360Technology
Inventions that changed daily life, from steam to smartphones.
News · 1
History · 39
- 2000–today
The 21st century so far: smartphones, Vision 2030 and AI
In the 21st century, smartphones and social media put the internet in billions of pockets, and artificial intelligence began to change everyday work. Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030 in 2016, opening to tourism and investment and winning Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup. The world also faced a global pandemic.
- 9 January 2007
The iPhone is unveiled and the smartphone age begins
On 9 January 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, combining a phone, a music player and an internet device with a large touchscreen. It went on sale that June. With Android phones following in 2008, smartphones became the main way most people use the internet, changing how the world communicates, shops and works.
- 2000–2009
The 2000s: the human genome and the smartphone
The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003. Social media and YouTube appeared, and the iPhone launched in 2007. King Abdullah began his reign in 2005, Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organization, and KAUST opened in 2009. A financial crisis in 2008 caused a global recession.
- 11 May 1997
IBM's Deep Blue beats the world chess champion
On 11 May 1997, IBM's chess computer Deep Blue won the sixth and final game of a match against the world champion Garry Kasparov in New York, winning the match 3½ to 2½. It was the first time a computer had beaten a reigning world champion in a match under tournament conditions, a milestone for artificial intelligence.
- 6 May 1994
The Channel Tunnel opens between Britain and France
On 6 May 1994, Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand opened the Channel Tunnel, linking Britain and France by rail under the sea. About 50 km long, with about 38 km under the seabed, it has the longest undersea section of any tunnel. Eurostar trains now link London and Paris in about two and a quarter hours.
- 1990–1999
The 1990s: the World Wide Web goes public
The World Wide Web opened to the public, and by the decade's end millions were online. Saudi Arabia issued its Basic Law of Governance in 1992 and established the Shura Council. The Soviet Union dissolved, Nelson Mandela became South Africa's president, Dolly the sheep was cloned, and the euro was launched.
- March 1989
Tim Berners-Lee proposes the World Wide Web
In March 1989, the British scientist Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN in Switzerland, proposed a system for sharing information using linked documents. It became the World Wide Web. The first website went online in 1991, and in 1993 CERN made the technology free for all, letting the web grow to billions of users.
- 12 August 1981
IBM launches the Personal Computer
On 12 August 1981, IBM launched the IBM Personal Computer, model 5150, priced from $1,565. It used an Intel processor and Microsoft's operating system. Because its design was open, other companies could build compatible machines, and the 'PC' became the standard for business and home computing around the world.
- 3 April 1973
The first call from a handheld mobile phone
On 3 April 1973, Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola, made the first public call from a handheld mobile phone, on a street in New York. He called a rival at Bell Labs. The prototype weighed about 1.1 kg and its battery lasted about 20 minutes. Ten years later, the first handheld mobile phone went on sale.
- 15 November 1971
Intel launches the first commercial microprocessor
On 15 November 1971, Intel advertised the 4004, the first commercially available microprocessor: a whole computer processor on a single chip, smaller than a fingernail. It held about 2,300 transistors and was designed for a Japanese calculator company, Busicom. Microprocessors went on to power personal computers, phones and countless devices.
- 1970–1979
The 1970s: development plans and the first microchips
Saudi Arabia launched its first five-year development plan in 1970, building roads, ports, schools and industry. SABIC was founded in 1976. Elsewhere, the microprocessor and the first personal computers arrived, Concorde began supersonic passenger flights, and the world's first baby conceived by IVF was born in 1978.
- 10 July 1962
Telstar relays the first live television across the Atlantic
On 10 July 1962, the satellite Telstar 1 was launched from Florida. Within weeks, it relayed the first live television pictures between the United States and Europe. Viewers saw each other's countries live for the first time. A pop instrumental named after it reached number one in Britain and America. Satellites now carry television and phone calls worldwide.
- 16 December 1947
Bell Labs scientists build the first transistor
On 16 December 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, working in William Shockley's group at Bell Labs in New Jersey, built the first transistor, a tiny device that could amplify electrical signals. It replaced bulky vacuum tubes. Billions of transistors now fill every computer chip and phone, and the three men shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- 20–21 May 1927
Charles Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic
On 20 and 21 May 1927, the American pilot Charles Lindbergh flew alone and non-stop from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis, a single-engine plane. The 5,800 km flight took 33 and a half hours. He won a $25,000 prize, and huge crowds greeted him. The flight inspired public enthusiasm for air travel.
- 1 October 1908
Ford launches the Model T, the car for the many
On 1 October 1908, the Ford Motor Company in Detroit began selling the Model T, a simple, tough car priced at $850. In 1913, Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line, which cut production time and prices sharply. More than 15 million Model Ts were built by 1927, putting much of America on wheels.
- 17 December 1903
The Wright brothers make the first powered flight
On 17 December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright flew the Wright Flyer for 12 seconds and 37 metres, the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered aeroplane. By the end of the day, his brother Wilbur had flown 260 metres in 59 seconds. Aviation was born.
- 12 December 1901
Marconi receives the first radio signal across the Atlantic
On 12 December 1901, at Signal Hill in Newfoundland, Guglielmo Marconi heard three faint clicks through his earphone: the Morse code letter S, sent by radio from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, about 3,500 km away. It showed that radio waves could cross an ocean, and it began the age of long-distance wireless communication.
- 1900–1909
The 1900s: Riyadh recovered and the first powered flight
In 1902, the young Abdulaziz Al Saud recovered Riyadh, beginning the journey that created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1903, the Wright brothers made the first powered aeroplane flight. Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity in 1905, and Henry Ford's Model T brought cars to ordinary families.
