 "Chess champion Garry Kasparov was defeated by IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue in a three-hour game. Illustration: Santan")
It was on February 10, 1996 that the world of chess changed forever. For the first time, a super computer named Deep Blue, developed by IBM, defeated the reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov in the first game of a six-game match.
If you are a history geek who loves to learn about important events from the past, Firstpost Explainers’ ongoing series, History Today will be your one-stop destination to explore key events.
In 1932, JRD Tata earned the first commercial aviator’s certificate in India after completing his first solo flight on this day. Meanwhile, the historic prisoner exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union took place on the Glienicke Bridge later known as ‘Bridge of Spies’ connecting East Germany and West Berlin in 1962.
Here is all that happened on this day.
Garry Kasparov lost a game to a supercomputer in chess
On this day in 1996, an intense game of chess concluded with the then reigning champion declaring defeat to a super computer in Philadelphia. The World Chess champion Garry Kasparov, who became the youngest world chess champion at the age of 22, was defeated by IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue in a three-hour game.
Before facing Deep Blue in February 1996, Kasparov had defeated Deep Thought, an earlier version of the computer developed by IBM researchers in 1989. He and other grandmasters had lost to computers in games that lasted an hour or less.
This game was of great importance as it was the first time that a human and a computer had played the game under the regular rules - each allotted two hours for their first 40 moves, two more hours for the next 20, and a final hour to conclude the game.
Although Deep Blue, capable of evaluating 200 million moves per second, was the winner of the fist game, the chess grandmaster bested his opponent in the match with three wins and two ties.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAfter the failure of the 1996 match, IBM developers made significant changes in the computer’s hardware and software so that the computer could handle the complexities of the game. A year later, a rematch was organised between the two and this time despite Kasparov’s early lead in the match, Deep Blue achieved a stunning victory in the sixth game, winning the match and the $700,000 prize.
Kasparov took on another computer programme, the Deep Junior, in 2003 that ended in a tie. He retired From professional chess in 2005.
JRD Tata earns first commercial aviator’s certificate in India
In 1929, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, better known as JRD Tata, became the first Indian to receive a commercial pilot’s license after flying solo for three and a half hours. This move set a chain of events that led to the creation of Air India.
The story began when at the age of five, he keenly watched his hero Adolph Pegoud, chief pilot of Louis Bleriot land an aeroplane on the beach in Northern France where the young industrialist was on vacation. Notably, Bleriot became the first man to fly across the English Channel in 1909.
According to the Economic Times, Tata had made up his mind to become a pilot and make a career in aviation by the time he was 15 years old. But the dream had to wait for nine more years. He was 24 years old when a flying club opened in Mumbai (then Bombay). While there were many who managed to get the registration done before him, ‘Jeh’ was the first one to pass, making him the first Indian to receive the Aviator’s Certificate No. 1 in February 1929.
It was in the same year that he decided to form the nation’s aviation industry and introduced the first Indian airline company - Tata Air Service , later known as Air India. Three years after getting his flying license, he flew the inaugural Air India flight from Karachi in a Puss Mouth towards Bombay, the Tata Group shared in an Instagram post.
‘Bridge of Spies’ prisoner exchange
The iconic prisoner exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union, which was split into several nations after the Cold War, took place on February 10, 1962. The United States released Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel in exchange for American spy pilot Francis Garry Powers.
The Glienicke Bridge, which later came to be known as the ‘Bridge of the Spies’, connected East and West Berlin. The two men were brought to separate sides of the bridge and at 8:52 am Berlin time, Powers and Abel were waved through the border and into freedom.
The negotiations were led by James B Donovan, an American lawyer, who played a key role in securing the swap despite tensions between the US and the Soviet Union.
The exchange was seen as a diplomatic success and a significant moment in Cold War history. The Glienicke Bridge later became symbolic as a site for Cold War prisoner exchanges.
This Day, That Year
On this day, American actress Shirley Temple passed away in 2014.
In 1846, the British conquered Sikhs in northwestern India in the Battle of Sobraon
The Treaty of Paris was signed between France and Britain in 1763.