It is so fitting that we get to kick off what will become a daily fixture on this blog in “This Day in Tech History” with a birthday party. Yes, today we get to celebrate the birth of the compact disc, or what is more affectionately referred to as the CD. 30 years ago, on March 9th, Philips introduced the new technology at a press conference in the Netherlands.

With some help from Sony, Philips was able to standardize the format of the CD which really allowed it to take off. It took a few years before the technology took the next step, but in 1982 Bill Joel released what would become the first of many CD albums in 52nd Street, revolutionizing the way Americans listened to music. Of course, as technology continues to evolve at a torrid pace, the CD may well come to be extinct much sooner rather than later. MP3′s have already taken over as the primary medium for listening to music, and iPods have become common place in the world today. Regardless of how much longer the CD’s life lasts, however, they will always hold a special place in the history of technology.

On an unrelated note, it looks like we will have another reason to mark March 9th down in the technological history books as the 1000th Blu-ray disc has been released in the U.K. The milestone disc released was Pinocchio, the platinum edition.