Common Era	Event
1556	First British water closet. (Britain)	92
1623	Automatic multiplying and subtracting machine devised. (Wilhelm Schickard, Tubingen, Germany)	94
1642 - 1645	Adding machine invented by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). (Blaise Pascal, France)	94
1674 Mid	Mechanical-calculator mechanism designed: with stepped drum mechanism. (G Leibniz, Germany)	94
1775	Improved British water closet activated by flush handle and uses exit valve. (Alex. Cummings, Britain)	92
1778	Modern water closet patented: includes first practical hinged-flap valve. (Joseph Bramah, London)	92
1784	Lock patented: pick-proof for 67 years. (Joseph Bramah, London)	92
1796	Drop process for producing spherical lead shot patented; 1807, used at Jackson Shot Tower. (Wm Watts, Bristol, Britain; Va)	93
1801	E I Du Pont de Nemours and Company founded. (Du Pont, US)	91
1816 - 1818	Stethoscope invented: patented in 1882, according to D3. (Rene Laennec, France)	97
1819 - 1826	Firearms mass produced by John Hall and Simeon North. (Harpers Ferry, Va)	93
1820 - 1822	Arithmometer invented: calculating machine uses Leibniz stepped-wheel mechanism. (Thom. de Colmar)	94
1826 - 1839	First acknowledged photograph produced: uses heliographic experiments (1822). (Joseph Niepce, France)	95
1834	Analytic engine designed: forerunner of computer, used perforated tape (1930 IBM applied concept). (Charles Babbage, Britain)	94
1835	Colt revolver patented (T6, W4): 1853 armory has interchangeable system. (Samuel Colt, US)	93
1836	Safety match invented (1844 Gustave Pasch, Sweden, X4). (Alonzo Phillips, US)	92
1836	First practical firearm with rotating cylinder in US patented: large armory established 1854. (Samuel Colt, Hartford, Conn)	93
1842	Math relationship of how pitch is affected by motion of sound shown by Austrian mathmetician. (Christian J Doppler, Prague, Czechosolavkia)	95
1844	Penny postage. (Britain)	96
1846	Department store opens: small drygoods store (1823) develops into A T Stewart & Co. (Alexander Stewart, New York)	91
1849	Modern safety pin patented (no date given in A2). (Walter Hunt, New York)	92
1852	Daniel Webster wins Great India Rubber patent case for Goodyear. (Goodyear and Webster, US)	91
1856	Western Union organizes. (US)	91
1858	Mason jar patented. (US)	92
1860 - 1869	Pratt and Whitney founded to manufacture machine tools and spoolers. (Amos Whitney and Francis A Pratt, Hartford, Conn)	91
1861	Small cylinder lock patented: with pin tumbler mechanism and small flat key. (Linus Yale (Jr), New York City)	92
1866	Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company organizes: first policy goes to Crompton Loom Works. (US)	91
1866	Gatling gun (1861--E9) accepted by US Army (1889--X4, Hiram Maxim, automatic machine gun). (US)	93
1867	Centrifugal shot-making machine invented: eliminated shot-tower process. (Thomas Shaw, Pennsylvania)	93
1868	Workable typewriter patented: later produced by Remington 1876. (Christopher Sholes and C Glidden, US)	95
1869	Vacuum cleaner patented. (Ives W McGaffey, US)	92
1870	Telegraphic stock ticker invented: first great invention by Edison, from which he started own firm. (Thomas Edison, US)	95
1872	First Montgomery Ward mail-order catalog (Note: Sears, Roebuck and Company founded 1886--T3). (US)	91
1873 - 1876	Remington typewriter produced: based on 1868 Sholes and Glidden design. (US)	95
1876 Early	Workable prototype of a telephone simultaneously produced by Bell (3/10) and Elisha Gray. (Bell and Gray, US, England)	95
1878 ca.	Factory-made dry gelatin-emulsion photographic plates introduced into US: create emulsion industry. (Europe to US)	95
1879	Cash register invented. (James Ritty, Dayton, Ohio)	94
1884	Television concept announced:  systhesizing an image to transmit over a single communication channel: Nipkow scheme later used by Baird (1923) and Jenkins. (P Nipkow, Germany)	95
1885	American Telephone and Telegraph founded. (AT&T, New York)	91
1885 ca.	Electromagnetic tabulating system developed: used worldwide for census taking. (Herman Hollerith)	94
1886	Automatic dry-joint fire extinguisher patented. (Wm Kane, Philadelphia)	92
1886	Vacuum insulation invented: leads to Dewar flask, now known as thermos bottle. (James Dewar, London)	92
1888	Eastman invents Kodak camera. (George Eastman, US)	95
1890	Hand-operated tabulating machines and sorters use Jacquard-type punch cards (for US Census). (Herman Hollerith, US)	94
1890 - 1915	Thermionic valve developed: evolving from filament lamp work with tungsten in vacuum bulb. (US)	94
1891	First zipper patented. (Whitcomb Judson, US)	92
