Timeline of United States inventions (1946–91) of the United States Geological Survey. 1960 Gas laser A gas laser is a laser in which an electric current is discharged through a gas to produce light. The first gas laser, the Helium-neon, was invented by William R. Bennett, Don Herriott, and Ali Javan in 1960. The first continuous visible gas laser, operating at 632.8 nm in the red, was invented by A. D. White and J. D. Rigden in 1962. 1961 Spreadsheet (electronic) 1961 Wearable computer 1961 Frozen carbonated beverage 1961 Biofeedback 1962 Communications satellite 1962 Chimney starter 1962 Light-emitting diode A light-emitting-diode (LED) is a semiconductor diode
Light-emitting diode is applied in the reverse direction. If the reverse voltage grows large enough to exceed the breakdown voltage, a large current flows and the LED may be damaged. If the reverse current is sufficiently limited to avoid damage, the reverse-conducting LED is a useful noise diode. The vast majority of devices containing LEDs are "safe under all conditions of normal use", and so are classified as "Class 1 LED product"/"LED Klasse 1". At present, only a few LEDs—extremely bright LEDs that also have a tightly focused viewing angle of 8° or less—could, in theory, cause temporary blindness, and so are