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Period: to
1941-1960
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Super Glue
The original cyanoacrylates (the chemical name for the glue) were discovered in 1942 in a search for materials to make clear plastic gun sights for the war, and scientists stumbled upon a formulation that stuck to everything that it came in contact with. However, cyanoacrylates were quickly rejected by American researchers precisely because they stuck to everything! In 1951, cyanoacrylates were rediscovered by Eastman Kodak researchers Harry Coover and Fred Joyner, who recognized its true commer -
First Nuclear Reactor built in Napalm
an apparatus or structure in which fissile material can be made to undergo a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear reaction with the consequent release of energy. -
Microwave Oven
The microwave oven was invented by Percy L. S.
The microwave oven was a by-product of another technology. It was during a radar-related research project around 1946 that Dr. Percy Spencer, an engineer with the Raytheon Corporation, noticed something very unusual. This allowed people to cook meals faster and easier! -
Charles Ginsburg invented the first video tape recorder (VTR).
A video tape recorder (VTR) is a tape recorder designed to record video material on magnetic tape. The first practical video tape recorder, using transverse tape head scanning, was developed by Ampex Corporation in 1956. -
Edward Teller and team build the hydrogen bomb
an immensely powerful bomb whose destructive power comes from the rapid release of energy during the nuclear fusion of isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium), using an atom bomb as a trigger. -
Transistor Radio
a semiconductor device with three connections, capable of amplification in addition to rectification.
a portable radio using circuits containing transistors rather than vacuum tubes -
Solar Cell invented by Chaplin, Fuller and Pearson
a device converting solar radiation into electricity -
Hovercraft
a vehicle or craft that travels over land or water on a cushion of air provided by a downward blast. A design was first patented by Christopher Cockerell (1910–99) in 1955. -
US launches its first satellite, Explorer I, with a Jupiter-C rocket; James Van Allen discovers the earth’s radiation belt
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Microchip Invented
a tiny wafer of semiconducting material used to make an integrated circuit. -
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation" Lasers differ from other sources of light because they emit light coherently. The laser allowed laser surgery to be possible
