Deep dives into landmark moments from the isHistory digital archive. Events track only.https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/en-usCopyright 2026 isHistory Digital Archiveishistory@proton.me (Ishaan)60https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e15-the-transformer-2017-attention-is-all-you-need/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e15-the-transformer-2017-attention-is-all-you-need/In 2017, a Google Brain team asked 'what if attention is all you need?' and built an architecture that became the foundation for every large language model.Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historytransformerattention-mechanismnlpdeep-learninggoogle-brainEventsMinds & Machines2017https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e10-backpropagation-goes-mainstream-1986/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e10-backpropagation-goes-mainstream-1986/Backpropagation was discovered three times before anyone noticed. The story of the algorithm at the heart of modern AI and the 1986 paper that changed AI.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historybackpropagationneural-networksgeoffrey-hintondeep-learningEventsMinds & Machines1974-1986https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e11-deep-blue-vs-kasparov-1997/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e11-deep-blue-vs-kasparov-1997/In 1997, a machine defeated the world chess champion. The match that divided history, the controversy, and what it meant for human exceptionalism and AI.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historydeep-bluechess-aigarry-kasparovibmEventsMinds & Machines1996-1997https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e12-the-netflix-prize-2006/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e12-the-netflix-prize-2006/In 2006 Netflix offered $1M to anyone who could improve its recommendation algorithm by 10%. Three years of innovation, and a solution Netflix never deployed.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historynetflix-prizerecommender-systemsmachine-learningcollaborative-filteringEventsMinds & Machines2006-2009https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e13-the-imagenet-project-2009/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e13-the-imagenet-project-2009/How Fei-Fei Li built the most important dataset in AI history and the benchmark that made the deep learning revolution possible. The story of ImageNet.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyimagenetfei-fei-licomputer-visiondeep-learningEventsMinds & Machines2006-2012https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e14-alexnet-2012-the-breakthrough-nobody-saw-coming/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e14-alexnet-2012-the-breakthrough-nobody-saw-coming/In 2012, a deep network trained on two gaming GPUs shocked the computer vision world with a 10-point improvement. The starting gun of the modern AI era.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyalexnetimagenetdeep-learninggeoffrey-hintoncomputer-visionEventsMinds & Machines2012https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e6-the-first-ai-winter-1974-1980/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e6-the-first-ai-winter-1974-1980/The funding cuts, disbanded groups, and stubborn few who kept working through AI's first collapse — and how it shaped everything that came after.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyai-winterfunding-crisismachine-translationdarpaEventsMinds & Machines1974-1980https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e7-the-rise-of-expert-systems-1980/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e7-the-rise-of-expert-systems-1980/How MYCIN, XCON, and corporate AI systems made real money by going narrow — AI's first commercial era and the seeds of its second collapse.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyexpert-systemsmycinxconknowledge-engineeringEventsMinds & Machines1980-1987https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e8-japans-fifth-generation-project-1982/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e8-japans-fifth-generation-project-1982/Japan's audacious ten-year programme to build AI computers triggered global panic — then quietly failed. A tale of ambition, geopolitics, and misadventure.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyjapan-fifth-generationmitilogic-programmingai-raceEventsMinds & Machines1982-1992https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e9-the-second-ai-winter-1987-1993/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e9-the-second-ai-winter-1987-1993/The expert systems boom collapsed, LISP machines imploded, and AI contracted for the second time — while neural network pioneers kept the flame alive.Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyai-winterexpert-systemslisp-machinesneural-networksEventsMinds & Machines1987-1993https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e4-eliza-1966/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e4-eliza-1966/In 1966 a pattern-matching program became the world's first chatbot. People told it secrets and begged not to have it turned off. Its creator was horrified.Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyelizanlpjoseph-weizenbaumpsychology-of-aiEventsMinds & Machines1964-1966https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e5-the-lighthill-report-1973/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e5-the-lighthill-report-1973/In 1973, mathematician James Lighthill wrote a review so devastating it caused governments to pull AI funding, sending the field into its first winter.Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historylighthill-reportai-winterbritish-aifunding-crisisEventsMinds & Machines1973https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e3-the-logic-theorist-1956/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e3-the-logic-theorist-1956/In 1955, a program proved a mathematical theorem for the first time. Its creators believed they had cracked intelligence. The story of the first AI program.Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historysymbolic-aitheorem-provingallen-newellherbert-simonEventsMinds & Machines1955-1956https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e2-the-turing-test-1950/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e2-the-turing-test-1950/In 1950, a mathematician asked 'can machines think?' and proposed a test. The test sparked a debate. Seventy-five years later, the debate has not ended.Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historyturing-testphilosophyalan-turingimitation-gameEventsMinds & Machines1950https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e1-the-dartmouth-conference-1956/https://astro-project-e55.pages.dev/blog/e1-the-dartmouth-conference-1956/In the summer of 1956, ten men gathered at Dartmouth and gave a name to the dream of thinking machines. The week Artificial Intelligence was born.Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-historydartmouthfounding-of-aijohn-mccarthymarvin-minskyEventsMinds & Machines1956