LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

AD 1956 - IBM introduces the RAMAC 305, 1st commercial computer with a hard drive that uses magnetic disk storage, weighs over a ton.

AD 1868 - At Prestwick Golf Club, United Kingdom, Tom Morris makes the first recorded hole in one. It was made on the eighth hole.

AD 1814 - Francis Scott Key puts 'THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER' to pen and paper. Seldom heard or read in its entirety:

'O! say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming:
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming,
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O! say, does that Star-spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam --
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream;

'Tis the Star-spangled Banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave.
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave!

And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the foe's desolation;
Bless'd with victory and peace, may our Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just --
And this be our motto -- "In God is our trust!"

And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.'

AlMac Loc: Newcastle Upon Tyne - UK

5 Mb hard drive being loaded into an airplane 1956

(Download)

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Can't tell from the photo if that is a stack of disks or a drum.

The first computer I started learning programming on used a drum. It was so slow that the program words specified not only the instruction but the location of the next program word on the drum. You would figure out how long the instruction would take (from a table) and place the next instruction on the drum where it would be available to the computer as soon as it was ready for it. Most instructions took a significant fraction of a drum rotation to complete.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

RAMAC becamer EMERAC in the 1957 movie Desk Set with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Just a year later.

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

That reminds me of the story of Mel, who used that addressing effect to create timing delays without software loops. (Amongst other tricks of the trade!) Mel's tale is probably still floating around on the internet!

brobill Loc: Fort Worth, Texas ( Haslet)

Rarely read all the lyrics. Last vs. brought chills... felt like I should be standing just reading it!
Thanks for posting.

DaveC Loc: Illinois

That is a stack of discs. I worked on those when I was at IBM. I also worked on the 650 which had a drum.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

If that is a stack, it looks like there are 25-50 disks in there. 5 MBytes? 100-200K on a ~16" platter? less than you could get on a 5.25" floppy drive.

Times have indeed changed.

DaveC Loc: Illinois

There were 50 disks, they rotated at 1200 rpm, there were 20 tracks to the inch, and data was recorded at 100 bits per inch. Besides what is shown in the photo there were three auxiliary cabinets, each about the same size, holding the electronics, which were tubes. In 1957 it rented for $3200 a month.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

How far we have devolved from the generations that built and made our country great. So many now not only dismiss the value of the flag but want to bury God in a grave along with our burned flag.

Dannj

Re: “The Star-Spangled Banner”

As additional info, the melody adopted for “The Star-Spangled Banner” was a popular English drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Written around 1775 by John Stafford Smith, the song honored the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, a lover of wine.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

It was wasted on the drinking song.

srg

Blessed are the abbreviators

Meadwilliam

SOAP spaced the instructions for you.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind