1950-1955
Credit Cards (Diners) 1950
- invented by Frank McNamara
- Frank was out to dinner when his partner forgot his wallet, this gave him the idea of having an alternate form of money so they could pay
- The first card was made of cardboard
- The idea of the credit card far precedes this date but this was the first one to achieve widespread use
- Credit cards are partially responsible for The Great Depression because they gave people a way to spend money they didn't have, plunging them into debt
Hydrogen Bomb 1952
- Invented by Edward Teller and many members of his team from the Manhattan Project
- Uses Fusion instead of Fission to create a devastating explosion, a thousand times more powerful than atomic bombs
- Sped up the arms race by influencing the Soviet Union to create their own Hydrogen bombs
- Opposed by many who predicted the danger of tense countries having these devastating weapons
"Black Box" Flight Recorder 1953
- Dr. David Warren invented a device to record what happens inside an airplane during the flight
- It's purpose was to help investigators discover why the plane crashed in the first place
- It was first made in response to the crash of The Comet, the world's first jet powered commercial aircraft
- However, it was not until 1960 when a plane mysteriously crashed in Queensland that Australia became the first country to require it as a mandatory piece of equipment for planes
- Was originally painted a bright color (not black) so it would be easy to find after a crash
Solar Cells 1954
- Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller discovered the silicon solar cell
- They were working for Bell Laboratories
- This material was the first one discovered that can convert sunlight into electricity at a reasonable efficiency
- The first cells had efficiency of 4% and later were improved to 11%
Computer Modem 1958
- The Government needed a way to send large amounts of information electronically
- Bell Laboratories made this happen by inventing the Computer Modem
- Modem stands for Modulate/Demodulate
- This is the first internet
- First commercial modem wasn't manufactured until 1962 by AT&T
Laser 1958
- Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow did all the calculations and eventually got a patent on their laser, despite not having actually built it yet
- The patent came in 1960, the same year Theodore Maiman built the first functioning laser while working at Hughes Aircraft Company
- started with stimulated emission of radiation to form a beam
- Eventually used in devices like remotes
Integrated Circuit 1958
- Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments
- Basically, it is a more advanced electric circuit
- Electric circuits were too large for the new technological advancements so Jack tried to find a way to make them smaller
- He had the idea of making the entire transistor out of silicon and carving it from one crystal