- 1800–1899
The 19th century: railways, electricity and the modern world
The 19th century built the modern world. Railways and steamships shrank distances, the telegraph and telephone carried messages in moments, and electric light began to replace flames. Medicine discovered germs and anaesthesia. In 1824, Imam Turki bin Abdullah founded the Second Saudi State with Riyadh as its capital.
- 29 January 1886
Karl Benz patents the first practical motor car
On 29 January 1886, the German engineer Karl Benz patented his Motorwagen, a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a petrol engine. It is widely regarded as the first practical car. In 1888, Bertha Benz drove it about 100 kilometres, the first long-distance car journey, proving its value.
- 1880–1889
The 1880s: the motor car, time zones and the Eiffel Tower
In 1886, Karl Benz patented the first practical motor car. The world agreed on Greenwich as the prime meridian, the basis of time zones. Louis Pasteur created a rabies vaccine, Heinrich Hertz proved radio waves exist, and the Eiffel Tower opened in Paris in 1889.
- October–December 1879
Edison's light bulb brings practical electric light
In late 1879, Thomas Edison's team in Menlo Park, New Jersey, tested a light bulb with a carbon filament that glowed for many hours. In England, Joseph Swan had developed a similar lamp. Edison also built power stations to supply electricity, and electric light soon replaced gas and candles.
- 7 March 1876
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
On 7 March 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a US patent for the telephone. Three days later, he spoke the first words over it to his assistant: 'Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you.' Telephone exchanges soon spread to cities worldwide, beginning the age of instant voice communication.
- 1870–1879
The 1870s: the telephone, the phonograph and the light bulb
Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876. Thomas Edison invented the phonograph to record sound in 1877 and demonstrated a long-lasting electric light bulb in 1879. Germany became a unified empire in 1871, and the Universal Postal Union linked the world's mail services.
- 10 May 1869
America's first transcontinental railroad is completed
On 10 May 1869, a ceremonial golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, joining the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. The line linked the eastern United States with California. A journey across the country that had taken months by wagon or ship could now be made in about a week. Thousands of Chinese and Irish workers built it.
- 10 January 1863
The world's first underground railway opens in London
On 10 January 1863, the Metropolitan Railway opened between Paddington and Farringdon in London, the world's first underground railway. Steam trains ran through shallow tunnels dug under the streets, and about 38,000 passengers rode on the first day. Cities around the world followed, and metro systems now carry tens of billions of journeys a year.
- 1860–1869
The 1860s: the underground, dynamite and the periodic table
The 1860s brought the world's first underground railway, in London, and the end of slavery in the United States after its civil war. James Clerk Maxwell explained light as electromagnetism, Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, and Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened to shipping.
- 1 May 1851
The Great Exhibition opens in London's Crystal Palace
On 1 May 1851, the Great Exhibition opened in the Crystal Palace in London's Hyde Park. The huge glass and iron hall held more than 100,000 exhibits from around the world, from steam engines to diamonds. About six million visitors came, and it inspired the world's fairs and expos that followed, including Expo 2030 in Riyadh.
- 6 May 1840
The Penny Black, the first postage stamp, comes into use
On 6 May 1840, the Penny Black became valid for postage in Britain, the world's first adhesive postage stamp. It showed the young Queen Victoria and paid for a letter anywhere in the country for one penny. The idea, from the reformer Rowland Hill, made sending letters cheap and simple, and other countries soon copied it.
- 1830–1839
The 1830s: the intercity railway and the electric telegraph
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830 as the first intercity line. Michael Faraday discovered how to generate electricity with magnets, and the electric telegraph began sending messages along wires. Britain abolished slavery across most of its empire, and Charles Darwin sailed around the world on HMS Beagle.
- c. 1826–1827
Niépce takes the oldest surviving photograph from nature
Around 1826 or 1827, the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce captured the view from an upstairs window of his house in Burgundy on a metal plate coated with bitumen. The exposure took many hours, perhaps days. It is the oldest surviving camera photograph. His partner Louis Daguerre developed a faster process, announced to the world in 1839.
- 27 September 1825
The first public steam railway opens
On 27 September 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in north-east England. George Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1 pulled a train of coal wagons and passengers, becoming the first public railway to use steam locomotives. Within decades, railways crossed continents and transformed travel and trade.
- 17 August 1807
Robert Fulton's steamboat opens a new era of travel
On 17 August 1807, Robert Fulton's steamboat, later known as the Clermont, set off up the Hudson River from New York to Albany. It covered about 240 km in 32 hours, far faster than sailing boats against the current. It became the first commercially successful steamboat service, and steam soon transformed river and ocean travel.
- 21 February 1804
Trevithick's engine makes the first railway locomotive journey
On 21 February 1804, a steam engine built by the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick hauled 10 tons of iron, five wagons and about 70 men along a tramway at the Penydarren ironworks in Wales. It was the first journey by a steam locomotive on rails, covering almost 16 km in about four hours.
- 21 November 1783
People fly for the first time, in a hot-air balloon
On 21 November 1783, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose over Paris in a hot-air balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers. They flew about nine kilometres in some 25 minutes, the first free flight carrying people. Ten days later, a hydrogen balloon also flew, and the age of flight had begun.
- 1780–1789
The 1780s: first flights and the French Revolution
In 1783, people flew for the first time, in a hot-air balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers. William Herschel discovered Uranus, the first planet found by telescope. The United States adopted its Constitution in 1787, and the French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille in 1789.
