Google is a technology company which specialises in services related to the internet. It was established by Sergey Brin and Larry Page and incorporated as a privately held company on September 4^th 1998. At the time they founded Google, Brin and Page were both Ph.D. students at Stanford University in California. Google originated from the word googol which is the number one followed by a hundred zeros.

While studying for their PhD Brin and Page created a search engine as part of a research project in 1996. After some time the search engine was connected to the Stanford University broadband. It became popular and eventually had over 10,000 searches per day.

Brin and Page established their new company, Google, in 1998. It is now the most popular search engine in the world and receives millions of search requests per day. Google is a multinational company employing thousands of people in forty countries around the world. It has around 5,000 employees at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

Google internet search engine claims it had its birthday in the year 1998 On This Day.

Concorde is a supersonic passenger airplane which operated from 1976 to 2003. It was capable of flying at over twice the speed of sound (over 2,100kph). Concorde had seating for 100 passengers and could cross the Atlantic in less than half the time of other aircraft.

Concorde was jointly developed and built by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France. The two countries signed a treaty establishing the project on November 29th 1962. The first development Concorde was unveiled in Toulouse on December 11th 1967. The airliner made its ‘faultless’ maiden flight from Toulouse on March 2^nd 1969. Nineteen other Concorde were built.

Air France, and British Airways purchased the Concorde aircraft. Because of the sonic boom supersonic flight was limited to ocean crossing. Commercial flights began from London and Paris in 1976 and continued for 27 years. The aircraft was retired in 2003.

Concorde, a supersonic passenger aircraft, made history flying from Washington to Paris in a record 3hrs 32 min in the year 1973 On This Day.

Photo by Steve Parker

Concorde

Captain James Fitzmaurice, one of Ireland’s greatest aviators, is commemorated with a monument in Portlaoise, Co Laois. He was the co-pilot on the first successful east-west flight across the North Atlantic Ocean in 1928. In Mountmellick town hall a bust of Fitzmaurice was unveiled by his daughter Patricia in 1998. In the same year An Post issued a stamp in his honour.

James Michael Christopher Fitzmaurice was born in Dublin on January 6^th 1898. His family moved to Portlaoise in 1902 when he was four years old. Fitzmaurice was educated at Christian Brothers School Portlaoise and later joined the British Army. He was wounded in France during the First World War. Towards the end of the war Fitzmaurice was posted to the School of Military Aeronautics. He served with the Royal Air Force for a number of years, resigning in August 1921.

Fitzmaurice joined the Irish Air Corps in February 1922 shortly after Irish independence. By 1927 he had been promoted to the rank of Commandant. His first attempt to fly across the Atlantic to America ended in failure in 1927. His second attempt was in the German plane, The Bremen, which took off from the Air Corps Base at Baldonnel, Co Dublin on April 12th 1928. The pilot was Captain Kohl and Fitzmaurice was his co-pilot. The owner of the plane, Von Hunfeld was also on board.

Following the first successful transatlantic flight the Bremen landed on Greenly Island, Canada just over 36 hours after take-off from Baldonnel. The successful flight made heroes of the three aviators. They were conferred with the Distinguished Flying Cross by US President Coolidge and were celebrated with a parade in New York City. They were also awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin.

Captain James Fitzmaurice, co-pilot on the first successful East-West flight across the North Atlantic, died aged 65 in the year 1965 On This Day.

Public Domain

Captain Fitzmaurice

Fitzmaurice Monument, Portlaoise.
Photo: Joe Rattigan

Westlife was a hugely successful Irish boyband which was active from 1998 until it disbanded in June 2012. The band consisted of Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and Brian McFadden. In 2000, Westlife made popular music history when they became the first band to have six consecutive singles go straight to the top of the UK charts.

Westlife was formed on July 3^rd 1998. The band had its first hit with ‘Swear It Again’ in April 1999. In total the band had 14 number one singles in the United Kingdom. Westlife sold over 50 million records worldwide. It is the holder of four Guinness World Records, including the 21^st century top-selling album group in the UK.

Westlife was an Irish boyband which made British pop history by becoming the first act to have six consecutive number one singles, in the year 2000 On This Day.

Photo by hectorthebat

Photo by GU / 古天熱

National Geographic is a monthly magazine which was first published in 1888. The magazine deals with categories such as Geography, Science, History, Nature and World Cultures. It is the official publication of the National Geographic Society.

The National Geographic Society was founded on January 13^th 1888. It is a non-profit scientific and educational organization which has its headquarters in Washington DC, USA. The Society began publishing National Geographic nine months after its foundation. The magazine is published in almost 40 languages around the world. It has a circulation of over 6 million copies per month.

National Geographic, the official publication of the National Geographic Society, was published for the first time in the year 1888 On This Day.

Photo by kodomut

National Geographic