Jack Meyer (died 1975)

In 1813, on March 29th, in the Mexican War of Independence, the Battle of Rosillo Creek took place. The Republican Army of the North defeated the Spanish Royalist Army in present-day Bexar County, Texas. On April 1st, the Royalists surrendered to the Republican Army. On April 6th, the Republican Army issued a draft declaration of independence.

In 1826, on March 10th, João VI, King of Portugal and the former Emperor of Brazil, died after a short illness. Six days earlier, the King had become ill after eating at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon. An investigative autopsy in the late 1990's discovered that he had been killed by arsenic poisoning - having enough arsenic in his body to kill two people.

In 1877, on November 21st, Thomas Edison announced his new invention - the phonograph. Recording sound was considered to be Edison's first great invention. On November 29th, he demonstrated the phonograph for the public.

In 1958, on January 31st, Explorer I, the United States' answer to Sputnik I (and 2,) was launched. America had entered the Space Race. The first spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt, it remained in orbit until 1970.

In 1975, in the year of Jack Meyer's passing, in January, Popular Mechanics featured the Altair 8800 on it's cover. The Altair home computer kit allowed consumers to build and program their own personal computers. Thousands were sold in the first month.