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The History of Electronics Inventors and their Inventions Over the last two issues, we have described many individuals who made vital contributions to electronics. Their work made modern technology possible. Many significant developments also emerged from universities, companies and other organisations, described in this third and final part of the series. Part 3: by Dr David Maddison T his final article covers significant inventions that cannot be attributed to an individual, either because we don’t know their name(s) or because they were part of a team. Unlike the last two parts, which were organised by the date of birth of the inventor, we will list them by the year of the invention or discovery. electric catfish ~2750BCE An Ancient Egyptian mural in the tomb of the architect Ti in Saqqara, Egypt refers to electric catfish, later reputed by Pliny and Plutarch to treat arthritis pain and other maladies. This could be one of the earliest discoveries involving electricity. Fig.54: a drawing of the Baghdad Battery. Source: https://w.wiki/7FNe 12 Silicon Chip Baghdad Battery Image Source: www.pexels.com/photo/2047905/ ~150BCE – 650CE The Baghdad Battery (see Fig.54) is thought to be a battery cell by some, but it could have had other uses and there is no evidence it was used as a battery. See our article on Batteries in the January 2022 issue (siliconchip. au/Series/375). optic fibres 27BCE Romans are known to have drawn glass into long flexible fibres, an idea later used for optical fibres for communications and light transmission. lighthouse, transatlantic cable 1858 The South Foreland Lighthouse near Dover, UK was the first lighthouse with an electric lamp. It used a carbon arc lamp developed by Frederick Hale Holmes and was on trial until 1860. In 1872, it received a permanent electrical installation. The light was powered by a pair of coke-fuelled steam engines driving four magnetos, shared with an adjacent lighthouse. Michael Faraday was then investigating electric lighting for lighthouses, and Holmes demonstrated the lamp to him. The first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid. It worked for only three weeks and took two minutes to Australia's electronics magazine transmit one character, about 10 minutes per word. undersea telegraph cable 1859 An undersea telegraph cable was laid between Victoria and Tasmania, the longest undersea cable at the time. It was retired in 1861. US transcontinental telegraph 1861 The US transcontinental telegraph line was completed. 1866 transatlantic cable A more functional transatlantic telegraph cable was laid. Messages could be transmitted at eight words per minute. international telegraph cable 1872 Australia connected to the international telegraph cable between Darwin and Java. 1876 AU-NZ telegraph link The Australia to New Zealand telegraph link was completed. transcontinental telegraph line 1877 The transcontinental telegraph line became operational between Port Augusta, SA and Albany, WA, a distance of 3196km. first international phone call 1881 The first international phone call was made between New Brunswick, Canada and Maine, USA. siliconchip.com.au The Sydney telephone exchange opened with 12 subscribers. public power station 1882 The first large public power station, the Holborn Viaduct power station (also known as the Edison Electric Light Station) was built in London. It produced 93kW at 110V DC, with the generator driven by a steam engine. It was preceeded by a small waterwheel-powered generator in Godalming, Surrey that only generated 7.5kW. The Pearl Street Station opened in New York. It had six 100kW dynamos, was powered by steam and its waste heat was also used for local heating. hydroelectric generation system 1883 The Adelaide telephone exchange opened with 48 subscribers, and the Port Adelaide exchange with 21 subscribers. Australia’s first hydroelectric generation system opened at the Mount Bischoff Tin Mine, to power about 50 Swan incandescent lights. Graphophone (phonograph) 1887 At the Volta Laboratory (established by A.G. Bell), Chichester A. Bell and Sumner Tainter improved Edison’s phonograph by using wax rather than tin foil as the recording medium. Along with Alexander Graham Bell, this confirmed wax as the superior recording medium. They established the American Graphophone Company to sell their Graphophone product, which was a commercial success. public electricity supply Electric generator producing 2.4kV at 1082A (2.6MW). standards for electrical units 1893 Standards and definitions for electrical units of ohms, amps and volts were refined at the International Electrical Congress in Chicago, Illinois, USA. public hydroelectric scheme 1895 Australia’s first public hydroelectric scheme began operating, to power street lights in Launceston, Tas. In 1921, it was converted to three-phase and 2MW, and was used until 1956. international telegraph 1902 Telegraph operations began between Australia and Canada, with connections via Fiji and Norfolk Island. Morse Code transmission 1906 The Marconi Company made the first official Morse Code transmission in Australia from Queenscliff, Vic to Devonport, Tas. Some claim Morse radio transmissions were made in 1897 by Professor William Henry Bragg of Adelaide University alone, or with G. W. Selby of Melbourne. By 1906, Australia had 46 electric power stations with an aggregate capacity of 36MW. production of tungsten-filament bulbs 1907 Tokyo Electric Co (predecessor to Toshiba) started small-scale production of tungsten-filament bulbs, reaching full production in 1910. 