- 1761–1762
Harrison's sea clock solves the longitude problem
In 1761 and 1762, John Harrison's fourth sea clock, H4, sailed from England to Jamaica and lost only about five seconds over the voyage. Accurate time at sea let sailors calculate their longitude, their position east or west, for the first time. Harrison, a self-taught carpenter and clockmaker, had worked on the problem for decades.
- 1760–1769
The 1760s: the Industrial Revolution gathers pace
In the 1760s, British inventors transformed industry. James Hargreaves built the spinning jenny, Richard Arkwright the water frame, and James Watt designed a far more efficient steam engine. Captain James Cook began his first Pacific voyage, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica was first published in Edinburgh.
- 1700–1709
The 1700s: a new capital, a united Britain and the piano
Peter the Great founded St Petersburg in 1703 and made it Russia's window on Europe. England and Scotland united as Great Britain in 1707. Abraham Darby began smelting iron with coke, a vital step for industry, and in Italy, Bartolomeo Cristofori built the first pianos.
On this day · 114
- 9 January 2007
Steve Jobs introduces the iPhone
On 9 January 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone in San Francisco, describing it as a phone, an iPod and an internet device in one. Its touchscreen and, from 2008, its App Store changed how billions of people communicate, take photos, shop and find their way.
- 21 March 2006
The first tweet is sent
On 21 March 2006, the co-founder Jack Dorsey posted the first message on the service that became Twitter: 'just setting up my twttr'. Limited at first to 140 characters, Twitter became a place where news broke and public figures spoke directly to the world. It was renamed X in 2023.
- 23 April 2005
The first video is posted on YouTube
On 23 April 2005, the YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim posted the site's first video, 'Me at the zoo', 19 seconds long, filmed in front of elephants in San Diego. YouTube grew into the world's biggest video platform, where more than 500 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
- 27 April 2005
The Airbus A380 makes its first flight
On 27 April 2005, the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, made its first flight from Toulouse in France. With two full decks, it can carry more than 800 passengers, though most airlines fit about 500 seats. It entered service with Singapore Airlines in 2007.
- 4 February 2004
Facebook is launched
On 4 February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg and fellow students launched 'TheFacebook' for students at Harvard University. It soon opened to other universities and then to everyone. Facebook grew into the world's largest social network, with about three billion users, and changed how people share news and keep in touch.
- 1 April 2004
Google launches Gmail
On 1 April 2004, Google launched Gmail, offering one gigabyte of free storage, hundreds of times more than rival free email services. Because of the date, many people thought it was an April Fool's joke. Gmail grew into the world's most used email service, with more than a billion users.
- 23 October 2001
Apple introduces the iPod
On 23 October 2001, Apple introduced the iPod, a pocket music player that could hold about 1,000 songs. With the iTunes music store from 2003, it changed how people bought and listened to music. More than 400 million iPods were sold.
- 4 September 1998
Google is founded
On 4 September 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Stanford University students, incorporated Google in a friend's garage in California. Their search engine ranked web pages by how many other pages linked to them. Google became the world's most used website.
- 10 February 1996
A computer beats the world chess champion in a game
On 10 February 1996, IBM's Deep Blue computer beat Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion, in the first game of a match in Philadelphia. Kasparov came back to win the match, but in a rematch in 1997 Deep Blue won overall, a milestone for artificial intelligence.
- 23 May 1995
The Java programming language is released
On 23 May 1995, Sun Microsystems publicly released Java, a programming language designed so that the same program could run on any kind of computer. Created by a team led by James Gosling, it became one of the world's most used languages, powering apps, websites and Android phones.
- 30 April 1993
CERN makes the World Wide Web free for everyone
On 30 April 1993, CERN, the European physics laboratory, put the software for the World Wide Web in the public domain, so anyone could use and build on it without paying fees. That decision helped the web grow from a few hundred websites to more than a billion.
- 6 August 1991
The first website goes public
On 6 August 1991, Tim Berners-Lee posted a public summary of his World Wide Web project and opened the first website to the world. Hosted at CERN, it explained what the web was and how to make web pages. Today there are more than a billion websites.
- 25 August 1991
Linus Torvalds announces Linux
On 25 August 1991, the Finnish student Linus Torvalds posted a message announcing a free operating system he was writing 'just a hobby, won't be big'. Linux grew into one of the world's most important pieces of software, running most web servers, supercomputers and Android phones.
- 12 March 1989
Tim Berners-Lee proposes the World Wide Web
In March 1989, the British scientist Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN near Geneva, wrote a proposal for linking documents across computers. His manager called it 'vague but exciting'. It became the World Wide Web, and 12 March is celebrated as the web's birthday.
- 15 March 1985
The first .com internet address is registered
On 15 March 1985, a computer company in Massachusetts, Symbolics, registered symbolics.com, the first .com domain name. Few people noticed at the time. Today there are more than 150 million .com addresses, and the name became shorthand for the online economy.
- 20 November 1985
Microsoft releases Windows 1.0
On 20 November 1985, Microsoft released Windows 1.0, a graphical system that let users of IBM-compatible PCs work with windows, menus and a mouse instead of typed commands. Later versions, especially Windows 3.0 and Windows 95, became the most widely used computer software in the world.
- 24 January 1984
Apple launches the Macintosh
On 24 January 1984, Apple launched the Macintosh personal computer. It made the mouse and on-screen windows, icons and menus popular with ordinary users, instead of typed commands. It sold for $2,495 and set the style that most computers still follow today.