1893	Moving picture projector patented. (Thomas Edison, US)	95
1900	Paperclip invented by Norwegian Johann Waaler: produced in Germany. (Waalen, Germany)	92
1901	US Steel, US's largest or first large steel corporation, founded: reorganized into U.S.X. Corporation, 1986. (Pittsburgh)	91
1901	Vacuum cleaner patented: with electric motor. (H Cecil Booth)	92
1902 - 1910	Bliss-Leavitt torpedo developed. (Frank Leavitt)	93
1903	Henry Ford begins Ford Motor Company: produces intermediate-priced cars. (Henry Ford, US)	91
1904	Safety razor patented. (King Gillette)	92
1904	Thermionic diode patented: based on earlier work by Edison and Fleming. (John Ambrose Fleming, US)	94
1905	Diecasting-industry pioneer Herman Doehler creates company. (Herman Doehler, US)	91
1906 - 1908	Triode invented 1907: called 'audion,' basis of radio, tv, radar, and computer; patented 1908. (Lee de Forest)	95
1908	General Motors founded. (Wm C Durant)	91
1909	Evinrude outboard motor invented: first successful outboard-motor marine engine. (Ole Evinrude, Wisconsin)	92
1909	Analytic engine (computing machine) designed. (Ludgate, Ireland)	94
1910	Radio demonstrated. (Lee de Forest, New York)	95
1911	Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company established, called International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation in 1924 (Tabulating Machine Co. established 1896 by Hollerith).  (Hollerith is ASME member.) (Herman Hollerith, US)	91
1913 - 1914	Positive feedback produced 1913; patented US and Britain 1914: used in oscillators, receivers, amplifiers, etc. (Alexander Meissner, Berlin)	95
1920 ca	Scotch Tape invented. (Richard Drew).	92
1920	Electromechanical analytical engine demonstrated by producing typewriter-controlled calculating machine. (Torres and Quevedo)	94
1920	First regularly scheduled US radio broadcast.	95
1920	Workable postage meter developed and accepted by Postal Service. (Pitney, Bowes, Wheeler, Stamford, Conn)	96
1923 - 1932	Experiments with mechanical TV using Nipkow disc (1884): demonstrated black-and-white silhouettes in motion, 1923; demonstrated electrically transmitted moving pictures in halftones, 1925. (John L Baird (Scottish), London)	95
1923	Projection planetarium (machine) built:  for instruction and entertainment in plantaria, used worldwide. (Walther Bauersfeld, Munich)	98
1927	Iron lung respirator developed by Philip Drinker and Louis A Shaw. (Drinker and Shaw, US)	97
1928	Electric razor patented. (Jacob Schick)	92
1928	TV camera developed: Russian-born American (1923--X4) invented iconoscope and kinescope. (Vladimir Zworkykin, US)	95
1928	Practical diathermy machine built at GE. (Willis Whitney, Schenectady, NY)	97
1930 ca.	Continuous absorbtion apparatus (Electrolux refrigerator) invented:  cooled by water and mixture of hydrogen and ammonia, heat that caused circulation called 'the flame that freezes'. (Platen and Munters, Switzerland)	92
1930 - 1939	Binary analytical engine designed. (Couffignal, France)	94
1937 - 1942	ABC prototype computer establishes four parameters: digital, electronic, binary, and serial memory. (John V Atanasoff, Clifford Berry, Iowa (State College))	94
1937 - 1944	Harvard Mark 1 (electromechanical computer) conceived by Aiken and developed at IBM: called first US computer. (Howard Aiken, Endicott, New York)	94
1937 - 1947	Carlson demostrates Xerography*; Battelle interested 1949; Haloid introduces Model A 1949. (Chester Carlson, NY, then Ohio)	96
1940	Mechanical system for full-color television demonstrated in New York: first practical system developed at CBS, transmitted 8/1940 using field-sequential system; led to standards adopted by Fed. Communications Commission in 1950. (Peter C Goldmark, New York)	95
1941	First electromechanical digital calculator, German Z3, operates: design began in 1939; Z1 built 1936-38 (entirely mechanical system). (Konrad Zuse, Germany)	94
1941	First commercial TV broadcast.	95
1943 - 1946	ENIAC developed at Moore School (Univ of Pa): inaugurated 2/46, first electric automatic computer. (John Mauchly, Philadelphia)	94
1943 - 1950	Whirlwind program simulating aircraft performance developed at MIT. (MIT, Cambridge, Mass)	94
1945	Atomic bombs end war; Hiroshima (8/6) and Nagasaki (8/9) devastated; further development stopped until Korean War. (US, Japan)	93
1945 - 1952	EDVAC designed at the Moore School: serial binary machinery with less equipment and larger internal memory. (John von Neumann, Philadelphia)	94
1946 - 1948	Williams tube memory developed at Manchester University. (Fred C Williams, Britain)	94