1909 radio broadcasting Radio station KQW started broadcasting in California for experimental, promotional and training purposes by engineer Charles David Herrold (18751948). By 1912, he was making scheduled news and music broadcasts (see Fig.55). Many others at the time were only broadcasting Morse Code. He received a commercial license in 1921. The station still exists today as KCBS. amateur radio frequencies 1912 The US Government passed the Radio Act of 1912, limiting radio amateurs to frequencies above 1.5MHz, as those frequencies were considered useless. This led radio amateurs to discover HF radio propagation via the ionosphere. In 1921, a one-way transmission was made across the Atlantic; then, in 1923, two-way transmission (see siliconchip.au/link/abnv). transcontinental phone call 1915 The first transcontinental phone call was made in the USA, over 5794km, facilitated by the newly-­invented vacuum tube amplifier. rotary dial telephones 1919 Bell System, USA made the first rotary dial telephones. commercial radio 1920 The world’s first commercial licensed radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA started broadcasting. 1888 Tamworth, NSW was the first town in Australia with a public electricity supply for arc and incandescent lighting (240V DC). three-phase AC power 1889 Young, NSW got three-phase AC power for street lighting, shops, offices and homes. AC hyroelectric power plant 1891 The first German three-phase AC power plant started operating in Lauffen am Neckar. 15kV was generated and transmitted 175km to the International Electro-Technical Exhibition in Frankfurt. Possibly the first commercial AC hydroelectric power plant became operational in Ames, Colorado, USA. It had a capacity of 3.75MW at 3kV, 133Hz, single-phase. That location is still producing electricity but not with the original equipment, although a powerhouse dating from 1905 is still in operation, with a 1904 General siliconchip.com.au Fig.55: Charles Herrold’s San Jose, California radio laboratory, circa 1912. He transmitted from this location as radio KQW. Herrold is standing in the doorway. Source: https://w.wiki/7EFw Australia's electronics magazine December 2023  13 double-coiled tungsten filament 1921 At Tokyo Electric Co, Junichi Miura made the first double-coiled tungsten filament light globe using the technique developed by Benbow (1917). It entered small-scale production in 1930 and mass production in 1936. “mobile phone” 1922 Early experiments were conducted with a “mobile phone”. The phone was a portable two-way radio that used an umbrella antenna with a fire hydrant for its Earth. Music was transmitted from a base station to the radio. See the YouTube video titled “World’s First Mobile Phone (1922)” – https://youtu. be/ILiLaRXHUr0 transatlantic telephone call 1926 The first transatlantic telephone call was made. car radio, Phonovision 1927 The first mass-produced car radio was made, the Philco Transitone. Before that, radios were adapted for car use. The exact year is subject to some dispute. John Logie Baird made the first “videodisc” player as a proof-of-concept called the Phonovision. The output of mechanical television scanning from a Nipkow disc was recorded to a gramophone record. It only had a 30-line resolution at 5FPS. Some recordings were found, and in 1982-87, software was made to recover the images. See the website at siliconchip.au/ link/abnw and the video titled “30-line TV video recordings news feature”, plus other videos below: https://youtu.be/J2mb4R9W9TI siliconchip.au/link/abnx https://youtu.be/G3CFkK5OORw blind aircraft take-off and landing TDK incorporated the first ferrite cores in radios in 1937, making them smaller and lighter. TDK was the only company that could supply ferrite cores until the end of WW2. LP records 1931 RCA introduced the first commercial LP (long play) records. They were 12 inches or 30cm in diameter, ran at 33⅓RPM and contained up to 11 minutes of audio per side (the same time as a standard 1000ft/305m movie reel). They were a commercial failure due to the expense of playback equipment and the Great Depression. Magnetophon K1 tape recorder 1935 German company AEG introduced the Magnetophon K1, the first practical tape recorder (see Fig.56). It used iron-oxide-coated non-metallic magnetic tape. The tape was originally based on Fritz Pfleumer’s idea (see his entry last month), with further development by Friedrich Matthias. A non-­ damaging head was designed by Eduard Schüller, who also built the prototype machines. The audio quality was poor until Walter Weber (1907-1944) discovered the AC biasing technique (by accident!), dramatically improving audio quality. These recorders had all the basic features that were incorporated into later analog tape recorders. You can see a video on the similar 14 Silicon Chip 1939 German company Fernseh AG demonstrated high-definition 1029line TV for displaying military maps. This system required 15MHz of bandwidth, which is why HDTV wasn’t widely introduced until the advent of digital broadcasting in the 1990s. commercial FM broadcasting, NTSC 1941 Commercial FM broadcasting formally began in the USA, although there were experimental transmissions before that. It was on the 42-50MHz band, split into 40 channels. In 1945, it was reassigned to 88-106MHz band with 80 channels, then extended to 108MHz and 100 channels. The monochrome NTSC television standard was released. “Colossus” digital computer 1943 The first programmable digital computer was built, the British “Colossus”. “ENIAC” digital computer 1945 The US “ENIAC” computer was built, the world’s first general-purpose programmable digital computer. The electronic Merrill Wheel-­ Balancing System for cars was also invented. FM broadcasting in Australia 1947 Experimental FM broadcasting in Australia took place from 1947 to 1961 but with an extremely limited audience (the receivers were costly). It was discontinued to clear the TV band and eventually reintroduced on a band that no one else in the world used. Fortunately, in 1975 it was reintroduced on the widely used 88MHz-108MHz. 1948 Columbia Records used PVC to make vinyl records, which are more durable than previous shellac compounds. They could be made with much finer grooves called “microgrooves”. These allowed for a playback time of about 22 minutes on a 12in/30cm disc (there was also a 10in/25cm disc). Peter Carl Goldmark (1906-1977) developed the format. 