

(See the continuous Text-Only version)

A Selective

Timeline of 20th Century Events (4)


To Part 3


  ENIAC, the pioneering electronic digital computer, uses 18,000 vacuum tubes
  1947   December 16, invention of point-contact transistor, Jackie Robinson breaks the baseball color barrier
  1948   January, Shockley invents junction transistor, The military is informed about transistors
Orwell's "1984" published, Frisbee, Velcro invented, Berlin Airlift
  1949     People's Republic of China established by Chairman Mao, Cake mix invented, First Germanium transistors sold
  1950     Transistors developed at Bell Labs, First charge card (Diner's Club), Korean War begins, President Truman sends first military advisory group to Vietnam  
  1951     Junction transistor developed,
J Bardeen leaves Bell Labs,
DNA discovered
  1952     Bell shares the technology, Albert Schweitzer wins Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. Potato Head is born  
1953     First product to use transistor sold: hearing aids, Polio vaccine developed, Mt Everest climbed, Radial tires invented, Korean War ends
1954     First transistor radio, First fully transistorized computer, Texas Instruments makes silicon transistor, TV dinner first marketed, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings published
  1955     Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, McDonalds opens, Albert Einstein dies
  1956     Shockley leaves Bell Labs; Nobel Prize Awarded to Shockley, Brattain & Bardeen
  1957     "Traitorous Eight" establish Fairchild Semiconductor Co., Sputnik I and Sputnik II launched, Superconductivity theory described by Bardeen et al
  1958     J Kilby invents integrated circuit, Explorer I- first US earth satellite goes into orbit (discovers Van Allen radiation belt)
  1959     R Noyce invents better integrated circuit, Alaska and Hawaii admitted as states, Barbie doll introduced

To Part 5
Through 1965