- 12 August 1981
IBM launches its Personal Computer
On 12 August 1981, IBM launched the IBM Personal Computer, model 5150, priced from $1,565. It used Microsoft's operating system and an Intel processor. Other companies soon copied its design, and the 'PC' became the standard for business and home computers worldwide.
- 1 June 1980
CNN launches the first 24-hour news channel
On 1 June 1980, Ted Turner launched CNN, the Cable News Network, in Atlanta, the first television channel to broadcast news 24 hours a day. Rolling live coverage changed how the world followed events, and many other 24-hour news channels followed.
- 8 March 1979
Philips shows the compact disc
On 8 March 1979, the Dutch company Philips demonstrated a prototype compact disc player to the press in Eindhoven. Developed with Sony, the CD stored music as digital code read by a laser, with no hiss or scratches. CDs went on sale in 1982 and became the main way to buy music for two decades.
- 12 June 1979
A pedal-powered plane flies across the English Channel
On 12 June 1979, the cyclist Bryan Allen pedalled the Gossamer Albatross, a very light aircraft with a propeller driven by bicycle pedals, from England to France. The 36 km flight took almost three hours and won a prize for the first human-powered crossing of the Channel.
- 3 May 1978
The first spam email is sent
On 3 May 1978, a marketing manager at the computer company DEC sent an advertising message to about 400 users of ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet. Many recipients complained. It is remembered as the first spam email. Today spam makes up a large share of all email sent.
- 17 August 1978
A balloon crosses the Atlantic for the first time
On 17 August 1978, three Americans, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, landed near Paris in the helium balloon Double Eagle II, after six days in the air from Maine. It was the first successful crossing of the Atlantic by balloon.
- 3 January 1977
Apple Computer is incorporated
On 3 January 1977, Apple Computer was incorporated in California by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, with early backing from the investor Mike Markkula. That year it released the Apple II, one of the first successful personal computers. Apple later created the Macintosh, the iPod and the iPhone.
- 21 January 1976
Concorde begins passenger flights
On 21 January 1976, British Airways and Air France began the first supersonic passenger flights with Concorde, from London to Bahrain and from Paris to Rio de Janeiro via Dakar. Concorde flew at twice the speed of sound and crossed the Atlantic in about three and a half hours. It retired in 2003.
- 4 April 1975
Microsoft is founded
On 4 April 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to write software for the new personal computers. Its Windows operating system and Office programs went on to run on most of the world's desktop computers.
- 3 April 1973
The first call from a handheld mobile phone
On 3 April 1973, Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola, made the first public call from a handheld mobile phone, on a street in New York. He called a rival at another company. The prototype weighed about 1.1 kg. Today there are more mobile phone subscriptions than people on Earth.
- 15 November 1971
Intel announces the first commercial microprocessor
On 15 November 1971, Intel advertised the 4004, the first commercially available microprocessor, a complete computer processor on a single chip. It was designed for a Japanese calculator company. Microprocessors now power everything from phones and cars to washing machines.
- 22 January 1970
The Boeing 747 jumbo jet enters service
On 22 January 1970, Pan Am flew the first passenger service of the Boeing 747 from New York to London. The 'jumbo jet' could carry about 400 passengers, more than twice as many as earlier jets. Lower fares followed, and air travel opened up to millions of people.
- 2 March 1969
Concorde makes its first flight
On 2 March 1969, the Anglo-French supersonic airliner Concorde took off for the first time, from Toulouse in France, for a 27-minute test flight. It later flew passengers at twice the speed of sound, crossing the Atlantic in about three and a half hours, until it retired in 2003.
- 29 October 1969
The first message is sent over the internet's ancestor
On 29 October 1969, a student programmer at the University of California, Los Angeles, sent the first message over ARPANET to a computer at the Stanford Research Institute. He meant to type 'login', but the system crashed after 'lo'. ARPANET grew into the network of networks we now call the internet.
- 18 July 1968
Intel is founded
On 18 July 1968, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore founded Intel in California. In 1971, it released the 4004, the first commercial microprocessor: a whole computer processor on a single chip. Intel's chips powered most personal computers for decades.
- 9 December 1968
The 'Mother of All Demos' shows the future of computing
On 9 December 1968, the engineer Douglas Engelbart gave a 90-minute demonstration in San Francisco showing the computer mouse, linked text, video calling and shared editing of documents. It is remembered as the 'Mother of All Demos', because it previewed the way people use computers today.
- 19 April 1965
Gordon Moore predicts the growth of computer chips
On 19 April 1965, the engineer Gordon Moore published an article predicting that the number of components on a computer chip would double roughly every year, later revised to every two years. 'Moore's law' held for decades, as chips became ever smaller, faster and cheaper.
- 17 April 1964
Geraldine Mock flies solo around the world
On 17 April 1964, the American pilot Geraldine 'Jerrie' Mock landed in Columbus, Ohio, after 29 days, becoming the first woman to fly solo around the world. She flew a small single-engine plane called the Spirit of Columbus, covering about 37,000 km.
- 10 July 1962
Telstar, the first communications satellite to relay TV, is launched
On 10 July 1962, the satellite Telstar 1 was launched. Within weeks, it relayed the first live television pictures across the Atlantic, between the United States and Europe. Today, hundreds of communications satellites carry television, phone calls and internet data around the world.
