Transistor Patented

Bardeen, Shockley, Brattain; Inventors of the TransistorOctober 3, 1950

AT&T Bell Laboratories researchers John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley receive a US Patent for their invention of the transistor, which they had successfully demonstrated two years earlier. The transistor completely revolutionized the development of electronic and computerized technology.

ENIAC Retired

ENIACOctober 2, 1955

Considered the world’s first fully electronic computer, after eleven years of continuous service the ENIAC computer was retired from service.

The First CD Player

Sony CDP-101October 1, 1982

The first commercial compact disc player, the Sony CDP-101, goes on sale in Japan.

Ethernet is Drafted

Ethernet RJ45September 30, 1980

Digital, Intel, and Xerox release version 1.0 of the Ethernet specification, known as the Blue Book. Since that time, Ethernet has evolved into the de facto networking standard for local area networks (LAN) in businesses and in the home.