Vintage Synth Repair

hi out there, this is really not about repairing. but 
to solve a conflict between me and my fried I 
would like to have a 3rd party answer to theese 
question:
1) when did MIDI first apear, and when did it 
become a standard?
2) what is the first known record where a modular 
synth was used?

would be glad for any answer!

stay sharp//thor