Today in History:
March 21st, 2006
A Digital Big Bang. At precisely 9:50 AM, a seismic tremor rippled through the nascent digital landscape. A single, unassuming message, “just setting up my twttr,” escaped the fingertips of Jack Dorsey, a designer with a vision. It wasn’t just a status update; it was the spark igniting a revolution. This was the birth cry of Twitter, a platform that would rewrite the rules of communication.
The seeds of Twitter were sown in the fertile, if chaotic, ground of Odeo, a podcasting startup. Dorsey, alongside Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass, huddled in a brainstorming session, chasing a fleeting idea. Their initial concept? A simple way to share fleeting thoughts via SMS, a digital whisper among a select few. But the idea, like a restless spirit, refused to be contained. It mutated, evolved, and by July 2006, it broke free, unleashed upon an unsuspecting world as Twitter.
By 2007, Twitter, like a wildfire, caught the attention of the tech elite. The platform’s potential, previously a whispered secret, was now a roaring declaration. The floodgates opened. Users poured in, drawn to the promise of instant connection, of real-time dialogue. The side project, the digital whisper, was now a thunderous roar. Twitter, Inc. was born.
From its humble, almost accidental, beginnings, Twitter ascended. It wasn’t just a platform; it was a cultural force, a global town square, a digital battlefield of ideas. It became the heartbeat of breaking news, the amplifier of social movements, the conduit for global conversations. Twitter wasn’t just connecting millions; it was reshaping the very fabric of how we communicate, how we understand the world. It was, and is, a testament to the power of a single, 140-character (later, 280) message to change everything.
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Also of interest on March 21st
1928 – Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.
1934 – The landmark Australian Eastern Mission led by John Latham departs on its three-month tour of East and South-East Asia.
1952 – Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.
1963 – Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closes.
1965 – Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9, the last in a series of uncrewed lunar space probes.
1965 – Martin Luther King Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
1970 – The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco.
1970 – San Diego Comic-Con, the largest pop and culture festival in the world, hosts its inaugural event.
1980 – Cold War: American President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet–Afghan War.
1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
Births on This Day
1904 – Forrest Mars, Sr., American candy maker, created M&M’s and Mars bar (d. 1999)
1906 – John D. Rockefeller III, American philanthropist (d. 1978)
1910 – Julio Gallo, American businessman, co-founded E & J Gallo Winery (d. 1993)
1920 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1970)
1946 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh-English actor
1948 – Scott Fahlman, American computer scientist and academic
1949 – Eddie Money, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
1953 – Steve Furber, English computer scientist and academic
1958 – Gary Oldman, English actor, filmmaker, musician, and author
1960 – Robert Sweet, American drummer and producer
1962 – Matthew Broderick, American actor
1963 – Share Pedersen, American bass player
1974 – Rhys Darby, New Zealand comedian and actor
1974 – Dejima Takeharu, Japanese sumo wrestler
1976 – Rachael MacFarlane, American voice actress and singer
1985 – Sonequa Martin-Green, American actress
1986 – Scott Eastwood, American actor
2000 – Jace Norman, American actor
Deaths on This Day
1991 – Leo Fender, American businessman, founded Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (b. 1909)
1997 – Wilbert Awdry, English cleric and author, created The Railway Series, the basis for Thomas the Tank Engine (b. 1911)
1999 – Ernie Wise, English comedian and actor (b. 1925)
2001 – Chung Ju-yung, South Korean businessman, founded Hyundai (b. 1915)
2014 – James Rebhorn, American actor (b. 1948)
2017 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (b. 1929)
2017 – Mike Hall, British cyclist (b. 1981)[61]
Holidays Today
March 21 | Holidays, Birthdays, Events
The Funnies:
AI Contribution of the Day:
Copilot
The Big Bang
In the void, where silence reigned, A spark ignited, uncontained. From nothingness, a burst of light, The cosmos born in endless night.
A singularity, dense and small, Exploded forth, creating all. Galaxies spun in cosmic dance, Stars ignited, given chance.
Time and space began to weave, A tapestry we can’t conceive. From chaos, order slowly grew, The universe, both old and new.
Atoms formed, and life took root, In distant worlds, a cosmic fruit. From stardust, we emerged to see, The vast expanse, our mystery.
The Big Bang’s echo, still we hear, In cosmic whispers, loud and clear. A story told in light and sound, Of how the universe was found.
Quote of the Day:
Comic of the Day:
Wrong Hands | Cartoons by John Atkinson. ©John Atkinson, Wrong Hands
Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:
In case you missed yesterdays Black Spark! of Death by @jimender2, you can catch it here.
What I am listening to today:
