Slush Pool (now Braiins Pool), the world's first Bitcoin mining pool, mines its first block. Created by Marek "Slush" Palatinus in the Czech Republic, the pool pioneers the concept of combining hashrate from multiple small miners to compete for block rewards, which are then split proportionally. Before pooled mining, solo miners with modest hardware had almost no chance of earning rewards. Slush Pool democratizes mining and remains operational to this day.
Braiins Pool