Brian Atkins wrote:
>
> Can anyone tell me about when this term came to be used? And
> who began it? (I am referring to the usage of the term in the
> context of this community)
This is in the FAQ, but you might like to look at: http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Global/Singularity in Ander's pages, also.
I'm fairly sure Vernor Vinge's "Marooned in Realtime" is the first clear use of the term with this meaning.