| Date | Text | |
|---|---|---|
15 Aug 1960
First UK motorway services with restaurant opened |
First UK motorway services with restaurant opened In 1960, the first British motorway services with restaurant opened at Newport Pagnell on the M1 motorway. It was operated by Motorway Services Ltd, a joint venture by Forte and Blue Star. The latter provided the fuel sales. Fortes Grill & Griddle Restaurant spanned the road. It served food with waitress service. The service area was originally intended by the government to be developed for cars only, with another at Watford Gap for lorries only, but opened for all vehicles. The Watford Gap services, although opened earlier (2 Nov 1959, on the same day as the M1 motorway), was unfinished (food sold from temporary sheds) and was not of the conventional design. |
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15 Aug 1960
Echo 1 satellite phone link test |
Echo 1 satellite phone link test In 1960, a phone link was tested via the newly launched Echo 1 ballooon satellite on its 31st circuit of the earth. The experiment was conducted by Bell Telephone Laboratories. A call originating via a normal telephone land line to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Goldstone, California, was patched into a radio beam bounced off the ten-story satellite balloon in orbit 1,000 miles above the earth. The radio signal was picked up on the other coast at the Bell Laboratory at Holmdel, New Jersey, where it was connected through a conventional telephone exchange to be connected to a receiving telephone. Reception of both a two-way voice conversation and music was satisfactory, and without distortion. The satellite was passive, just a reflector of the radio signal. The New York Times reported the test. |
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