1947 - 1948	Bell Labs scientists -- Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley -- demonstrate transistor: announced 1948. (Bell Telephone Labs, US)	94
1948	CBS Laboratories develops long-playing (microgroove) record:  technology later developed for lunar orbiter's photography transmissions (including rotating anode and metallic-solid lubricant). (Peter C Goldmark, New York)	95
1949 - 1950	SEAC (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer) set up at NBS: demonstrated 4/1950,  pioneers use of small plug-in packages in computer hardware. (S N Alexander, Washington, DC)	94
1951	Sperry Rand delivers Univac I: first commercial computer product, to US Census Bureau. (US)	94
1951	Flow-Matic computer programming language developed: applied to Univac I in 1951. (Grace Hopper, USN, US)	94
1952	First parallel computer work station designed: built by J H Bigelow for the Institute for Advanced Study. (John von Neumann, Princeton, NJ)	94
1952 - 1957	Transistor development leads to silicon crystal that serves as its own circuit (chip). (Kilby, Texas Instrument, US)	94
1954	Parametron, capable of storing one binary digit, invented; begins digital technology in Japan. (Japan)	94
1956	APT computer language developed for machine tool control. (Douglas Ross, MIT, Cambridge, Mass)	94
1956	Term 'artificial intelligence' coined. (Allen Newell, Carnegie Mellon Univ)	94
1956 ca.	FORTRAN developed for scientific and engineering problems. (John Backus, IBM)	94
1956 - 1957	Random access method of accounting and control (RAMAC)* developed for disk drive storage capacity: later applied technology to early supercomputers. (IBM, San Jose, Calif)	94
1956	Kidney dialysis machine invented: improved in 1976 with use of polythene.	97
1957 ca.	Microminiature solid-state resistor developed. (US)	94
1957	Blood heat exchanger* developed by Duke University Medical Center and GM engineers. (Brown and Emmons, Buffalo)	97
1958	Algol 58 (international algebraic language) developed for university and industry use by Americans and Europeans. (ACM and GAMM, US, Europe)	94
1959	Japan demonstrates new computer systems at first IFIP Congress. (Paris)	94
1959	COBOL developed by US Department of Defense for business data processing. (DOD, US)	94
1959	LISP computer language developed at MIT: for artificial intelligence programming. (John McCarthy, Cambridge, Mass)	94
1960 - 1965	CAD developed by IBM and aerospace industry. (US)	94
1960 - 1969	IBM makes finite element analysis (FEA) common: via PC marketed in 1981. (IBM, US)	94
1960 - 1969	Finite element analysis developed for aerospace industry. (US)	94
1960	First implantable heart pacemaker produced: uses high performance materials and electricity. (Wilson Greatbatch, Medtronic)	97
1961 - 1971	MIT develops 'Saint' expert system on symbolic mathematics. (Slagle, Martin, F, Cambridge, Mass)	94
1961	First golf-ball typewriter.	95
1962	Communications satellite Telstar I launched: remained in geosynchronius orbit. (Bell Labs, US)	95
1964	Simple Basic computer language developed for batch or interactive mode. (Kemeny and Kurtz, Dartmouth College)	94
1964	Portable and desk-top computer reach market (chip power) with IBM 360 system. (IBM, US)	94
1964 - 1975	Integrated circuits and large-scale integration (LSI) developed: called third generation computers. (US)	94
1965	Expert system DENDRAL determines chemical structure from mass spectral data. (Stanford Univ, Stanford, Calif)	94
1965	Floppy disk developed by IBM for internal use. (IBM, US)	94
1968	ICL (largest European computer vendor) forms: from mergers. (ICL, UK)	91
1968 - 1975	Microcomputer created: thousands installed in US laboratories. (Digital Equipment Corporation, US)	94
1970 - 1979	Winchester drive technology provides higher computer memory capacity: avoids 'head crash'.	94
1972	Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) established. (US)	91
1973	'Prolog' language developed: selected by Japan's Fifth Generation computer program. (A Colmerauer, France)	94
1974	First programmable pocket calculator produced to solve science, engineering, and statistical problems. (Hewlett-Packard, Britain)	94
1974	First US domestic communications satellite launched. (US)	95
1976	Cii-Honeywell Ball forms from mergers of major French industrial firms and US subsidiaries. (Cii-Honeywell Ba, France)	91
1976	Cray I supercomputer built and CYBER 205 created for commercial use. (Seymour Cray, CDC)	94
1976 - 1980	Simple rules and concepts formed for very large-scale integrated (VLSI) performance. (C Mead, L Conway, Cal Tech, Xerox; Calif)	94