IEEE Milestones in Electrical Engineering and Computing Historical Markers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Milestones recognize international technological innovation found in unique products, services, seminal papers and patents. Some plaques are mounted inside buildings and cannot stand on their own in this database, but might be able to be incorporated into related marker entries.
Near Ben Graves Drive NW north of Holmes Avenue NW, on the right when traveling north.
A graduate student from The University of Alabama in Huntsville achieved a major advance in science at this site on January 29, 1987. He discovered that a material composed of Yttrium, Barium, Copper, and Oxygen would superconduct—show no electrical . . . — — Map (db m94963) HM
In 1965, the University of Utah established a Center of Excellence for
computer graphics research with Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) funding. In 1968, two professors founded the pioneering graphics
hardware company Evans & Sutherland; . . . — — Map (db m284307) HM
RenderMan software revolutionized photorealistic rendering, significantly
advancing the creation of 3D computer animation and visual effects. Starting in
1981, key inventions during its development at Lucasfilm and Pixar . . . — — Map (db m284305) HM
At 10:30 p.m., 29 October 1969, the first ARPANET
message was sent from this UCLA site to the Stanford
Research Institute. Based on packet switching and dynamic
resource allocation, the sharing of information digitally
from this first node . . . — — Map (db m218307) HM
Near Malibu Canyon Road 1 mile north of Pacific Coast Highway (California Route 1), on the left when traveling north.
On this site in May 1960 Theodore Maiman built and
operated the first laser. A number of teams around the
world were trying to construct this theoretically anticipated
device from different materials. Maiman's was based on a
ruby rod . . . — — Map (db m296044) HM
Near Morehouse Drive 0.4 miles east of Scranton Road, on the right when traveling east.
On 7 November 1989, Qualcomm publicly demonstrated a digital cellular
radio system based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) spread spectrum
technology, which increased capacity, improved service quality, and extended
battery life. This . . . — — Map (db m193674) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
At this location, 391 San Antonio Road, the Shockley Semiconductor
Laboratory manufactured the first silicon devices in what became
known as Silicon Valley. Some of the talented scientists and engineers
initially employed there left to found . . . — — Map (db m182658) HM
On San Antonio Road 0.3 miles north of El Camino Real, on the right when traveling north.
At this location, 391 San Antonio Road, the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory manufactured the first silicon devices in what became known as Silicon Valley. Some of the talented scientists and engineers initially employed there left to found . . . — — Map (db m182679) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard at La Avenida Street, on the right when traveling north.
The Computer History Museum's mission is to preserve and present for posterity the artifacts and stories of the Information Age. The museum houses the collection of computers and related software, and visual media. Public exhibits celebrate the . . . — — Map (db m154426) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
DIALOG was the first interactive, online search system addressing large
databases while allowing iterative refinement of results. DIALOG was
developed at Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory in 1966, extended
through contracts with NASA, and . . . — — Map (db m182662) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
UC Berkeley students designed and built the first VLSI reduced
instruction-set computer in 1981. The simplified instructions of
RISC-I reduced the hardware for instruction decode and control,
which enabled a flat 32-bit address space, a large set . . . — — Map (db m182630) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
Gordon E. Moore, co-founder of Fairchild and Intel, began his work in silicon
microelectronics at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in 1956. His 1965
prediction at Fairchild Semiconductor, subsequently known as “Moore's Law,” that the number of . . . — — Map (db m182655) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard just north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
Commonly termed the "Mother of All Demos,” Douglas Engelbart and his team
demonstrated their oNLine System (NLS) at Brooks Hall in San Francisco on 9
December 1968. Connected via microwave link to the host computer and other
remote users at SRI . . . — — Map (db m182615) HM
Near N Shoreline Blvd. at La Avenida Street, on the right when traveling north.
Stanford Research Institute's Artificial Intelligence Center developed the world's first mobile intelligent robot, Shakey. It could perceive its surroundings, infer implicit facts from explicit ones, create plans, recover from errors in plan . . . — — Map (db m154427) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard just north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
Sun Microsystems introduced SPARC (Scalable Processor
Architecture) RISC (Reduced Instruction-Set Computing) in 1987.
Building upon UC Berkeley RISC and Sun compiler and operating
system developments, SPARC architecture was highly adaptable . . . — — Map (db m182627) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
SPICE was created at UC Berkeley as a class project in
1969-1970. It evolved to become the worldwide standard
integrated circuit simulator. SPICE has been used to train
many students in the intricacies of circuit simulation.
SPICE and its . . . — — Map (db m182665) HM
Near Shoreline Boulevard just north of U.S. 101, on the right when traveling north.
From 1976-1978, at Hughes Microelectronics in Newport Beach,
California, the practicality, reliability, manufacturability and
endurance of the Floating Gate EEPROM — an electrically erasable
device using a thin gate oxide and Fowler-Nordheim . . . — — Map (db m182617) HM
On East Charlston Road west of San Antonio Road, on the left when traveling west.
The 1959 invention of the Planar Process by Jean A. Hoerni and the Integrated Circuit (IC) based on planar technology by Robert N. Noyce catapulted the semiconductor industry into the silicon IC era. This pair of pioneering inventions lead to the . . . — — Map (db m54015) HM
On Main Street, on the right when traveling north.
