fertilization procedure were Dr. Patrick Steptoe, a gynecologist at Oldham General Hospital, and Dr. Robert Edwards, a psychologist from Cambridge University. When they had taken an egg from Lesley's ovaries and had it fertilized, the two doctors had waited about two and a half days until placing it back in her uterus. Lesley had an untroubled pregnancy until nine days after her due date in which she developed high blood pressure. Dr. Steptoe then decided to have the baby removed through Cesarean section. The operation was successful and Louise was born a healthy baby. The Sony Walkman was a big innovation in portable music-playing devices with its release in 1979. It gave the user the ability to listen to tapes with their own personal headphones. Though it ended up selling over 50 million units in 10 years, it was not expected to succeed in America. The Walkman's original release had been in Japan in which it had sold out in one month. When the Walkman was introduced to America, all of the press had said it was a bad idea. They were wrong. It sold 30,000 units in 1979. After 30 years, Walkman's are still being made today. The 1970's were a very important decade in the technological field. Many things were invented that people still use today such as the calculator, the Walkman, or Microsoft products. The Walkman led to the making of Apple's iPod and the calculator can now draw lines and complete graph.
Mr. Ried's Social Studies Class
by William McGraw
The 1970s was a very important decade in the technological field. For example, VCR's were introduced in homes, Sony introduced the Walkman, a portable cassette player, and the first test-tube baby was born.
IBM created the first memory disk, also known as the “floppy disk”, in 1970. The reason it was called a “floppy disk” was because of its ability to bend easily. The first memory disk was 8 inches long and had a coating of magnetic iron oxide. Its creator was an engineer named Alan Shugart. The floppy disk's original purpose was to load microbes into the controller of “Merlin”( IBM 3330). In 1976, Alan Shugart created a smaller disk that 5 ¼ inches for Wang Laboratories. By 1978, more than ten different companies were making 5 ¼ inch disks.
In the 1960's and early 1970's, all calculators were large and had to be used on desk tops. Bell Punch Co. LTD and Sum-lock Compometer LTD in England introduced the “Anita” which is claimed to be the first fully electronic desk top calculator. It weighed a total of 33 pounds. All of that changed when Texas Instruments, Inc. (USA). The inventors were Jack Kilby, Jerry Merryman, and Jim Van Tassel. The calculator that they made was capable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.
Jean Paul Getty III was the grandson of a successful oil tycoon. He was also a troubled teenager who had started using drugs and drinking alcohol at an early age. But in 1973, Paul Getty was at the age of 16, kidnapped in Rome, Italy by common criminals. His ransom was a total of $17 million. Before the ransom had been payed, the captors had cut off Getty's ear and sent it to a local newspaper in Rome. Along with the severed ear, the captors sent another note stating that they would settle to a smaller amount of $2.8 million. Paul Getty Sr, agreed to pay $2.2 million and Paul Getty, said he would pay the remaining fee. Paul Getty III was then released after 5 months of being held captive. He then became even more dependent on drugs and alcohol. At the age of 18, he married a German film maker and moved to New York, which cost him to disinherit the family fortune. In 1981, Paul Getty III had a stroke and woke up paralyzed from the neck down. After this disaster, Paul Getty III started to improve his condition. He then died at the age of 54 in 2011.
The Terracotta army was an army created for the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di. The army was purpose was to recreate and maintain the empire during the afterlife. The army was discovered in 1974 by a farmer in Lintong county near Xi'an City. Now over 6,000 soldiers have been uncovered. All of the soldiers, weapons, animals, and vehicles are an actual life-size replica of the emperor's army. Another interesting fact about the army is that no two soldiers are alike. Each soldier had a different facial expression stance. Over 1 million people visit the army every year making it one of the most popular attractions in China.
Microsoft is one of the most successful computer companies in the world. It was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Major products developed Microsoft are Microsoft Office, Macintosh, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Microsoft's first Word program was created in 1985. It's program title was Microsoft Word 1.0. Since then, the company has developed many more Microsoft Office programs. In 2001, Microsoft released its game console, the Xbox. At first the Xbox was not expected to be a hit, but as Halo: Combat Evolved was released, the Xbox became very popular. In 2005, the new Xbox was released, called the Xbox 360. It was an even better model than the first.
In 1976, an outbreak of the Ebola virus swept over Zaire, Africa. The virus received its name from a river in Zaire, Africa. The Ebola virus is a virus that is often fatal and is spread between monkeys and humans through close personal contact. In one month, there was a total of 318 cases. Of the 318 cases, there was 280 deaths and 38 survivors. The symptoms from the virus start an average of 16 days after infection. In the earlier stages of the infection, symptoms include fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches, and loss of appetite. After the disease progresses, the symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal and chest pains, and a sore throat. There have only been two other outbreaks of the virus since 1976.
In May 25, 1977, Star Wars was released. It became one of the largest science-fiction/fantasy universes in the world. The director's name was George Lucas, already known for his first movie, American Graffiti. The starring cast of Star Wars were Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford. Each of them were new to the film industry. Parts of the Tatooine scenes were filmed in northern Africa. In the movie's first week of release, it earned $1,554,475. From the success of A New Hope, five other movies were made including a prequel series.
The first “test-tube” baby was born in Great Britain in 1978. At birth, the baby was 5 lbs, 12 oz. The baby's name was Louise Joy Brown. Louise's parents were Lesley and John Brown. They reason they partook in the vitro fertilization procedure was because they had been unable to produce a child for 9 years. The doctors in charge of the fertilization procedure were Dr. Patrick Steptoe, a gynecologist at Oldham General Hospital, and Dr. Robert Edwards, a psychologist from Cambridge University. When they had taken an egg from Lesley's ovaries and had it fertilized, the two doctors had waited about two and a half days until placing it back in her uterus. Lesley had an untroubled pregnancy until nine days after her due date in which she developed high blood pressure. Dr. Steptoe then decided to have the baby removed through Cesarean section. The operation was successful and Louise was born a healthy baby.
The Sony Walkman was a big innovation in portable music-playing devices with its release in 1979. It gave the user the ability to listen to tapes with their own personal headphones. Though it ended up selling over 50 million units in 10 years, it was not expected to succeed in America. The Walkman's original release had been in Japan in which it had sold out in one month. When the Walkman was introduced to America, all of the press had said it was a bad idea. They were wrong. It sold 30,000 units in 1979. After 30 years, Walkman's are still being made today.
The 1970's were a very important decade in the technological field. Many things were invented that people still use today such as the calculator, the Walkman, or Microsoft products. The Walkman led to the making of Apple's iPod and the calculator can now draw lines and complete graph.