45RPM records 1930 Yogoro Kato and Takeshi Takei at the Tokyo Institute of Technology first synthesised ferrite compounds. These materials are used in inductors, transformers and electromagnets, electrical noise control, early computer memories, magnetic tapes, radar absorbing materials, loudspeakers and magnets. high-definition television vinyl records 1929 The first blind aircraft take-off and landing was made by Lt James Doolittle in a Consolidated NY-2 biplane. It was instrumented with a Kollsman altimeter, Sperry directional gyroscope and an artificial horizon, with a radio range and marker beacon by the National Bureau of Standards and a special radio receiver with a vibrating reed display by Radio Frequency Laboratories. synthesis of ferrite compounds Magentophon FT4 at https://youtu.be/ cLjD0B6QoaM Fig.56: the AEG Magnetophon K1 tape recorder being delivered to the Berlin Radio Show in 1935. Source: https:// museumofmagneticsoundrecording. org/ManufacturersAEGMagnetophon. html Australia's electronics magazine 1949 Columbia competitor RCA introduced the 45RPM record with a 7in/18cm diameter, intended as a replacement format for 78RPM records, with a similar duration of about five minutes per side. Eventually, “quality music” was distributed on 33⅓RPM records, with “popular music” on 45RPM records. Both formats are still around today. siliconchip.com.au Fig.57 (above): an image from the 1956 US Army patent 2,756,485 for PCB manufacturing. Fig.59 (above): the Regency TR-1, the first commercial portable transistor radio. Fig.58 (right): an advertisement for the first practical solar cell by Bell from the 25th of April, 1954. It had a 6% efficiency. Source: www.onthisday. com/photos/1st-solar-battery permanent magnets, PCBs 1950 Philips accidentally discovered barium hexaferrite, which became a popular permanent magnet material. The US Army applied for US patent 2,756,485, granted in 1956, titled “Process of Assembling Electrical Circuits” (see Fig.57). This led to the mass production of printed circuit boards. nuclear power, colour TV etc 1951 Sony released the H-1 magnetic audio tape recorder for consumer use. It was the first tape recorder designed for domestic use and weighed 13kg. The first nuclear power reactor (EBR-1) became operational in Arco, Idaho, USA. It could power four 200W light globes. CBS in the USA demonstrated colour TV broadcast using the electromechanical field-sequential system (FSC) standard. There were very few appropriate receivers. That standard was withdrawn and the NTSC standard was subsequently used instead. speech recognition system, video game 1952 The first speech recognition system was demonstrated, which could recognise one speaker saying the digits zero to nine with 90% accuracy. It was called Audrey (Automatic Digit Recognition machine) and was produced by H.K. Davis at Bell Laboratories. The first computer game was created by Alexander Shafto Douglas (19212010) at the University of Cambridge in England. It was called “OXO” and was a version of noughts and crosses (also known as tic-tac-toe). maser, nuclear submarine, NTSC by Charles H. Townes, James P. Gordon, and Herbert J. Zeiger at Columbia University. Masers are used as highly-stable frequency references and extremely low-noise amplifiers for microwave frequencies. They can also generate electromagnetic waves at microwave and other frequencies. The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched. The NTSC colour TV standard was released. photovoltaic cell, transistor computer 1954 The first practical photovoltaic cell was developed at Bell Laboratories (see Fig.58) by Calvin Souther Fuller (1902-1994), Daryl Chapin (19061995) and Gerald Pearson (1905-1987). The world’s first commercial colour television broadcast (NTSC) began in the USA. However, most programming remained in monochrome for some time due to the high cost of sets and lack of colour source material. TRADIC (for TRAnsistor DIgital Computer or TRansistorized Airborne DIgital Computer) was the world’s first fully-transistorised computer, built by Bell Labs for the US Air Force. It included 684 Bell 1734 Type A point contact cartridge transistors and 10,358 germanium diodes. The first transistorised portable radio went on sale, the Regency TR-1. It used four Texas Instruments NPN transistors, a 22.5V battery and cost US$49.95, equivalent to about $850 today (about what collectors pay!). See Fig.59 and our article in the April 2013 issue (siliconchip.au/Article/3761). programmable music synthesiser etc 1955 The RCA Mark I Synthesiser was the first programmable music synthesiser. There is an interesting article about how it works at siliconchip.au/ link/abny The first wireless TV remote control was introduced, the Zenith Flashmatic. It used visible light and had to be directed at one of four photocells in each corner of the screen to perform various functions (on/off, mute or change channel). IBM 350 drive, VRX-1000 recorder etc 1956 The first commercial disk drive, the IBM 350 (Fig.60), went on sale. Fig.60: two IBM 350 disk drives at the US Army Red River Arsenal. Source: https://w.wiki/7EFy 1953 The first maser (microwave laser; microwave amplification by stimlated emission of radiation) was built siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine December 2023  15 Fig.61: CBS engineer John Radis operating an Ampex VRX1000 videotape recorder on the 30th of November, 1956. It was the first time this machine was used on a broadcast program. Source: www.quadvideotapegroup.com/2015/12/ It stored 3.75MB and weighed about one tonne. The first commercial video tape recorder, the monochrome VRX-1000, was introduced by Ampex for studio use (see Fig.61). It used two-inch (5.08cm) wide tape in the Quadruplex format. It cost US$50,000, equivalent to about $840,000 today. The machine’s major innovation was transverse recording, where the video image was written across the tape rather than linearly, allowing for a reasonable tape speed of 38cm per second. Before its introduction, the only way to record TV programs was with film. See our detailed article on Quadruplex recording (March 2021; siliconchip.au/Article/14782). The first transatlantic telephone cable was laid, TAT-1 (Transatlantic No. 1). It could carry 35 simultaneous telephone calls with a 36th channel that carried 22 telegraph circuits. R-7 ICBM, Sputnik 1 satellite etc Silicon Chip the reactor transmutes non-fissile fuel into fissile fuel at the same time as producing power. It remained in operation until 1982. The first ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), the Soviet R-7 Semyorka, was introduced. ICBMs were later reused by multiple nations as rockets for launching satellites and other space missions. The FORTRAN computer language was commercially released. It is still used by mathematicians, scientists and engineers. The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, using an R-7 Semyorka rocket. See our detailed articles on Sputnik’s radio transmitters on page 86 (siliconchip.au/Series/407). colour videotape, modems, pacemaker 1958 The first US satellite, Explorer 1, was launched. 