On This Day

[larsbrinkhoff]

Noteworthy events by date.

• 2018-01-08 KA10 ITS rebirth.
• 1976-01-20 Gould LPT flushed from MC's DL10 11. #863
• 1982-02-16 AI PDP-6 demolished. https://github.com/PDP-10/its/issues/181#issuecomment-273265420
• 1979-02-19 Magic swich removed. #1232
• 1969-03-01 DEFUN added to Maclisp. #1661
• 1978-03-03 Multics Emacs started.
• 1967-03-09 PDP-10 first powered on. https://github.com/PDP-10/-READ--THIS-/issues/2
• 1964-03-14 PDP-6 announced in Business Week. https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/CGB%20Files/A%20Computer%20That%20Grows%20With%20You%20Product%20Article%20640314%20c.pdf
• 1967-03-19 ITS 1.0. https://github.com/PDP-10/its/issues/672
• 1982-03-21 MIT-OZ DEC-2060 arrived.
• 1974-04-08 Maclisp Reference Manual, revision 0
• 1985-04-17 KS10 ITS operational.
• 1967-04-19 Start of Great Subway Race (end next day).
• 1978-04-20 Maxc2 put on the Arpanet.
• 1978-05-01 First spam, about DEC-2020.
• 1982-05-02 AI KA10 flushed.
• 1983-05-17 PDP-10 cancellation announced at a DECUS convention.
• 1966-06-07 SAIL PDP-6 birthday.
• 1967-07-?? ITS operational.
• 1977-08-08 EINE named. #1293
• 1994-08-22 First message to alt.sys.pdp10. https://groups.google.com/g/alt.sys.pdp10/c/ECsUW2Lxp1c
• 2019-09-28 KL10 ITS rebirth.
• 1991-10-04 SAIL KL10 shut down. https://web.archive.org/web/20240518215521/http://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/sail/sailaway.htm
• 1964-10-06 AI PDP-6 delivered. https://github.com/PDP-10/its/issues/181#issuecomment-273265420
• 2016-10-24 First commit in this repository.
• 1971-10-27 Start of KL10 study
• 1978-10-29 Keyboard ripped off CONS machine. #658
• 1983-11-02 DM PDP-10 shut down.
• 1976-11-11 Emacs named. #1633

[atsampson]

BAN.AI has an almanac file of significant dates for Multics in >am>almanac>lib>Multics.Events which are shown on login. You could do the same for ITS events...

[larsbrinkhoff]

Yes, but I have a hard time finding much more than this short list. Maybe it will grow over time.

[larsbrinkhoff]

Usenet group created by suggestion from @rmaldersoniii:

Welcome to alt.sys.pdp10

Post by Magnus Olsson » Wed, 24 Aug 1994 02:21:43

Welcome to the new newsgroup alt.sys.pdp10!

This is a newgroup for the discussion of DEC's PDP-10 and DEC-20
computers and clones by other manufacturers, their hardware and
architecture, their software and operating systems, and emulators
running on other machines.

Also it's a place for telling your "war stories" involving these
machines, anecdotes about the '10-based hacker culture (including the
ITS community); a place for old hackers to reminisce about the old
days, and for younger hackers to learn about these legendary things.

And, finally, it's a place for the priests of the 36-bit creed to
combat the modern heresy that a machine must have a word length
that's a multiple of 8 :-).

P.S. If your site isn't receiving alt.sys.pdp10 within a week or so,
talk to your news admin. If he/she hasn't received any newgroup
message, please contact me.

[larsbrinkhoff]

Not ITS, but cousin Twenex:

Date: 21 March 1982 03:09-EST
From: Xxxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx <XXXX at MIT-AI>
Subject:  (current-state-of-OZ?)
To: BUG-OZ at MIT-AI

[...]

As many people have noticed, OZ has arrived. The configuration is as
follows:

 8  RP06 disk drives, 176 megabytes per drive.
 2  TU77 tape drives. 1600 bpi maximum density.
    (We hope to get a 6250 bpi tape drive, because backing up our disks
     would require too much tape otherwise)
 1  DecSystem 2060. Comes in 4 cabinets; I/O, Front End, CPU, and
    External Memory Cabinet.
 1 DN20 for terminal interface.
 1 AN20 for Arpanet interace.

The electricians should be done about next Tuesday; DEC could probably
come next Wednesday and begin installation. I would suspect that the
machine could be up for use by Lab members who want to test it out in
2 or 3 weeks.

Date: 25 Jan 1980 1000-EST
From: Xxxxx Xxxxxx <XXX at MIT-XX>
Subject: Name that machine!
To: *msg *mac at MIT-MC

Since the EECS Department's 2060 will soon be installed

[larsbrinkhoff]

Another interesting date from http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/memos/720829_KL10_Technology_Goals.pdf:

On the 27th of October, 1971, the DECsystem-10 Product Line proposed a Phase I study to determine an Engineering Specification, Software Specification, Marketing and business plan for the KL10.

[larsbrinkhoff]

@rmaldersoniii pointed out that the PDP-6 was announced in Business Week on March 14. I didn't find a copy of that particular issue, but I found it in the 1964 index: https://archive.org/details/sim_business-week_1964_index_0/