1640 |
The first vacuum. Otto von Guericke's air pump |
1643 |
The barometer first demonstrated by Evangelista Torricelli |
1654 |
Magdeberg Hemispheres a demonstration of the force of air pressure |
1672 |
Improved air pump and treatise on vacuum experiments published. |
1716 |
Jacob Hermann suggests that gas pressure is proportional to density and to the square of the average velocity of the gas particles in motion |
1811 |
A principle stated in 1811 by the Italian chemist Amedeo Avogadro (1776-1856) that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules regardless of their chemical nature and physical properties |
1855 |
Johann Geissler produces a mercury vacuum pump and with it he produces the first good vacuum discharge tubes |
1856 |
Karl Kronig suggests that gas molecules in equilibrium travel in straight lines unless they collide with something |
1858 |
Julius Plucker demonstrated that magnetic fields bend what later became known as cathode rays. |
1860 |
Joseph Swann patents the the carbon filament incandescent lamp that operates in a partial vacuum |
1862 |
Geissler-Topler mercury vacuum pump developed |
1865 |
Hermann Sprengel develops the mercury drop pump |
1870 |
Sir William Crookes vacuum pumping system |
1871 |
C F Varley suggests that cathode rays are particles |
1871 |
Sir William Crookes advances the idea that cathode rays are negatively charged particles |
1874 |
G R Carey invents the photo-electric cell |
1876 |
Sir William Crookes demonstrates pumping by chemical getters |
1876 |
L von Babo develops a self-recycling Sprengel vacuum pump |
1876 |
Alexander Graham Bell invents and demonstrates the telephone |
1879 |
Thomas A Edison files US patent on high vacuum carbon filament incandescent lamp |
1879 |
Sir William Crookes develops the Crookes Tube, an early form of cathode ray tube |
1879 |
Edison improves the self-recycling Sprengel-Geissler mercury vacuum pump |
1880 |
Apparatus for evacuating Edison's electric lamps. Based on Crookes design |
1883 |
Thomas A Edison first observes thermionic emission in a vacuum |
1883 |
John Ambrose Fleming presents a paper on the 'molecular shadow' to the Physical Society of London on May 26 |
1883 |
In October 1883 the amalgamation of Edison Electric Light Co Ltd and Swan Electric Lighting Co to form Edison and Swan United Electric Light Co. Ltd. |
1887 |
Sir William Crookes performs the Maltese Cross experiment |
1889 |
Jonathan Zenneck improves Braun's CRT and adds time base deflection |
1889 |
The British General Electric Co. Ltd was formed |
1885 |
Sir William Preece duplicates Edison's experiment, makes quantitative measurements and presents a paper to The Royal Society |
1886 |
Eugen Goldstein observes 'canal' rays (German = kanalstrhlen}. So called because they were emitted through a hole in the cathode. |
1890 |
A C Cossor Ltd was formed. |
1891 |
George J Stoney suggests the name of electron for cathode ray particles |
1896 |
Mallgnani Corp demonstrates the use of phosphorus gettering |
1896 |
The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd. was formed |
1897 |
Sir Joseph Thomson discovers 'corpuscles' later called electrons |
1897 |
Guglielmo Marconi sets-up in July 1897 the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company Limited to commercially exploit his patents |
1899 |
The British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Co. Ltd was formed. This later became the Metropolitan-Vickers Co. Ltd, (Metrovick) |
1900 |
James Dewar builds a cryosorption pump using activated charcoal and liquid air |
1900 |
John Ambrose Fleming becomes scientific adviser to Marconi's company |
1901 |
W C Roentgen wins Nobel prize for Physics for discovery of x-rays |
1901 |
Gugliemo Marconi transmits signal from England to North America |
1901 |
Richardson produces an equation for the emission of electrons from incandescent metal filaments |
1901 |
Peter Cooper Hewitt develops the fluorescent lamp |
1902 |
Georges Claude builds the first neon lamp |
1902 |
E Weintraub develops the mercury arc lamp and rectifier |
1902 |
Charles Proteus Steinmetz files a patent on mercury vapour lamp with halide salts to improve colour |
1902 |
Peter Cooper Hewitt develops the mercury vapour lamp |
1902 |
A C Cossor Ltd make the first British examples of Braun's CRT |
1903 |
Harris J Ryan builds magnetic deflection CRT's |
1904 |
