What Happened Today, June 21st

IBM retired its last "STRETCH" mainframe, part of the 7000 series that represented the company's first transistorized computers. At the top of the line of computers -- all of which emerged significantly faster and more dependable than vacuum tube machines -- sat the 7030, or STRETCH. Seven of the computers, which featured a 64-bit word architecture and other innovations, were sold to national laboratories and other scientific users. L. R. Johnson first used the term "architecture" in describing the STRETCH.

IBM retired its last "STRETCH" mainframe, part of the 7000 series that represented the company's first transistorized computers. At the top of the line of computers -- all of which emerged significantly faster and more dependable than vacuum tube machines -- sat the 7030, or STRETCH. Seven of the computers, which featured a 64-bit word architecture and other innovations, were sold to national laboratories and other scientific users. L. R. Johnson first used the term "architecture" in describing the STRETCH.

Konrad Zuse was born in Germany. An early computer pioneer, Zuse in the 1940s began work on Plankalkul (plan Calculus), the first algorithmic programming language. Seven years earlier, Zuse developed and built the world's first binary digital computing device, the Z1. He completed the first fully functional program-controlled (by a punched paper tape) electromechanical digital computer, the Z3, in 1941. Only the Z4 -- the most sophisticated of his creations -- survived World War II.

Turing, a British mathematician, logician and cryptanalyst, played key roles in the conception and theoretical underpinnings of electronic computers. As a codebreaker at Bletchley Park in the UK during World War II, Turing led the team that cracked the "unbreakable" Enigma code used by the German high command for battlefield communications. This has led some observers to speculate that Turing's work alone shortened the war by two years, savings many lives. Turing is best-known today for his work on the idea of a "universal computer," one that could run any program. This has since become known as a "Turing Machine." Turing died under mysterious circumstances from cyanide poisoning in 1954, though it was officially declared suicide. He was 41.

Hewlett-Packard Co. announced new advanced ATM test capabilities, which it showcased at the Supercomm '96 convention in Dallas from June 25 to June 27. The new asynchronous transfer mode test options allowed users to test equipment according to their specific "class of service."

Microsoft is incorporated. Founded six years earlier by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft grew out of the friends' development of BASIC for the MITS Altair home computer kit. With later successes in its Windows operating system and software such as Word and Excel, Microsoft has grown to dominance in the personal computer software industry and billions of dollars of revenue.

The US Supreme Court ruled the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional on a 7-2 vote. The act, passed by both houses of Congress, sought to control the content of the Internet in an effort to keep pornography from minors. In an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court ruled the act a violation of free speech as guaranteed by the US Constitution.

World Wide Web software producer Spyglass Inc. went public, the year after it had begun distributing its Spyglass Mosaic software, an early browser for navigating the Web. With previous year's earnings at $7 million, Spyglass was founded by students at the Illinois Supercomputing Center, which also inspired Netscape Communications Corp.

Mathematician, scientist and computer pioneer Vannevar Bush died. Bush was born in Everett, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1890. Also deeply involved with wartime computer projects, Bush invented an electromechanical differential analyzer before the war.