1957 The RCA Mark II synthesiser (Fig.62) was a successor to the Mark I and much easier to program. It had two punch paper terminals for playing compositions. These stored data for playback; the machine’s output was recorded on lacquer-coated record-like discs. See: https://youtu.be/rgN_VzEIZ1I siliconchip.au/link/abnz The world’s first large-scale civilian nuclear power plant began operation in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, USA. Its primary purpose was to produce electricity, but it was also a proof-ofconcept of the breeder reactor, where 16 Fig.62: the RCA Mark II synthesiser. Note the punch paper terminals. Source: https://electronicmusic.fandom.com/ wiki/RCA_Synthesizer (CC-BY-SA). The Ampex VR-1000B commercial colour videotape recorder was released. It supported multiple international video standards. You can see the product brochure at siliconchip. au/link/abp0 Telephone-line modems (modulators/demodulators) were mass-­ produced for the military in the USA as the Bell 101 modem in 1958 (Fig.63), used for the SAGE air defence system. The technology was made available to the public in 1959, with a 110bit/s speed. They were a development of the teleprinter multiplexers used by news services and the like in the 1920s. The first implantable cardiac pacemaker was released. Australia’s first nuclear reactor for research and radioisotope production, HIFAR (High Flux Australian Reactor), was commissioned. It operated until 2007. The second computer game was created by William Higinbotham (19101994) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, USA. It was called Tennis for Two, similar to Pong. Veroboard, Mosfet, planar process etc Fig.63: the Bell 101 modem, released by AT&T in 1958. Source: https:// history-computer.com/modemcomplete-history-of-the-modem/ Australia's electronics magazine 1959 The first American ICBM, the SM-65 Atlas, went into operation. It was also used to launch Project Mercury astronauts. What was to become Veroboard for electronics prototyping and one-off circuits was invented. The first commercial plain-paper photocopier, the Xerox 914, was introduced. See the video at https://youtu. be/9xZYcWsh8t0 siliconchip.com.au Fig.64: the ECHO 2 satellite undergoing testing and inspection, dwarfing the people around it. The first transmission using ECHO was from California to New Jersey in 1960. Source: NASA. Fig.65: the Anita Mk VII & VIII (pictured) were launched simultaneously in 1961. VII was the first model because they had used the previous numbers for their mechanical calculators Source: https://w.wiki/7EFz (GNU FDL). Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Laboratories invented the Mosfet (metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor). See our May 2022 article on transistors (siliconchip.au/ Article/15305). The semiconductor planar process for fabricating integrated circuits was invented by Jean Amédée Hoerni (1924-1997). See our June-August 2022 articles for more on the history of ICs (siliconchip.au/Series/382). and played on a Digital PDP-1 mainframe computer. It was called Spacewar! – see Fig.66 and the video titled “Spacewar! (1961) - First digital computer game”: https://youtu.be/CwZAKJ8Y6YU The Josephson effect was observed but not recognised for what it was. It led to a superconducting circuit called the Josephson junction, with applications in quantum computers, voltage standards and digital signal processNASA’s Project Echo, SMT components 1960 ing, among others. It was named after NASA started Project Echo. Echo Brian David Josephson (1940~). 1 and Echo 2 (launched 1964) were The IBM Shoebox speech recogniexperimental passive reflector com- tion system could recognise 16 spoken munications satellites (Fig.64), 30m words (numerals and arithmetic operdiameter inflated balloons with some ators). It was a voice-operated printing electronics onboard. They provided calculator (see Fig.67). valuable data about atmospheric drag The Telstar 1 communications satand other information. ellite was launched into an elliptical IBM first demonstrated surface-­ orbit (not geostationary). Telstar 2 was mounting component technology launched in 1963. Both satellites were (SMT) in a small computer. It was later experimental; neither are still in use applied to the Launch Vehicle Digital Computer in the Saturn IB and Saturn V in the 1960s. ANITA electronic calculators, LEDs but are in orbit. Telstar 1 carried the first transatlantic TV transmission via satellite that same year; data was also transmitted between two IBM 1401 computers via Telstar 1. Philips compact casette, ASCII etc 1963 COMPAC (the Commonwealth Pacific Cable System) undersea telephone cable was completed, linking Australia, New Zealand and Canada via Hawaii and Fiji. Parts had been operating since 1961. This coaxial cable could handle 80 phone calls or 1760 teleprinter circuits. It replaced HF radio telephone calls, which had to be booked and were delayed if transmission conditions were bad. Philips introduced the first audio cassette tape, the “Compact Cassette”. See our article on this in the July 2018 issue (siliconchip.au/Article/11136). The first transpacific television transmission via satellite was made between Japan and the USA, via the 1961 The first electronic calculators were the ANITA Mark VII and Mark VIII, released in 