- 22 March 1960
A patent for the laser is granted
On 22 March 1960, Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes received a US patent for the 'optical maser', the idea behind the laser. Theodore Maiman built the first working laser that May. Lasers now read barcodes, carry internet data along fibres, cut metal and help eye surgeons.
- 25 September 1956
The first transatlantic telephone cable opens
On 25 September 1956, TAT-1, the first telephone cable under the Atlantic, opened between Scotland and Newfoundland. It could carry 36 calls at once, far clearer than radio. Today, fibre-optic cables under the oceans carry almost all international internet traffic.
- 25 October 1955
The first microwave oven for the home goes on sale
On 25 October 1955, the American company Tappan introduced the first microwave oven for home kitchens, priced at about $1,300. The idea came from Percy Spencer, a radar engineer who noticed a chocolate bar melting in his pocket. Microwaves are now in most homes.
- 2 May 1952
The first jet airliner passenger service
On 2 May 1952, a de Havilland Comet of the British airline BOAC took off from London for Johannesburg, the world's first scheduled passenger service by jet airliner. Jets flew higher, faster and more smoothly than propeller planes, and soon transformed long-distance travel.
- 14 June 1951
UNIVAC I, the first US commercial computer, is delivered
On 14 June 1951, UNIVAC I was formally dedicated at the US Census Bureau, the first computer made for business and government use in the United States. In 1952, it correctly predicted the result of the US presidential election on live television, surprising many viewers.
- 21 June 1948
The Manchester Baby runs the first stored program
On 21 June 1948, the Manchester Baby, an experimental computer at the University of Manchester, ran the first program stored in a computer's own electronic memory. Earlier machines had to be rewired for each new task. Almost every computer since works on the same principle.
- 9 September 1947
The first computer 'bug' is found
On 9 September 1947, engineers working on the Harvard Mark II computer found a moth trapped in one of its relays, causing an error. They taped it into the logbook as the 'first actual case of bug being found'. The programmer Grace Hopper helped make the story famous.
- 14 October 1947
Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier
On 14 October 1947, the US Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager flew the rocket-powered Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound, over the Mojave Desert in California. Many had feared aircraft would break apart at that speed. His plane was named Glamorous Glennis, after his wife.
- 23 December 1947
The transistor is demonstrated
On 23 December 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, working in William Shockley's group at Bell Labs, demonstrated the first transistor. Smaller and more reliable than vacuum tubes, transistors became the building blocks of all modern electronics. Today's chips contain billions of them.
- 14 February 1946
ENIAC, an early electronic computer, is unveiled
On 14 February 1946, the University of Pennsylvania unveiled ENIAC, one of the first general-purpose electronic computers. It filled a large room, weighed about 27 tonnes and used about 18,000 vacuum tubes, yet it could do in seconds calculations that took people days. Six women were its first programmers.
- 15 May 1940
Nylon stockings go on sale across the United States
On 15 May 1940, nylon stockings went on sale in shops across the United States, and about four million pairs were sold within days. Nylon, invented at DuPont by Wallace Carothers's team, was the first fully synthetic fibre. It is now used in clothing, ropes and countless products.
- 3 July 1938
Mallard sets the world speed record for steam
On 3 July 1938, the British steam locomotive Mallard reached 203 km/h on a slight downhill stretch near Grantham, England. It remains the fastest speed ever recorded by a steam locomotive. Mallard is preserved at the National Railway Museum in York.
- 27 May 1937
San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge opens
On 27 May 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrians, and about 200,000 people walked across. Its main span of about 1,280 m made it the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time. Painted 'International Orange', it is one of the most photographed bridges on Earth.
- 2 November 1936
The BBC starts the world's first regular high-definition TV service
On 2 November 1936, the BBC began a regular television service from Alexandra Palace in London, described as the world's first regular 'high-definition' service. Only a few hundred homes had sets. The service paused during the Second World War and resumed in 1946.
- 26 February 1935
Radar is demonstrated in Britain
On 26 February 1935, the Scottish scientist Robert Watson-Watt and his assistant Arnold Wilkins showed that radio waves bouncing off an aircraft could reveal its position, near Daventry in England. Radar was rapidly developed and became vital in the Second World War. Today it guides aircraft and ships and helps forecast weather.
- 22 July 1933
Wiley Post completes the first solo flight around the world
On 22 July 1933, the American pilot Wiley Post landed in New York after flying alone around the world in 7 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes, in his plane Winnie Mae. He used an autopilot and radio direction finder, new technologies that made long solo flights possible.
- 19 March 1932
The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens
On 19 March 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in Australia, carrying trains, cars and people across the harbour. Its steel arch, nicknamed 'the Coathanger', spans 503 m. Together with the Opera House, it became one of the world's best-known city views.
- 29 November 1929
The first flight over the South Pole
On 29 November 1929, the American aviator Richard Byrd and his crew flew over the South Pole in a Ford Trimotor aircraft named Floyd Bennett. To clear the high mountains on the way, they threw supplies overboard to lighten the plane. The round trip from their Antarctic base took about 19 hours.
- 7 July 1928
Sliced bread goes on sale
On 7 July 1928, a bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri, began selling bread sliced by a machine invented by Otto Rohwedder. Customers loved the convenience, and within a few years most bread in the United States was sold sliced, giving rise to the saying 'the best thing since sliced bread'.
- 7 January 1927
The first transatlantic telephone call
On 7 January 1927, the first commercial telephone service across the Atlantic opened, linking New York and London by radio. A three-minute call cost about $75, a huge sum at the time. Undersea telephone cables followed in 1956, and calls between continents became part of everyday life.