Arthur Wehnelt publishes details of the oxide coated hot cathode CRT |
1904 |
January 1904, Arthur Wehnelt patents a diode. The patent does not mention use for rectification of RF. The device is described in connection with charging accumulators |
1904 |
October 1904, Sir Alexander Fleming produces rectification of RF in a valve. Valve history begins |
1904 |
November 16 1904, Sir Alexander Fleming applies for a patent on the Oscillation Valve, later known as the Thermionic Valve and Fleming Diode. |
1905 |
Philip Eduard Anton von Lenard wins Physics Nobel prize for Cathode Rays |
1905 |
Wolfgang Gaede makes rotary mercury-sealed mechanical vacuum pump |
1905 |
Albert Einstein explains the photoelectric effect |
1906 |
W Voege and Rohn build the thermocouple vacuum gauge |
1906 |
Lee de Forest invents the Audion (triode) as a sensitive detector |
1906 |
Dieckmann, Glage, Rosing, Campbell-Swinton propose the use of the Braun tube to display television images |
1908 |
Fleming replaces the carbon filament in his valve with a tungsten filament. This is before a process of making ductile tungsten had been devised |
1909 |
Otto von Baeyer develops the ionisation vacuum gauge |
1909 |
Robert Milikan measures the charge on the electron by the oil drop experiment |
1909 |
Guglielmo Marconi and Carl F Braun win Physics Nobel prize for wireless telegraphy |
1910 |
Pfeiffer Co produce the rotary oil-sealed mechanical vacuum pump |
1910 |
Georges Claude demonstrates the neon lamp in public |
1910 |
German telephone relay soft valve by Leiben-Reiz |
1910 |
The early production Audion's looked like this |
1911 |
Edwin H Armstrong invents the regenerative circuit |
1911 |
'Doc' Herrold begins first radio broadcast service in San Jose California |
1911 |
Henry Round of the Marconi company commences work on the design of a diode valve |
1912 |
Wolfgang Gaede develops first theory and experiment on the molecular-drag vacuum pump |
1912 |
Irving Langmuir produces gas filled incandescent lamp |
1912 |
Lee de Forest makes the first valve amplifier |
1912 |
H M Fassenden develops the Heterodyne receiver |
1913 |
Wolfgang Gaede first diffusion pump using mercury |
1913 |
A Dufour develops a high voltage, continuously pumped CRT and records directly onto photographic plates |
1913 |
John Johnson and H J Van der Bijl develop the first commercial CRT. Western Electric 224-A |
1913 |
Marconi receiver with Captain Round's C valve |
1913 |
Captain Round's T transmitting valve developed |
1913 |
Saul Dushman produces a 40 kV vacuum rectifier |
1913 |
W D Coolidge produces a High Voltage X-ray tube |
1914 |
ATT purchase licence from de Forest in August 1914 |
1914 |
Marconi files suit against Lee de Forest over triode |
1914 |
AEG-Telefunken develops standardised valves for radio reception. EVN94 and EVN129 |
1915 |
Edison and Swan Co. produce Round valves for the Marconi Co. |
1915 |
GE in America begin production of Pliotrons (triodes) |
1915 |
In France the first hard vacuum triode was made. During the war over 100,000 were made by the companies Metal and Fotos |
1915 |
Western Electric patents the indirectly heated cathode |
1915 |
October 1915 Cunningham develops the tubular Audion |
1916 |
Lee de Forest builds tubular Audions. See DV5 |
1916 |
The White soft valve produced. This has been developed by a British team working at the Cavendish Laboratory under the direction of J J Thomson |
1916 |
Siemens and Halske in Germany develop the Type 'A' vacuum tube. About 50,000 are subsequently made |
1916 |
A British version of the French valve was introduced. This was the R Type |
1916 |
The British Thomson Huston Co. commence making R Type valves for military use |
1916 |
GEC (Osram) commence making R Type valves for military use |
1916 |
Irving Langmuir develops a high-speed diffusion pump and all-metal condensation pump |
1916 |
The Edison and Swan United Electric Light Co. Ltd. changes name to Edison Swan Electric Co. Ltd. |
1914 |
ATT purchase de Forest's patent for the triode |
1917 |
The Metropolitan-Vickers Co commences production of the R Type |
1917 |
July 3rd 1917, F Lowenstein's patent for negative bias |
1919 |
October 1919. Marconi and GEC set up a joint company to manufacture valves. This was the Marconi-Osram Valve Co. Ltd. Later known as M-OV |
1920 |
In September Capt. S R Mullard forms the Mullard Radio Valve Co. Ltd. |
1920 |
Edwin Howard Armstrong invents the superhet receiver |