1961, using vacuum tubes and cold cathode tubes (see Fig.65). The first solid-state electronic calculator was the Friden EC-130 in 1963. J. W. Allen and R. J. Cherry invented the first visible light LEDs at SERL in Baldock, UK. Josephson junction, Telstar 1 etc 1962 The third computer game was invented by Steve Russell (1937~) siliconchip.com.au Fig.66: Spacewar! Running on a PDP-1 computer. Source: https://w. wiki/7EF$ (CC-BY-2.0). Fig.67: an IBM ‘Shoebox’ voice recognition system/calculator. Source: IBM. Australia's electronics magazine December 2023  17 experimental Relay 1 communications satellite in an elliptical orbit. Nottingham Electric Valve Company in the UK released the Telcan (Fig.68), a videotape recorder intended for domestic use. It used ¼-inch audio reel-to-reel tape running at 305cm per second, a very high speed for this type of tape, and could record up to 20 minutes of monochrome video on one of two tracks. The recording bandwidth of 2.6MHz provided 405 lines. It was mainly sold as a kit, for £60, equivalent today to about $2000. It was a commercial failure; for more details, see siliconchip.au/link/abp1 The first edition of the ASCII character encoding standard was published. TPC-1, Xerox fax system, BASIC etc 1964 The Trans-Pacific cable system, TPC-1, linking Japan, Guam, Hawaii and the mainland USA became operational. It carried 128 telephone circuits. Xerox introduced the first modern commercial fax system, which they called Long Distance Xerography or LDX. The BASIC computer programming language was released. The first prototype Moog electronic music synthesiser was built by Robert Moog (1934-2005). Commercial models were produced from 1967. geosynchronous satellite Intelsat I etc 1965 The Dadda hardware binary multiplier was invented by Luigi Dadda (1923-2012) for computer arithmetic operations. It was smaller and faster than the previous implementation. Sony released the CV-2000 (CV = “consumer video”), the first mass-­ produced domestic video tape recorder (see Fig.69). It recorded in monochrome and used 13mm tape in a reel-to-reel format. It had broad uptake among business and educational institutions. Its inability to adjust head tracking meant it was impossible to swap tapes between machines; that was corrected in later versions. The first commercial geosynchronous satellite, Intelsat I, was launched. It carried either 240 telephone circuits or one TV circuit. It was in use for over four years until it was deactivated, with a temporary reactivation for use for the Apollo 11 mission, and another temporary reactivation in 1990 to mark its 25th Anniversary. It is still in orbit. Magnafax telecopier (fax machine) PAL standard, ATM, WRESAT etc Silicon Chip 1967 The SECAM colour television standard was released and adopted in France. PAL standard colour television started broadcasting in the UK. The world’s first automated teller machine (ATM) was installed at Barclay’s Bank, Enfield, UK. It was operated by inserting cheques, previously issued by a teller, marked with radioactive carbon-14 for machine readability and to confirm their authenticity. Australia’s first locally made satellite, WRESAT, was launched. See our article on WRESAT (October 2017; siliconchip.au/Article/10822). LCDs, Group 1 fax standards 1968 A team at RCA Laboratories demonstrated an 18×2 matrix liquid crystal display (LCD) using dynamic scattering mode (DSM), invented by George Heilmeier (see his entry last month). Figs.68: a Telcan home video recorder, sold mainly as a kit using ¼-inch audio tape. Source: www. nottinghampost.com/news/history/20-best-thingsnottingham-given-192680 18 1966 Xerox introduced the first easy-touse fax machine, the Magnafax Telecopier, that used standard telephone lines. The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) released Group 1 fax standards. Conforming machines took about six minutes to transmit a page at 96 lines per inch (38 per cm). MOS DRAM, Unix, ARPANET etc 1969 Commercial production of MOS DRAM (metal oxide semiconductor dynamic random access memory) was started by Advanced Memory Systems, Inc, and was offered to selected companies. The chips contained 1024 bits of memory. In the same year, Intel produced the 1103 memory chip, also with 1024 bits, and sold it on the open market. It was used in popular computers such as the HP 9800 series and the PDP-11. For more on the development of DRAM, see our articles on Computer Memory in the January & February 2023 issues (siliconchip.au/ Series/393). The Unix operating system for computers was released. The first commercial quartz oscillator watch was introduced, the Seiko Quartz-Astron 35SQ. It had an accuracy of ±5 seconds per month and a battery life of around one year. The US Department of Defense (DoD) Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) established a packet-switched computer network, ARPANET (see Fig.70), which eventually evolved into the internet we have today. digital fax machine, pocket calculator 1970 Dacom produced the first digital fax machine, the DFC-10, that used data compression and could transmit a page in under one minute. The Pascal computer programming language was released. Fig.69: the Sony CV-2000, the first mass-manufactured video recorder for the domestic market. It used half-inch (12.7mm) reelto-reel tape. Source: www.smecc.org/sony_cv_series_video.htm Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au The first commercial handheld pocket calculator, the Canon Pocketronic (Fig.71), became available. It was influenced by the prototype Texas Instruments Cal Tech calculator of 1967 and used three TI MOS integrated circuits. It had no display; results were printed on paper tape. For more information, see siliconchip.au/link/abp4 Intel 4004, Kenbak-1 PC, EPROM etc 1971 The first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004, was released. It was mainly intended for calculators and cash machines. The US DoD funded a five-year program to make a speech recognition machine that could recognise 1000 words within sentences. A machine called Harpy was built that recognised 1,011 words; see the PDF: siliconchip. au/link/abp5 