-
1946: Microwave oven invented
Percy Spencer filed a patent on October 8, 1945 for a microwave cooking oven, eventually named the Radarange. The Radarange was about 6 feet tall, weighed about 750 pounds and sold for about $5,000 a piece.
The invention of the microwave oven changed the way the women of the household cooked their meals. This led to more cooking and gatherings. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/08/the-microwave-oven-was-invented-by-accident-by-a-man-who-was-orphaned-and-never-finished-grammar-school/ -
First Credit Card
The first credit card (Diner's Club) was created by Ralph Schneider, Frank McNamara and Matty Simmons. It allowed customers to charge the cost of their restaurant bills only. Today, credit cards are use to gather information about the user each time it is swiped: where we shop, what we buy and how much we spend. http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=87 -
First Video Tape Recorder
Charles Ginsburg invented the first video tape recorder. The first video tape recorder was sold by Ampex for $50,000. This invention advanced communication by allowing someone to view an event or moment after it had passed. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-inventor-of-videotape-recorders-didnt-live-to-see-blockbusters-fall-180947594/ -
Patent for the bar code issued
The first patent for the bar code was issued in 1952 to investors Joseph Woodland and Barnard Silver as US Patent 2,612,994. The bar code changed communication by creating a way for people to go directly to a source, or in today's world directly to a website. http://www.barcode.ro/tutorials/barcodes/history.html -
Hydrogen Bomb is Built
The first hydrogen bomb was tested on November 1, 1952 in Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific. It was created by Edward Teller. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-tests-first-hydrogen-bomb -
Transistor Radio Invented
The first transistor radio was invented by Texas Instruments and sold for the first time in November 1954 for $49.95. The transistor radio changed communication by allowing people to get information live while at home (press conferences, presidential speeches, breaking news). http://www.radiozx.com/first_transistor_radio.htm -
Computer Modem Invented
AT&T Bell invented the first computer modem in order to send digital signals back and forth which enabled communication between computers. http://www.internethalloffame.org/internet-history/timeline -
Invention of the microchip
Texas Instruments introduced the solid integrated circuit, more commonly known as the microchip, in 1959 at a New York Coliseum trade show. The microchip was invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2009/06/when_america_first_met_the_microchip.html -
Audio Cassette Invented
The first audio cassette was invented in 1962 and changed the way people listened to and recorded music forever. http://www.moleskine.com/us/news/1962-2012-the-audio-cassette%3Cbr%3Ecelebrates-50-years -
Compact Disc Invented
First compact disc was created by American physicist James Russel. The CD changed communication by changing the way we store information and listen to music. http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/compact_disc.html -
Invention of the Floppy Disk
The first floppy disk was invented at IBM by John Shugart in 1967. It was coined the name "floppy" because of its flexible plastic outer shell. Like the compact disk, he floppy disk changed the way we store information and how that information is trnasferred and communicated to others. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/floppy-disk-drive1.htm -
Invention of Ethernet
Ethernet was invented in 1973 by Robert Metcalfe while working at Xerox. Ethernet allowed us to access the internet and gave us access to a whole world of information that we weren't able to reach before. http://www.networkworld.com/article/2202019/lan-wan/living-legends--ethernet-inventor-bob-metcalfe.html -
Invention of Inkjet Printer
The invention of the inkjet printer was by Siemens in 1977, but it wasn't until the mid 1980s that the first inkjet printer was actually sold by HP and Canon. http://www.ehow.com/about_5460438_history-ink-jet-printers.html -
First Word Processor
WordStar was the first commercially successful word processing software program produced for microcomputers and was released in 1979. http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventions/a/WordStar.htm -
First Mobile Phone Network Invented
Japan had the first mobile system. It introduced the world's first cellular telephone network in 1979. Mobile phones vastly changed the way we communicate by introducing a form of instant communication between two or more people. http://www.connected-earth.com/Journeys/Firstgenerationtechnologies/Mobilecommunications/Thefirsttruemobiles/index.htm
