On July 13, 1985, Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially opened Live Aid, a worldwide rock concert organized to raise money for Africans unable to afford food. The concert began in London and has become a tradition that has taken place at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia and other arenas around the world. The event raised more than $125 million in famine relief for Africa. A singer named Bob Geldof came up with the idea for Live Aid. He traveled to Ethiopia after hearing about the horrible famine that killed so many people there. When he returned to London, he called on pop artists including Culture Club, Duran Duran, Phil Collins, and U2 to get together and perform the song "Do They Know It's Christmas." The sale of that single raised more than $10 million.
On July 14, 1789 Parisian troops stormed the Bastille, a royal fortress that had reminded them of how powerful and terrible the king was. This attack signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed. The Bastille was originally constructed in 1370 to protect the walled city of Paris from English attack. It was originally named bastide but was mispronounced and became known as Bastille. The Bastille was first used as a state prison in the 17th century, and its cells were reserved for upper-class felons, political troublemakers, and spies. Most prisoners there were imprisoned without a trial under direct orders of the king. The structure stood 100 feet tall and was surrounded by a moat more than 80 feet wide.
On July 16, 1951 Dan Bricklin was born. Bricklin, who had worked as a computer programmer, invented the spreadsheet while enrolled at Harvard Business School. He wanted a simple way to make mathematical calculations, so he developed a program called "VisiCalc" to run on the Apple II computer in 1979. The program was a success, and many industry experts say the application drove companies to purchase personal computers for the first time. By 1983, VisiCalc was a top selling software program, bringing in approximately $40 million per year. Unfortunately, VisiCalc was slow to adapt to the new IBM PC, and Lotus 1-2-3 quickly pushed VisiCalc out of the market. Lotus bought Bricklin's company in 1985 and discontinued the product.
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
On July 14, 1789 Parisian troops stormed the Bastille, a royal fortress that had reminded them of how powerful and terrible the king was. This attack signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed. The Bastille was originally constructed in 1370 to protect the walled city of Paris from English attack. It was originally named bastide but was mispronounced and became known as Bastille. The Bastille was first used as a state prison in the 17th century, and its cells were reserved for upper-class felons, political troublemakers, and spies. Most prisoners there were imprisoned without a trial under direct orders of the king. The structure stood 100 feet tall and was surrounded by a moat more than 80 feet wide.
On July 16, 1951 Dan Bricklin was born. Bricklin, who had worked as a computer programmer, invented the spreadsheet while enrolled at Harvard Business School. He wanted a simple way to make mathematical calculations, so he developed a program called "VisiCalc" to run on the Apple II computer in 1979. The program was a success, and many industry experts say the application drove companies to purchase personal computers for the first time. By 1983, VisiCalc was a top selling software program, bringing in approximately $40 million per year. Unfortunately, VisiCalc was slow to adapt to the new IBM PC, and Lotus 1-2-3 quickly pushed VisiCalc out of the market. Lotus bought Bricklin's company in 1985 and discontinued the product.