Docutel introduced the “Total Teller” machine, an ATM that could accept deposits, transfer from one account to another and dispense cash. It operated offline using plastic cards and had a mechanical display with messages on a printed cylinder. By 1975, 3000 ATMs had been installed worldwide, 80% from Docutel. In 1982, Docutel merged with Olivetti. The first personal computer (without a microprocessor) was released, the Kenbak-1 (Fig.72). Only 40 were sold. Intel released the first EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), invented by Dov Frohman. The Intel 1702 could store 256 bytes of data. Sony released the U-matic video cassette format to market, the first commercial video cassette format. It used ¾-inch (19mm) tape. It was initially intended for the consumer market but was too expensive; it became popular in the institutional and industrial markets, plus the television industry. See our series on videotape recording (March-June 2021; siliconchip.au/ Series/359). Intel 8008, C, Pong, blue LEDs etc Fig.70: a map of ARPANET, the internet’s predecessor, as it appeared in 1973. Source: https://w.wiki/7FPK Fig.71 (below): the Canon Pocketronic, the first commercial handheld electronic calculator. Source: https://w. wiki/7EG3 (CC-BY-SA-4.0). Fig.72 (below): Kenbak-1, the first personal computer from 1971. Source: https://w.wiki/7FPV (CC-BY-SA-4.0) 1972 The Philips VCR (video cassette recorder) format N1500 player/ recorder was introduced for the domestic market. The last Philips VCR recorder was released in 1979. The eight-inch (20.3cm) floppy disk was commercially released. The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) Group 2 fax standards were published. Conforming machines took about three minutes siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine December 2023  19 to transmit a page at 96 lines per inch (38 per cm). Cartrivision, a consumer videotape cartridge format, was introduced. The machines were built into expensive TV sets, which were a commercial failure. See www.angelfire.com/alt/ cartrivision/ The Unix operating system was rewritten in the C language, so 1972 could be considered a date when C became mainstream. C was mainly developed between 1969 and 1973 and is still widely used today (in its original form and derivatives like C++ and C#). The first microprocessor for personal computers was released, the 8-bit Intel 8008. The world’s first scientific pocket calculator was introduced, the HP-35. Pong, the first commercially successful computer game, was released. We published a project to recreate the original game in the June 2021 issue and a modernised, miniaturised version in August 2021. For more information, see www.pong-story.com The first blue LED was invented at RCA by Herbert Paul Maruska (1944~), but the company was in turmoil and the project was cancelled. Also, the device was too dim for practical use; see siliconchip.au/link/abp6 Eventually, Isamu Akasaki (19292021), Hiroshi Amano (1960~), and Shūji Nakamura (1954~) won the Nobel Prize in 2014 for their 1993 invention of high-brightness blue LEDs at Nagoya University in Japan. White LEDs are blue LEDs with a scintillator coating (similar to a phosphor). SPICE, Ethernet, graphical interfaces EDUC-8 computer, CP/M OS etc 20 Silicon Chip 1974 Electronics Australia published what was thought at the time to be the world’s first kit computer, the EDUC-8 (Fig.75), but it was later found to have been beaten by a competitor by one month, the Mark-8. However, the EA design was considered superior. Bravo was the first ‘WYSIWYG’ document preparation program, running on the Xero Alto computer, an early word processor. The CP/M computer operating system was introduced, later displaced by MS-DOS. Kodak digital camera, Betamax etc Fig.73: the Xerox Alto computer from 1973. Source: https://w.wiki/7EG4 1973 Micral released the first personal computer with a microprocessor (the Intel 8008). The SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) analog circuit simulation program was introduced. It and its derivatives (like LTspice) are still widely used today. Ethernet was invented by Robert Melancton Metcalfe (1946~) and his team working at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) in California. It is one of the key technologies of the internet. Motorola demonstrated the cellular mobile phone, although it took some time to commercialise. The first tuneable laser was demonstrated at Bell Labs. The Xerox Alto computer (Fig.73) was released, the first computer with a graphical user interface and a mouse (see Fig.74), ten years before the Apple Lisa. It cost US$32,000, equivalent to $330,000 today. It also had a portrait-­ orientated display. 1975 The first self-contained digital camera was invented by Steven Sasson (1950~) at Kodak. It had a 100×100 pixel resolution and images were recorded digitally on cassette tape, taking 23 seconds. The Altair 8800 personal computer kit was released, considered by many to have started the microcomputer revolution. The Betamax home video recording system was released (our series on videotape recording has all the details). The Steadicam was invented by Garrett Brown and produced by Cinema Products Corporation. It is used for camera stabilisation, as it isolates the operator’s movement from the camera Australia's electronics magazine (see our article on it in the November & December 2011 issues; siliconchip. au/Series/33). VHS tape system, 5.25in floppy etc 1976 The first word processor for home computers was released, called “Electric Pencil”, for use on computers such as Altair 8800, Sol-20 and later, the TRS-80 and the IBM PC. The VHS home video tape system was released. 