- 20 May 1927
Charles Lindbergh sets off to fly solo across the Atlantic
On 20 May 1927, the American pilot Charles Lindbergh took off from New York in the Spirit of St. Louis. After 33 and a half hours alone, he landed in Paris, completing the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic. Huge crowds greeted him, and he won a $25,000 prize.
- 26 January 1926
John Logie Baird demonstrates television
On 26 January 1926, the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird showed moving television pictures to members of the Royal Institution in his workshop in London. The images were small and flickering, but recognisable faces could be seen. Within a decade, regular television broadcasts had begun.
- 5 February 1924
The BBC broadcasts its time signal 'pips' for the first time
On 5 February 1924, the BBC first broadcast the six short beeps of the Greenwich Time Signal, sent from the Royal Observatory. The final pip marks the exact start of the hour. Listeners used them to set their clocks, and the pips are still heard on BBC radio today.
- 18 October 1922
The British Broadcasting Company is formed
On 18 October 1922, the British Broadcasting Company was formed by radio manufacturers. It began daily radio broadcasts in November and became the publicly funded British Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC, in 1927. It is now one of the world's largest broadcasters.
- 5 August 1914
The first electric traffic light is installed
On 5 August 1914, the first electric traffic signal in the United States was installed at a crossroads in Cleveland, Ohio, with red and green lights and a buzzer to warn of changes. Amber lights came later. Traffic lights now control roads in almost every city in the world.
- 13 August 1913
Stainless steel is first made
On 13 August 1913, the metallurgist Harry Brearley cast a steel containing chromium in Sheffield, England, while looking for a metal for gun barrels. He noticed it did not rust. Stainless steel is now used in cutlery, sinks, surgical tools and buildings around the world.
- 1 December 1913
Ford starts its moving assembly line
On 1 December 1913, Henry Ford's Highland Park plant in Michigan began using a moving assembly line for the whole Model T. Cars moved past workers who each did one task. Build times fell from about 12 hours to about 90 minutes, and prices fell too.
- 13 January 1910
The first public radio broadcast
On 13 January 1910, the inventor Lee de Forest broadcast a live opera performance, featuring the tenor Enrico Caruso, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Only a few listeners with receivers could hear it, faintly. Within two decades, radio had become a mass medium in homes worldwide.
- 11 October 1910
Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first president to fly
On 11 October 1910, former US President Theodore Roosevelt took a short flight in a Wright Flyer piloted by Arch Hoxsey, at Kinloch Field near St Louis, Missouri. He was the first American president, current or former, to fly in an aeroplane.
- 25 July 1909
Louis Blériot flies across the English Channel
On 25 July 1909, the French aviator Louis Blériot flew his monoplane from Calais to Dover, the first flight across the English Channel in an aeroplane. The 37-minute flight won him a newspaper prize and showed that aircraft could cross the sea.
- 1 October 1908
The Ford Model T goes on sale
On 1 October 1908, the Ford Motor Company began selling the Model T, a simple, tough car priced at $850. With the moving assembly line from 1913, prices fell and more than 15 million were made by 1927, putting much of America on wheels.
- 13 November 1907
The first helicopter flight
On 13 November 1907, the French engineer Paul Cornu lifted off in a twin-rotor machine near Lisieux, rising a short distance off the ground for about 20 seconds. It is regarded as the first free flight of a helicopter carrying a person. Practical helicopters followed in the 1930s and 1940s.
- 27 October 1904
The New York City Subway opens
On 27 October 1904, the first line of the New York City Subway opened, running 14 km from City Hall to 145th Street. About 150,000 people rode it on the first day. It grew into one of the world's largest metro systems, with 472 stations, open 24 hours a day.
- 17 December 1903
The Wright brothers make the first powered flight
On 17 December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright flew the Wright Flyer for 12 seconds, the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered aeroplane. His brother Wilbur made the longest flight of the day, 59 seconds. Aviation was born.
- 12 December 1901
Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal
On 12 December 1901, at Signal Hill in Newfoundland, Guglielmo Marconi heard three faint clicks, the Morse code letter 'S', sent by radio from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, about 3,500 kilometres away. It proved that radio waves could cross the ocean.
- 2 July 1900
The first Zeppelin airship flies
On 2 July 1900, the first rigid airship built by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, LZ 1, rose over Lake Constance in Germany, carrying five people for about 18 minutes. Zeppelins later carried passengers across the Atlantic, until the Hindenburg disaster of 1937 ended the airship era.
- 27 March 1899
Marconi sends a radio message across the English Channel
On 27 March 1899, Guglielmo Marconi sent the first wireless message across the English Channel, from Wimereux in France to South Foreland in England, about 50 km. Less than three years later, he received a signal across the Atlantic.
- 29 April 1899
An electric car becomes the first to pass 100 km/h
On 29 April 1899, near Paris, the Belgian driver Camille Jenatzy reached 105.88 km/h in La Jamais Contente, a bullet-shaped electric car. It was the first road vehicle to go faster than 100 km/h, more than a century before today's electric cars.
- 4 March 1890
Scotland's Forth Bridge opens
On 4 March 1890, the Forth Bridge opened, carrying the railway across the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh. Its giant red steel cantilevers made it one of the great engineering feats of its age, and the longest single-span bridge in the world at the time. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 8 January 1889
Hollerith patents his punched-card tabulating machine
On 8 January 1889, the American inventor Herman Hollerith received a patent for a machine that counted data using punched cards. It processed the 1890 US census in a fraction of the usual time. His company later became part of IBM, and punched cards fed computers for decades.
