Twenty Years Ago This Week
As the much ballyhooed Global Year 2000 computer glitch closes in on us, an unlikely array of civic and activist organizations in Marin has assembled to combat this high-tech beast of our own creation.
The various groups are working to alert Marin County citizens and small businesses of major computer problems that could strike at midnight on December 31. Members of these groups also want to ensure that the region’s critical utilities are ready with contingency plans should systems fail.
—Marjean Curtis-Oakes, Feb. 24–March 2, 1999
Thirty Years Ago This Week
Baseball great Vernon “Lefty” Gomez died at age 80. He had an illustrious career with the Yankees and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972. Gomez was as famous for his warmth and wit as he was for his pitching skill. He was born in Rodeo, played pro ball first with a team in Point Reyes, retired to Fairfax, and lived in San Marin at the time of his death. The Fairfax Little League park is named in his honor.
—Feb. 24–March 2, 1989
Forty Years Ago This Week
Today, microprocessors are invading virtually every aspect of life in America, changing the way we work, play and think. A new wave of computer-on-a-chip applications and innovations is poised on the horizon, leading industry experts and social scientists to openly proclaim the dawn of a new social revolution, the “Information Age.”
—Jon Stewart and John Markoff, Feb. 23–March 1, 1979
