SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL EVENTS 1989-2015

1991 – THE FIRST “LINUX” ANNAUNSEMENT

On August 25th, 1991, Linus Torvalds, a 21-year-old university student from Finland, writes a post to a user group asking for feedback on a little project he’s working on. 

He has built a simple kernel for a Unix-like operating system that runs on an Intel 386 processor, and he wants to develop it further. The kernel eventually becomes “Linux”, which is released in 1994 and distributed over the internet for free.

Linux was deployed on both traditional computer systems such as personal computers and servers, usually in the form of Linux distributions and on various embedded devices such as routers, wireless access points, PBX es, set-top boxes, FTA receivers, smart TVs, PVRs and NAS appliances. The Android operating system for tablet computers, smartphones and smartwatches is also based atop the Linux kernel.

Linus Torvalds is considered to be one of the world's most famous computer programmers and maybe the most famous Finn.

1993 – “EURONEWS” FIRST BROADCAST

“Euronews” was created in 1992 and launched on January 1st, 1993, broadcasting from Lyon, France, with the backing of the European Union, by a group of 11 European public broadcasters from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Following the First Persian Gulf War, during which CNN's position as the preeminent source of 24-hour news programming was cemented, E.B.U decided to establish Euronews to present information from a European perspective. Its founders shared the opinion that it is important to have an all-news channel in continental European languages as a counterweight to English-language news channels like CNN and BBC World. Consequently, Euronews assumed the task of being CNN’s counterpart in order to protect the old continent from an “inundation by television images from the US. In addition, the channel was assigned the important responsibility to serve the integration of Europe by promoting a common European self-realization and citizenship.

Today Euronews covers news worldwide, offering a unique perspective on events through factual analysis. Six hundred journalists, from more than 30 countries, report round-the-clock in 13 editions (Arabic, English, Persian, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian). The channel is available in 350 million households in 155 countries worldwide. It reaches more than 170 million European households by cable, satellite and terrestrial. It also began to secure availability on multimedia platforms such as IPTV and digital media.

1994 – ENGLISH CHANNEL TUNNEL OPENS

On May 6th, 1994, in a ceremony presided over by England’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterand, a rail tunnel under the English Channel was officially opened, connecting Britain and the European mainland for the first time since the Ice Age. The channel tunnel, or “Chunnel,” as the world’s longest undersea tunnel, runs under water for 23 miles, with an average depth of 150 feet below the seabed and connects Folkstone, England, with Sangatte, France, 31 miles away.

The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, the Eurotunnel Shuttle for road vehicles—the largest such transport in the world and international freight trains.

Taking more than five years to complete, with more than 13,000 workers from England and France collaborating to realize the vision, it was identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

1994 – FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM IS PROVED

 The first successful proof of the most notorious problem in the history of mathematics, Fermat's Last Theorem, was released in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, a British mathematician and Oxford professor. Actually, Wiles first announced his proof on Wednesday 23, June 1993, at a lecture in Cambridge. However, the proof was found to contain an error which was corrected and it was formally published in 1995, after 358 years of effort by mathematicians. 

The story starts with Pierre de Fermat, one of the all-time great mathematicians, who claimed he could prove that the equation (an + bn= cn) has no whole number solutions when n is greater than 2. 

Given that there are infinitely many possible numbers to check, it was quite a claim, but Fermat was absolutely sure that no numbers fitted the equation because he had

a logical watertight argument. Sadly, he never wrote down his proof. Instead, in the margin of a book, he left a tantalizing note in Latin: “I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.”

For three and a half centuries, mathematicians tried and failed to find a proof, which is why Wiles’s eventual success was such a major achievement.

The unsolved problem stimulated the development of algebraic number theory in the 19th century and the proof of the modularity theorem in the 20th century. It is among the most notable theorems in the history of mathematics and prior to its proof, it was in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most difficult mathematical problem", one of the reasons being that it has the largest number of unsuccessful proofs.

The proof itself is over 150 pages long and consumed seven years of Wiles's research time. It was described as one of the highest achievements of number theory, and it was called “the proof of the century”. For solving Fermat's Last Theorem, Andrew Wiles, was knighted and received many other honors such as the 2016 Abel Prize.

1996 – THE GREEK GEORGE VITHOULKAS WON THE RIGHT LIFELIHOOD AWARD

On December 9, 1996, the Greek teacher and practitioner of homeopathy, George Vithoulkas, received the “Right Livelihood Award” for “his outstanding contribution to the revival of homeopathic knowledge and the training of homeopaths to the highest standards”.

George Vithoulkas was born in Athens in 1936, studied homeopathy in South Africa and received a diploma in homeopathy from the Indian Institute of Homeopathy in 1966.

He returned to Greece where he practiced and began teaching classical homeopathy to a small group of medical doctors. In 1970, he established the Center of Homeopathic Medicine in Athens and many years later he opened the International Academy for Classical Homeopathy (I.A.C.H.) on Alonissos, dedicated exclusively to the teaching of Homeopathic Medicine.

George Vithoulkas is today "widely considered to be the greatest living homeopathic theorist".