- 29 January 1886
Karl Benz patents the motor car
On 29 January 1886, the German engineer Karl Benz applied for a patent for his 'vehicle powered by a gas engine', the three-wheeled Benz Patent-Motorwagen. It is widely regarded as the first true motor car. Two years later, his wife Bertha drove it more than 100 km to show what it could do.
- 20 January 1885
A patent for the roller coaster
On 20 January 1885, the American inventor LaMarcus Thompson received a patent for a 'roller coasting structure'. His Switchback Railway at Coney Island in New York, opened in 1884, carried riders at about 10 km/h. Roller coasters became one of the world's favourite fairground rides.
- 24 May 1883
New York's Brooklyn Bridge opens
On 24 May 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened across New York's East River, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn. Its central span of 486 m made it the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, and the first to use steel wire cables. Emily Roebling helped oversee its completion.
- 18 November 1883
Railways create standard time zones
On 18 November 1883, railways in the United States and Canada switched to standard time zones. Before then, towns kept their own local time, which made timetables confusing. The day was nicknamed 'the day of two noons'. A year later, the world chose Greenwich as the prime meridian.
- 27 January 1880
Edison receives his patent for the electric lamp
On 27 January 1880, Thomas Edison received a US patent for his carbon-filament electric lamp. Long-lasting and affordable, it helped bring electric light into homes and streets. In 1882 his company opened power stations in London and New York to supply electricity.
- 29 February 1880
Tunnellers break through the Gotthard rail tunnel
On 29 February 1880, workers digging from both ends of the Gotthard rail tunnel in Switzerland met in the middle. The 15 km tunnel through the Alps, then the longest in the world, opened in 1882 and linked northern Europe and Italy by rail. A new, even longer tunnel opened in 2016.
- 21 October 1879
Edison's light bulb burns for over 13 hours
On 21 October 1879, in his laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison tested a light bulb with a carbonised cotton thread that glowed for more than 13 hours. Better filaments soon lasted hundreds of hours, and electric light spread around the world.
- 4 November 1879
The cash register is patented
On 4 November 1879, James Ritty, a saloon owner in Dayton, Ohio, received a US patent for a mechanical cash register, nicknamed the 'Incorruptible Cashier'. It recorded every sale. The business was later bought and grew into the National Cash Register Company, which spread cash registers to shops worldwide.
- 19 February 1878
Edison patents the phonograph
On 19 February 1878, Thomas Edison received a patent for the phonograph, the first machine that could record sound and play it back. It recorded on a cylinder wrapped in tinfoil. His first recording was reportedly 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. It led to the record industry.
- 6 December 1877
Edison records his voice on the phonograph
In early December 1877, Thomas Edison tested his new phonograph by reciting 'Mary had a little lamb' into it and hearing his own voice played back. Many accounts date this to 6 December. It was the first machine that could both record and reproduce sound.
- 7 March 1876
Alexander Graham Bell is granted the telephone patent
On 7 March 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a US patent for the telephone. Three days later, he made the first call to his assistant in the next room: 'Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you.' Within decades, telephones linked homes and businesses across the world.
- 9 October 1874
The Universal Postal Union is founded
On 9 October 1874, 22 countries signed a treaty in Bern, Switzerland, creating the General Postal Union, now the Universal Postal Union, so that letters could cross borders easily under common rules. The date is celebrated as World Post Day.
- 2 August 1873
San Francisco's cable car makes its first run
On 2 August 1873, Andrew Hallidie tested the first cable car on Clay Street in San Francisco. Cars gripped a moving cable under the street, which pulled them up steep hills that horses struggled with. San Francisco's cable cars still run today, a symbol of the city.
- 10 May 1869
The golden spike completes America's first transcontinental railroad
On 10 May 1869, a ceremonial golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, joining the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. Coast-to-coast travel across the United States, which had taken months, could now be done in about a week. Thousands of Chinese and Irish workers built the line.
- 23 June 1868
A patent for the typewriter is granted
On 23 June 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes and his partners received a US patent for a 'type-writer'. Their later design introduced the QWERTY layout of keys, which spread to typewriters worldwide and is still used on computer keyboards and phones today.
- 17 May 1865
The International Telegraph Union is founded
On 17 May 1865, 20 European countries founded the International Telegraph Union in Paris, to agree common rules for sending telegrams across borders. Now the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, it coordinates radio frequencies and satellite orbits. The date is World Telecommunication Day.
- 8 December 1864
The Clifton Suspension Bridge opens
On 8 December 1864, the Clifton Suspension Bridge opened across the Avon Gorge in Bristol, England. It was based on a design by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who died before it was finished. Still in daily use, it is one of the most famous bridges of the 19th century.
- 10 January 1863
The world's first underground railway opens in London
On 10 January 1863, the Metropolitan Railway opened between Paddington and Farringdon in London, the first underground railway in the world. Steam trains ran through shallow tunnels, and about 38,000 passengers rode on the first day. The London Underground now has 11 lines and about 270 stations.
- 31 May 1859
The Big Ben clock starts keeping time
On 31 May 1859, the Great Clock in the tower of the Palace of Westminster in London began keeping time. Its great bell, nicknamed Big Ben, first rang out in July. Famous for its accuracy, the clock is still adjusted by adding or removing old pennies on its pendulum.
- 16 April 1853
India's first passenger train runs
On 16 April 1853, India's first passenger train ran 34 km from Bombay, now Mumbai, to Thane, pulled by three steam engines and carrying about 400 guests. Indian Railways is now one of the largest railway networks in the world, carrying billions of passengers each year.
