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Technological Advancements
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Weather Satellite
The first weather satellite, Vanguard 2, was launched on February 17, 1959. Poor axis of rotation and its elliptical orbit kept it from collecting a notable amount of useful data.The first successful weather satellite was TIROS-1 launched by NASA on April 1, 1960, and lasted 78 days. -
Cordless Power Tools
In 1961, Black & Decker invented cordless power tools. It was thought to be one of the greatest tools to come to the trade because of its ease of use. -
Smoke Detector
The first effordable home smoke detector became available in 1965. It was invented by Duane D. Pearsall and Stanley B. Peterson. The device featured and individual battery powered unit that could easily be installed and replaced. -
Cordless Telephone
A jazz musician named Teri Pall invented a version of the cordless phone in 1965 but could not market her invention as its two-mile range caused radio signals to interfere with aircraft. She sold her rights to the cordless phone in 1968 to a manufacturer who modified it for practical use. -
Floppy Disk
•The floppy disk invented by Alan Shugart. It was created for media storage off of the computer. -
MRI
In 1970, Raymond Damadian, a medical doctor and research scientist, discovered the basis for using magnetic resonance imaging as a tool for medical diagnosis. The first MRI machine was completed in 1977, though the machines weren't readily available until 1980. -
VCR
It changed the way people interacted with TV. Being able to record allowed people to watch more, without interfering with other activities -
GPS
Originally GPS was used by the U.S. Navy and Air Force or the military to detect the sea, land, and air vehicles. Now it can be used for navigation or to find anything on the globe. -
Fetal Surgery
The first fetal surgery was performed at the University of California under the direction of Dr. Michael Harrison. Further advances have been made in the years since this first operation. New techniques have allowed additional defects to be treated and for less invasive forms of fetal surgical intervention. -
Nintendo
In 2009 Nintendo was named the single greatest video game console in history. It was the best selling console of it's time. -
Tilt-and-Roll Luggage
Northwest Airlines pilot Robert Plath invented tilt-and-roll luggage as travelers before had to carry suitcases in their hands, toss garment bags over their shoulders, or strap luggage on top of metal carts. -
Digital Answering Machine
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E-mail
E-mail was created back in the 60s but took off with the use of the internet in 1993 -
Playstation
Playstation was introduced in 1194 by the Sony corporation. It's successor, Playstation 2, became the best selling video game console to date. -
DVDs
Digital Versatile Disk; DVDs were invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic. DVDs were able to hold more information than CDs while staying the same size. -
MP3s
MP3s crippled the CD industry but created an entirely new one. -
Google
One of the most commonly used search engines -
WIFI
Wireless Local Area Network; making it possible to access the internet without the need for wires -
Text Messaging
In October 2000, AT&T became the first U.S. cellular company to offer instant text messaging for mobile phones. -
Artificial Heart
AbioCor artificial heart invented by Abiomed. This was the first successful artificial heart, but because of the size the smaller AbioCor II was developed in 2005. -
Apple Announces Ipod
Apple Computers publicly announced their portable music digital player, the iPod. Apple has sold over 400 million Ipods since the release in 2001. -
Virtual Keyboard
Virtual keyboard invented by Canesta and VKB. It is still being developed and impoved. -
Youtube
Youtube was invented in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. YouTube was named Time Magazines Invention of the year in 2006. -
Iphone
The first Iphone was introduced in 2007, changing the way we use phones.
