Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known for co-founding Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which helped spark the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. Microsoft went on to become the world's largest personal computer software company. Allen was ranked as the 44th-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes in 2018, with an estimated net worth of 20.3billionatthetimeofhisdeath.Allenquitfromday−to−dayworkatMicrosoftinearly1983afteraHodgkinlymphomadiagnosis,remainingonitsboardasvice−chairman.Heandhissister,JodyAllen,foundedVulcanInc.in1986,aprivatelyheldcompanythatmanagedhisbusinessandphilanthropicefforts.Hehadamulti−billiondollarinvestmentportfolio,includingtechnologyandmediacompanies,scientificresearch,realestateholdings,privatespaceflightventures,andstakesinothersectors.HeownedtheSeattleSeahawksoftheNationalFootballLeagueandthePortlandTrailBlazersoftheNationalBasketballAssociation,andwaspart−owneroftheSeattleSoundersFCofMajorLeagueSoccer.In2000heresignedfromhispositiononMicrosoft′sboardandassumedthepostofseniorstrategyadvisortothecompany′smanagementteam.AllenfoundedtheAllenInstitutesforBrainScience,ArtificialIntelligence,andCellScience,aswellascompanieslikeStratolaunchSystemsandApexLearning.Hegavemorethan2 billion to causes such as education, wildlife and environmental conservation, the arts, healthcare, and community services. In 2004, he funded the first crewed private spaceplane with SpaceShipOne. He received numerous awards and honors, and was listed among the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007 and 2008.
Allen was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2009. He died of septic shock related to cancer on October 15, 2018, at the age of 65.
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A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers, were comparatively much larger and more expensive (though indeed present-day mainframes such as the IBM System z machines use one or more custom microprocessors as their CPUs).
Traf-O-Data was a business partnership between Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Paul Gilbert that existed in the 1970s. The objective was to read the raw data from roadway traffic counters and create reports for traffic engineers. The company had only modest success but the experience was instrumental in the creation of Microsoft Corporation a few years later. State and local governments frequently perform traffic surveys with a pneumatic road tube traffic counter.
The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic. SpaceShipTwo is carried to its launch altitude by a Scaled Composites White Knight Two, before being released to fly on into the upper atmosphere powered by its rocket engine. It then glides back to Earth and performs a conventional runway landing.