5.25-inch (13.3cm) floppy disks became available. Apple II, Commodore PET, TRS-80 etc 1977 The first practical optical fibre link was installed in Turin, Italy. The influential Apple II, Commodore PET and TRS-80 home computers were released. speech synthesis, LaserDisc etc 1978 Texas Instruments released the first speech synthesiser chip, the TMS5100. It used “pitch-excited linear predictive coding” to greatly decrease the volume of data required to generate speech. It was used in the “Speak & Spell” educational toy. The LaserDisc was released on the market. Machines could play prerecorded videos but could not record. Technology from LaserDisc was later incorporated into Compact Discs, DVDs and Blu-rays. It was never hugely popular but offered good-­ quality video reproduction for the period, far superior to VHS. Fairlight CMI, 1G phone networks etc 1979 The Australian Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument) was released. It was based on a design by Tony Furse, licensed by Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel (ex ETI magazine). It was “one of the earliest music workstations with an embedded sampler”, considered revolutionary at the time. See the video titled “How the Fairlight CMI changed the course of music” at https://youtu.be/jkiYy0i8FtA The very popular WordPerfect word processor was released. Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) deployed the first 1G cellular phone network. Philips and Grundig released the Video 2000 consumer video cassette format, discontinued in 1988. The VisiCalc spreadsheet program was released. It was considered a “killer application” for the Apple II and ran on many other computers. It is the predecessor to programs like Excel. For more details, visit: http:// danbricklin.com/visicalc.htm siliconchip.com.au Commodore VIC-20 computer etc 1980 The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) Group 3 fax standards (digital) were released. The time to transmit a page was reduced to 6-15 seconds, not including handshaking. It supported a variable scanning resolution, up to 400 lines per inch (157 per cm). The Commodore VIC-20 computer was released. MS-DOS V1.0, 16-bit DAC etc 1981 The MS-DOS V1.0 computer operating system was released, along with the IBM PC. The Osborne 1 was released, it is considered to be the first commercial truly portable/luggable computer. It is not obvious what device should get the credit for the first ‘laptop’; many contenders exist. The PCM53/DAC700 16-bit single-­ chip audio digital-to-analog converter (DAC) was released. Designed by Jimmy Naylor and a Texas Instruments/Burr-Brown design team, it became the basis of nearly all audio CD players. RCA released its Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED), an analog video disc playback system. A stylus with mechanical tracking read the disc. The discs were 30cm in diameter and could record 60 minutes of NTSC video per side. The product was unpopular and discontinued due to competition from LaserDisc players and other reasons. CD player, Commodore 64 1982 The first audio Compact Disc (CD) player (co-developed by Philips and Sony) was released in Japan. The Commodore 64 computer was introduced. 3.5in floppy disk, C++ language etc 1983 The first 3.5-inch (8.9cm) floppy disks became available, based on the Microfloppy Industry Committee (MIC) specification. The C++ programming language was released, an ‘object-oriented’ version of C that’s still widely used today. The first personal computer with a built-in hard disk, the IBM PC XT with 10MB standard capacity, went on the market. Motorola released the first ‘mobile’ phone, the DynaTAC 8000X. It weighed nearly a kilogram, took 10 hours to charge and retailed for US$3995 (about $18,750 in today’s money) – see Fig.76. Dr Mitsuaki Oshima at Panasonic invented electronic image siliconchip.com.au Fig.74: the Xerox Alto GUI from 1973. Source: https://interface-experience.org/ objects/xerox-alto/ Fig.75: the Electronics Australia EDUC-8 computer. Source: https://w.wiki/7EG6 Australia's electronics magazine December 2023  21 thought that its capacity would never be reached. Sharks also attacked the cable, possibly due to them being able to sense its electromagnetic radiation. It was instrumental in the development of the internet, providing a dedicated high-speed T1 connection between CERN in Europe and Cornell University in the USA. GPS receiver, World Wide Web etc 1989 The first commercial handheld GPS receiver was released, the Magellan NAV 1000. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) was demonstrated for cellular telephone systems. The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee and released to the public in 1991. DragonDictate speech recognition 1990 The first consumer speech recognition software, DragonDictate, was released. Nowadays it’s called “Dragon NaturallySpeaking” and is now owned by Microsoft. 2G networks, Linux, Python Fig.76: a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X mobile phone. Source: https://w. wiki/7FPn (CC-BY-SA-3.0) stabilisation. Panasonic released the first video camera to feature electronic image stabilisation later, in 1988. Apple Macintosh, CD-ROM 1984 The Apple Macintosh was released. The Commodore Amiga computer was also introduced. The CD-ROM for data storage, based on the audio CD, was announced. IBM Tangora speech recognition 1985 The IBM experimental speech recognition system Tangora became available. It ran on an IBM PC AT and recognised 20,000 words, converting them to text. Sony D-1 video recording format 1986 The professional studio Sony D-1 digital video recording format was introduced. Higher temperature superconductors 1987 “Higher temperature” superconductors were discovered. Currently, the highest-temperature superconductor works at around -135°C at normal atmospheric pressure. TAT-8 transatlantic optical fibre cable 1988 The first transatlantic optical fibre cable, TAT-8, became operational. It had a capacity of 280Mbit/s, equivalent to 40,000 telephone circuits. It was retired in 2002; it rapidly reached capacity when it was initially 22 Silicon Chip 1991 2G (GSM) telephone networks were introduced. The Linux operating system for computers, a free/open-source version of Unix, was released. The Python programming language was released. TASMAN2 cable, Windows 3.1 etc 1992 Australia’s first undersea optical fibre, TASMAN2, connected us to New Zealand with a speed of around 1Gbps. Windows 3.1 was released, marking a shift away from the command-line DOS interface on PCs towards