As Control Design celebrates its 15th anniversary, each month we bring you a look back at some of the events and developments that shaped technology during that time. In December, AT&T bought IBM's data networking business, President George W. Bush signed a rescue package for General Motors and Chrysler, and 150 countries agreed to support efforts to control global warming.
Dec. 11, 1997: More than 150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan, to control the Earth’s greenhouse gases.
Dec. 8, 1998: AT&T announced it was buying IBM's data networking business for $5 billion cash.
Dec. 13, 1999: John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 conversion, publicly pleaded mercy with hackers to create a moratorium during the Y2K timeframe.
Dec. 11, 2001: Federal agents seized computers in 27 U.S. cities as part of "Operation Buccaneer," used to gain evidence against an international software piracy ring.
Dec. 16, 2009: Astronomers discovered GJ1214b, the first-known exoplanet on which water could exist.