On this day, August 24, in the distant 1995, Microsoft presented the Windows 95 operating system in the USA, with an iconic and unprecedented advertising campaign for the time.

Microsoft teamed up with “Friends” stars Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry, who appeared in videos humorously “explaining” Windows 95’s new features and functions.

For its ad campaign, Microsoft enlisted the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up,” further fueling public excitement.

Windows 95 introduced important innovations such as the Start Menu, the Taskbar, and the ability to run multiple programs with ease through multitasking technology, and became one of the most popular and iconic operating systems in the history of computing.

TODAY – The most important events of the day in Greece and the world

79: Vesuvius eruptsburying the cities of Pompeii and Heraklion under the lava.

1572: 70,000 French Protestants are slaughtered and it remains known as Saint Bartholomew’s Night. The order was given by King Charles IX, who was under the strong influence of his mother, Catherine of Medici.

1824: The Greek Fleet, under Andreas Miaoulis, clashes with the Turkish-Egyptian one, under Topa Pasha, in an ambivalent naval battle between Kos and Halicarnassus.

1912: A raisin crisis breaks out in the Peloponnese, dealing a severe blow to the Greek economy.

1952: The first issue of the newspaper “Avgi” is published.

1960: Maria Kallas appears for the first time at the Ancient Theater of Epidaurusperforming the title role from Bellini’s Norma. The show, attended by 12,000 spectators, was directed by Alexis Minotis, while the sets were designed by Yiannis Tsarouhis. Tulio Serafin conducts the Orchestra of the National Opera.

1975: The Five-member Court of Appeal of Athens, presided over by Ioannis Degiannis, issues its decision in the trial of the first April 21st. Death for Georgios Papadopoulos, Stylianos Pattakos and Nikolaos Makarezos. Eight defendants are sentenced to life imprisonment, seven to suspended sentences and two are acquitted. On the same day, the government of Constantinos Karamanlis commutes death sentences to life sentences.

1995: Microsoft launches Windows 95, to the sounds of the Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up”. It is an operating system that played a particularly important role in the history of PCs, as it marked the definitive transition from the MS-DOS environment to the Windows environment as the main operating system of the systems on which they were installed.

1997: A huge scandal erupts in Sweden after revelations that between 1935-76, more than 60,000 women were subjected to compulsory sterilization.

1999: Voula Tsiamita wins the gold medal with 14.88 and Olga Vasdeki the bronze with 14.61 in the triple jump at the World Championships in Seville.

2007: Fires break out in the Peloponnese, Evia and Atticaand gradually expand uncontrollably, as a result of which dozens of people lose their lives. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis declares the country in a state of emergency.

2023: Miltos Tedoglou wins the gold medal in the long jump at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Births

1851 – Giannoulis Halepas, distinguished sculptor from Tinos

1899 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer

1922 – Howard Zinn, American academic, whose alternative history of the US was read by millions

1929 – Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader

1947 – Paulo Coelho, Brazilian writer of international fame

Deaths

1832 – Nicolas Léonard Santi Carnot, French mathematician

1900 – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, German thinker