December 26 1791: English mathematician Charles Babbage, whose difference engine is considered the first programmable calculator, was born. 1838: Clemens Winkler, discoverer of the element germanium, was born. 1898: Polish-French scientist Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium while experimenting with pitchblende. 1967: A patent was issued to the Wham-O company for their improvement of the Frisbee. 1975: The Soviet Union inaugurated the world's first supersonic transport service with a flight of its Tupolev-144 airliner from Moscow to Alma-Ata. 1982: The Man of the Year in Time magazine was a computer (first ever non-human), honored as 1982's "greatest influence for good or evil." | 
