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Switching system invented for telephone
Almon Brown Strowger, an undertaker, develops a switching system that is controlled by a dial on the telephone. Users can now dial directly to another phone without the assistance of an operator. Although Bell Telephone Laboratories installs Strowger's new system in many locations, switchboard operators are still used well into the second half of the century.
Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tech/indext.html
Pic Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-evolution-of-telephones/10/ -
Television invented.
Television quickly becomes a part of American life starting around 1946. One year before, there were fewer than 10,000 TV sets. By 1950, there are 6 million. By 1960, there will be almost 60 million. Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tech/indext.html
Pic Source: http://www.tvhistory.tv/1946-1949.htm -
Transistor radio made available to public.
The Regency is introduced in 1954. The first lightweight, portable radio, it uses recently-developed transistors instead of tubes. In 1955, Sony's popular version of the transistor radio is made available to the public. Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tech/indext.html
Pic Source: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/transistor-radios.htm -
Sony Walkman introduced.
The Sony Walkman appears in homes and on hips across the country. Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tech/indext.html Pic Source: http://www.childofthe1980s.com/2008/01/08/sony-walkman/ -
World Wide Web gains attention.
Spurred by the introduction of Mosaic, interest in the World Wide Web rapidly takes off starting in 1994. Within four years, an estimated 30 million people (including you) are browsing the Web. Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tech/indext.html -
Eco-friendly refrigerators introduced.
In addition to being energy efficient (a repercussion of the 1970s enerGy crisis), new refrigerators no longer use ozone-harming CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, or freon). Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tech/indext.html