graphical interfaces. The Apple Newton MessagePad was released, an early ‘personal digital assistant’ with handwriting recognition that helped form the basis of later smart devices. Windows NT, HAARP 1993 Windows NT was released. Its core still underlies modern Windows versions such as 10 & 11. However, its GUI was still similar to that of Windows 3.1. HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) was established for upper atmosphere and ionospheric research. See our article on HAARP (October 2012; siliconchip. au/Article/492). CompactFlash memory cards etc 1994 The first CompactFlash memory cards were produced by SanDisk, starting at 2MB. It was the first widespread, dedicated flash memory card format. Australia's electronics magazine Apple released home and office computers using IBM’s 32-bit PowerPC processors, marking a shift away from the Motorola processors they previously used. IBM released the Simon Personal Computer (SPC), the first ‘smartphone’, although that term didn’t exist at the time. It had an LCD touchscreen and could be used to make or receive phone calls, send and receive faxes, emails and pages (‘instant messages’). 50,000 were sold for US$1099 (about $3500 today). 1995 Windows 95, DAB radio Windows 95 was released, with a GUI reminiscent of modern Windows versions. DAB digital radio broadcasting began in Europe. DVD player, PalmPilot “smartphone” 1996 The first digital video disc (DVD) player was released in Japan. The ATSC digital television standard was released. The PalmPilot was released, an early predecessor to the modern smartphone. MPMan F10 portable MP3 player 1997 The DVB-T digital television standard was released, with the first broadcast in Sweden. The first portable MP3 player was released, the MPMan F10 by Saehan Information Systems. 1998 ADSL standard ADSL (Asymmetric digital subscriber line) technical standard ANSI T1.413 Issue 2 was released. ADSL enabled high-speed data over standard copper telephone lines. It was introduced in Australia in 2000. 1999 Bluetooth devices The first Bluetooth device was introduced to the market. SD memory cards, Windows 2000 2000 The first SD (Secure Digital) memory cards were released with 32MB and 64MB capacities. Windows 2000 was released, merging the core of Windows NT with the graphical interface of Windows 95. It was the basis of the modern Windows operating system in 2023. 3G networks, Mac OS X, iPod 2001 3G telephone networks were introduced, offering high-speed mobile data, up to 7.2Mbps. Apple released Mac OS X, a cleansheet redesign of their graphical operating system based on FreeBSD, still their primary operating system today. Apple released the iPod MP3 player. siliconchip.com.au ISDB-T digital TV broadcasts 2003 Japan started digital TV broadcasts using the ISDB-T standard. LongPen remote signing device 2004 Margaret Atwood (1939~) invented the LongPen, a remote signing device, mainly for authors to sign copies of books. It was released to the market in 2006. It is reminiscent of Elisha Gray’s telautograph from 1888. DMB standard 2005 South Korea adopted DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), for mobile video streaming, a development of the DAB radio broadcasting standard. DTMB standard, OPAL reactor 2006 The DTMB (Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcast) TV standard was adopted in China. OPAL (the Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor) was commissioned to replace HIFAR for research and radioisotope production (eg, for medical procedures and industrial applications). Apple iPhone 2007 Apple introduced the iPhone, the first truly modern smartphone (the Blackberry was released in 2000, but phones with inbuilt keyboards eventually fell out of favour). Further reading ● “Phonogram Images on Paper, 1250-1950” at https://youtu.be/TESkh3hX5oM ● “Experiments and Observations on Electricity” made at Philadelphia in America by Benjamin Franklin, 1751 – siliconchip.au/link/abpf ● Simple construction project video: “Voltaic Pile, the First Battery” at https://youtu. be/pW4UUOgJX6k ● “Electric Incandescent Lighting” by Edwin James Houston and Arthur Edwin Kennelly, 1896 – siliconchip.au/link/abpe ● “The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century” by Edward W. Byrn, 1900 – siliconchip.au/link/abpc ● “A History of Wireless Telegraphy” by J.J. Fahie, Third Edition, 1902 – siliconchip. au/link/abpd ● “How does a spark gap transmitter sound?” at https://youtu.be/VMdYte66D2Y ● The First Digital Voltmeters and the Birth of Test Automation – www.hp9825.com/ html/dvms.html ● The oldest surviving video recording: “The Edsel Show - CBS-TV (October 13, 1957)” at https://youtu.be/Ze0Az9tdkHg ● “Oldest surviving color videotape recording: WRC-TV dedication May 22, 1958” – https://youtu.be/4vBEMGTdDYc DAB+ broadcasting began, starting in Australia, using less bandwidth for similar audio quality to DAB. 4G networks 2009 4G (LTE) telephone networks were introduced. Apple iPad 2010 Apple released the iPad, an early touchscreen tablet computer. 2019 5G networks 5G telephone networks were introduced. Apple Silicon (ARM CPU) 2020 Apple brought to market computers using its own Apple Silicon processors, the M1 series, using memory package stacking for high performance SC with low power consumption. GPS-Synchronised Analog Clock with long battery life ➡ Convert an ordinary wall clock into a highlyaccurate time keeping device (within seconds). ➡ Nearly eight years of battery life with a pair of C cells! ➡ Automatically adjusts for daylight saving time. ➡ Track time with a VK2828U7G5LF GPS or D1 Mini WiFi module (select one as an option with the kit; D1 Mini requires programming). ➡ Learn how to build it from the article in the September 2022 issue of Silicon Chip (siliconchip. au/Article/15466). Check out the article in the November 2022 issue for how to use the D1 Mini WiFi module with the Driver (siliconchip.au/Article/15550). Complete kit available from $55 + postage (batteries & clock not included) siliconchip.com.au/Shop/20/6472 – Catalog SC6472 siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine December 2023  23