Electric generating plants, through their high-voltage lines, provide critical power to the isolated mines in this region. Georgetown, completed in 1900, was unusual in employing both steam and water power. Its owner, United Light and Power . . . — — Map (db m285252) HM
On Connecticut Avenue Northwest at Upton Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Connecticut Avenue Northwest.
The first atomic clock, developed near this site by Harold Lyons at the National Bureau of Standards, revolutionized timekeeping by using transitions of the ammonia molecule as its source of frequency. Far more accurate than previous clocks, atomic . . . — — Map (db m111606) HM
Near Kuilima Drive 0.5 miles north of Hawaii Route 83, on the left when traveling north.
On December 7, 1941, an SCR-270B Radar located
at this site tracked incoming Japanese aircraft
for over 30 minutes until they were obscured
by the island ground clutter. This was the first
wartime use of radar by the United States Military,
and . . . — — Map (db m154431) HM WM
Near West Pratt Street east of South Schroeder Street, on the right when traveling east.
On 27 June 1895, at the nearby Howard Street Tunnel, the B&O demonstrated the first electrified main line railroad, and commercial operation began four days later. The electrification involved designing, engineering, and constructing electric . . . — — Map (db m135948) HM
On S Orleans Rd at Cove Rd, on the left when traveling south on S Orleans Rd.
The submarine telegraph cable known as Le Direct provided communication between Europe and North America without intermediate relaying. In a remarkable feat of oceanic engineering, the cable was laid in the deepest waters of the Atlantic Ocean . . . — — Map (db m141616) HM
On Main Street (U.S. 7) at Cottage Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
On 20 March 1886 William Stanley provided alternating current electrification to offices and stores on Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He thus demonstrated the first practical system for providing electrical illumination using . . . — — Map (db m154428) HM
On Tremont Street at Park Street, on the right when traveling south on Tremont Street.
Boston was the first city to build electric traction for a large-scale rapid transit system. The engineering challenge to design and construct safe, economically viable, and reliable electric power
for Boston’s rapid transit was met by the West . . . — — Map (db m154429) HM
On Penn Street near 12th Street, on the right when traveling east.
Between July 4 and October 24, 1861, a telegraph line was constructed by the Western Union Company between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, thereby completing the first high-speed communications line between the Atlantic and . . . — — Map (db m47465) HM
Near Airport Road east of James S. McDonnell Boulevard.
Col. John Glenn piloted the Mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft in the first United States human orbital flight on 20 February 1962. Electrical and electronic systems invented by McDonnell Aircraft engineers, including IRE members, made his and . . . — — Map (db m146059) HM
Near Charles Lindbergh Boulevard west of Library Road West.
On 24 September 1929, the first blind takeoff, flight, and landing occurred at Mitchel Field, Garden City, NY in a Consolidated NY-2 biplane piloted by Lt. James Doolittle. Equipped with specially designed radio and aeronautical instrumentation, it . . . — — Map (db m285197) HM
On Carillon Boulevard 0.2 miles west of South Patterson Boulevard, on the left when traveling west.
In 1942, the United States Navy joined with the National Cash Register Company to design and manufacture a series of code-breaking, machines. This project was located at the U.S. Naval Computing Machine Laboratory in Building 26, near this site. . . . — — Map (db m173778) HM
On Queen Street west of King Street, on the right when traveling west.
The United States Electric Illuminating Company of Charleston started up South Carolina's first central station for incandescent electric lighting in this building October 1882. This was just one month after Thomas Edison opened his central station . . . — — Map (db m154433) HM
Near South Lawe Street, on the right when traveling south.
On this site November 25, 1882 the Appleton Edison Light Co. began operating the first Edison Hydroelectric System in America.
Plaque donated to Outagamie County Historical Society by the family of Harold F. Parish November, 1979 — — Map (db m20865) HM
Near State Highway 160, on the left when traveling west.
Electrical Engineering Milestone Transcontinental Telegraph Between July 4 and October 24, 1861, a telegraph line was constructed by the Western Union Telegraph Co. between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, thereby completing the . . . — — Map (db m87102) HM
[English:]
At Signal Hill on 12 December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi and his assistant, George Kemp, confirmed the reception of the . . . — — Map (db m78937) HM
Cobalt-60 Radiation Cancer Treatment Machines, 1951
In 1951, two Canadian teams of medical physicists, engineers, and radiation oncologists in London, Ontario and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan independently, yet cooperatively, designed . . . — — Map (db m296492) HM
On O'Connor Street at Albert Street on O'Connor Street.
The Trans-Canada Microwave System, 1958
On 1 July 1958, the Trans-Canada Microwave System introduced live network television and direct-dialled long distance telephone service to Canadians from coast to coast. Comprising 139 . . . — — Map (db m280624) HM
On Abbey Road just north of Grove End Road, on the left when traveling north.
Alan Dower Blumlein filed a patent for a two-channel audio system
called “stereo” on 14 December 1931. It included a “shuffling”
circuit to preserve directional sound, an orthogonal “Blumlein
Pair” of velocity microphones, the recording of two . . . — — Map (db m167118) HM
Near Sherwood Drive close to Jemima Way, on the left when traveling north.
On this site during the 1939-45 World War, 12,000 men and women broke the German Lorenz and Enigma ciphers, as well as Japanese and Italian codes and ciphers. They used innovative mathematical analysis and were assisted by two computing machines . . . — — Map (db m154430) HM