- 24 September 1852
The first powered airship flight
On 24 September 1852, the French engineer Henri Giffard flew about 27 km from Paris to Élancourt in an airship driven by a small steam engine. It was the first powered and steerable flight. Airships later carried passengers across oceans.
- 1 May 1851
The Great Exhibition opens in London
On 1 May 1851, the Great Exhibition opened in the Crystal Palace, a vast building of iron and glass in London's Hyde Park. More than 100,000 exhibits from around the world showed off new machines, inventions and crafts. About six million visitors came, and it inspired world's fairs and expos ever since.
- 18 September 1851
The New York Times is first published
On 18 September 1851, the first issue of the New-York Daily Times was published, priced at one cent. Its founders promised a serious, fair newspaper. Now The New York Times, it has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other news organisation.
- 17 March 1845
The rubber band is patented
On 17 March 1845, Stephen Perry of the London company Messrs Perry and Co was granted a patent for rubber bands, made from vulcanised rubber. Cheap and simple, they became one of the most widely used everyday objects in offices, homes and post rooms.
- 15 June 1844
Charles Goodyear patents vulcanised rubber
On 15 June 1844, the American inventor Charles Goodyear received a patent for vulcanised rubber, made by heating rubber with sulphur. Raw rubber turned sticky in heat and brittle in cold; his process made it tough and stretchy. It made car tyres, hoses and countless products possible.
- 19 July 1843
Brunel's SS Great Britain is launched
On 19 July 1843, the SS Great Britain, designed by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was floated out in Bristol. It was the first large ocean-going ship with an iron hull and a screw propeller, the design almost all ships use today. Restored, it is now a museum in Bristol.
- 19 August 1839
Photography is given to the world
On 19 August 1839, the French government announced the details of Louis Daguerre's photographic process, the daguerreotype, and gave it freely to the world. Within months, people everywhere were taking photographs. The date is celebrated as World Photography Day.
- 6 January 1838
Morse and Vail first demonstrate the electric telegraph
On 6 January 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail demonstrated their electric telegraph at the Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey, sending a message through 3 km of wire. Their system of dots and dashes, Morse code, later carried news and messages across continents within minutes.
- 25 February 1837
An early electric motor is patented
On 25 February 1837, the American blacksmith Thomas Davenport received one of the first patents for an electric motor, powered by batteries. It was too expensive to succeed at the time. Today electric motors are everywhere, in fans, washing machines, trains and electric cars.
- 15 September 1830
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens
On 15 September 1830, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened, the first intercity railway with timetabled passenger trains pulled entirely by steam locomotives. Its success, shown by George Stephenson's Rocket, set off a railway boom in Britain and around the world.
- 27 September 1825
The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens
On 27 September 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in northeast England, the first public railway to use steam locomotives. George Stephenson's engine Locomotion No. 1 pulled the first train, carrying coal and hundreds of passengers.
- 25 March 1807
The first fare-paying railway passengers
On 25 March 1807, the Swansea and Mumbles Railway in Wales began carrying fare-paying passengers in a horse-drawn carriage on rails. It was the first passenger railway service in the world. The line later used steam and electric trains and ran until 1960.
- 21 February 1804
The first railway journey by a steam locomotive
On 21 February 1804, Richard Trevithick's steam engine hauled 10 tons of iron, five wagons and about 70 men along a tramway at the Penydarren ironworks in Wales. It was the first journey by a steam locomotive on rails, and a first step towards the railway age.
- 22 October 1797
The first parachute jump from a balloon
On 22 October 1797, the Frenchman André-Jacques Garnerin cut his basket loose from a hydrogen balloon about 1,000 m above Paris and floated down under a silk parachute. It swayed wildly, but he landed safely. It was the first parachute jump from such a height.
- 31 July 1790
The first US patent is granted
On 31 July 1790, Samuel Hopkins received the first patent issued under the new US patent law, for an improved way of making potash, used in soap and fertiliser. It was signed by President George Washington. The US Patent Office has since granted more than 12 million patents.
- 4 June 1783
The Montgolfier brothers fly a hot-air balloon in public
On 4 June 1783, the French paper makers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier sent up an unmanned hot-air balloon made of cloth and paper in Annonay, France. It rose about 2,000 m. Later that year, people made the first balloon flights.
- 19 September 1783
A sheep, a duck and a rooster fly in a balloon
On 19 September 1783, the Montgolfier brothers sent a sheep, a duck and a rooster aloft in a hot-air balloon at Versailles, in front of King Louis XVI. They flew for about eight minutes and landed safely, showing living creatures could survive in the air. People flew two months later.
- 11 March 1702
The first daily newspaper in English is published
On 11 March 1702, The Daily Courant appeared in London, the first daily newspaper in the English language. It was a single sheet with news, mostly from abroad. The founder promised to report facts without adding comments, and let readers judge for themselves.
Future · 2
- 19 January 2038 · Predicted
The Year 2038 computer clock problem
At 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038, older computer systems that count time as seconds since 1970 in a signed 32-bit number will run out of space, a little like the Year 2000 bug. Engineers have been updating systems to 64-bit time, which will not run out for billions of years.
- 16 December 2047 · Anniversary
The transistor turns 100
On 16 December 2047, it will be 100 years since the first transistor worked at Bell Labs in New Jersey. That small piece of germanium led to the computer chip. By its centenary, the world will have built more transistors than any other object in history.