Electric Christmas tree lights were first switched on, on this day in 1882. Edward H. Johnson, a business associate of Thomas Edison, put together the string of light bulbs and decorated his tree ready for festivities. It was only three years after Edison had invented a practical way to manufacture such bulbs that they were already in use for what some would call trivial purposes.
Mr Johnson decorated his tree at home with the electric lights, and it was visible through his living room windows. Perhaps it wasn’t as eye catching as you might think, though, as there was already an established tradition of putting lights on Christmas trees – using the very much older tech of wax candles. Early incandescent electric bulb-powered Christmas tree lights might sound like a fire risk nowadays, where safer and often battery-powered LEDs have taken over, but they were still preferable to candles with their naked flames responsible for many house fires over the season.
Nowadays, modern gaming PC owners don’t need to invest in a Christmas tree as they can simply toggle on the Christmas present via their RGB controllers, set up a festive desktop wallpaper, and enjoy sherry and mince pies from the comfort of their den.
PC technology news
- Nvidia shows off some Matrix-inspired custom GPU backplates – opens up a competition to win one and an RTX 3080 Ti
- Alleged Intel Arc Alchemist DG2 gaming graphics card spotted within Ashes of The Singularity benchmark
- Get yourself and your game evaluated for early access to XeSS, says Intel
- G.Skill Z5i Mini ITX chassis review published by Guru 3D
- Asus teases its “The Incredible Unfolds” CES 2022 presentation and launch event
- Asus ROG teases “The Rise of Gamers” CES 2022 event
- Western Digital readies SN850X and additional PCIe 4.0 SSDs
- Der8auer complains that the MSI Z690 Godlike doesn’t live up to expectations
Other technology and gaming news
- Nvidia BlueField sets new world record for DPU performance
- Intel shows off its newest EUV machines
- Text message as NFT: Vodafone is auctioning the first SMS for 107,000 euros
- DuckDuckGo is working on a privacy-focused desktop browser
- Amazon agreed to allow only five-star reviews for President Xi’s book in China
- Wave of companies, tech magazines, and analysts cancel physical presence at CES 2022 – wary of Omicron – update The Verge won’t be going either
- Microsoft’s $19.7 billion Nuance acquisition wins EU approval
- Has the full lineup of the Epic Games’ 15 days of free games leaked?