1920 |
Irving Langmuir develops the thoriated tungsten filament |
1920 |
Wolfgang Gaede develops the box pump |
1921 |
Albert Einstein is awarded the physics Nobel prize for the photoelectric effect |
1922 |
Mullard introduce the ORA general purpose valve |
1922 |
Cossor introduce the P1 its first valve design post WW1. The electrode shapes avoided patents held by others |
1922 |
On the 14th Novenber 1922 the BBC went on the air from 2LO in London |
1923 |
Robert A Milikan is awarded the physics Nobel prize for measuring the charge on the electron |
1923 |
Lee de Forest introduces DV/DL tubular Audions. See DV5 |
1923 |
M-OV introduce Captain Round's DEQ high impedance detector |
1924 |
L T Jones and H G Tasker demonstrate electrostatic focusing of a CRT with magnetic deflection |
1924 |
Lisa Meitner of Germany discovers the radiationless electron transition known as the Auger effect. Named after Pierre Auger of France who discovered the effect in 1926. See Augetron |
1925 |
Bakelite based valves with the evacuation 'pip' concealed within were introduced |
1926 |
Mullard introduce the first series of their PM valves. See The Azide Process |
1926 |
Loewe vacuum 'integrated circuit' multi valves introduced |
1926 |
Farnsworth image dissector produced |
1926 |
M Siegbahn introduces the disk type of molecular drag pump |
1927 |
Philo T Farnsworth demonstrates an all-electronic television system in San Francisco |
1927 |
Kenjiro Takayanagi demonstrates a gas focused oscillograph CRT to display television images |
1927 |
In the UK the S625 the world's first screened grid valve is produced |
1927 |
May 1927, the landmark UX280 rectifier was introduced. This was subsequently manufactured for over 50 years |
1927 |
Harold S Black discovers the benefits of negative feedback |
1927 |
Albert W Hull builds the first Thyratron |
1927 |
Friedrich Meyer, Hans J Spanner and Edmund Germer, in Germany, patent the high-pressure metal vapour UV and fluorescent lamp |
1928 |
The B5 base was introduced |
1928 |
The Mullard company introduce the first Pentode to the UK market |
1929 |
Kenneth C D Hickman develops low vapour pressure synthetic oils |
1929 |
Cecil R Burch produces a gas diffusion pump employing low vapour pressure oils |
1929 |
Complete amateur radio station with one valve transmitter and one valve receiver |
1929 |
Manfred von Ardenne demonstrates an all-electronic television in Berlin |
1929 |
Farnsworth electron multiplier developed |
1929 |
Vladimir K Zworykin files a patent on the kinescope. Zworykin later developed the Iconoscope camera tube |
1930 |
The Mazda AC/Pen, introduced in 1930, was the first technically successful indirectly-heated power pentode capable of enough output to drive a moving-coil loudspeaker at good volume |
1931 |
The external metalising of valves was introduced. Generally the metal was painted for protection. Red, Gold or Grey. |
1931 |
National Union in the USA produce the first valves for car radios |
1932 |
Alan B Du Mont starts to apply CRT's to television |
1933 |
The B7 base was introduced |
1933 |
Westinghouse introduce a mercury-arc rectifier, the Ignitron |
1933 |
E H Armstrong announces frequency modulation |
1934 |
The B9 base was introduced |
1934 |
In the USA the 6.3 Volt filament is adopted as standard for both AC and DC filaments and heaters |
1934 |
The GE 6E5 'Magic Eye' tuning indicator is introduced. RCA produce 6E5 in 1935 |
1934 |
The introduction of miniature Acorn valves for VHF. See 955 |
1934 |
In the UK M-OV introduced the Catkin range of valves with external anodes |
1935 |
Wolfgang Gaede produces the gas ballast pump |
1935 |
Kenneth C D Hickman produces a fractionating oil diffusion pump and associated oils |
1935 |
RCA introduce the IO base with the launch of the metal tube valve 6L7 |
1935 |
RCA nine original valves appear in the RCA metal valve family |
1935 |
Watson Watt demonstrates that aircraft reflect radio waves |
1935 |
John Logie Baird demonstrates a 700 line high resolution television system |
1935 |
Oskar Heil patents the field effect transistor. The device, however, did not work |
1936 |
The world's first regular television broadcast by the BBC employing the EMI electronic system |
1936 |
Mahn and Mecalf present a paper on velocity modulated valves. The key principle within the klystron |
1937 |
At Stanford University the Varian brothers produce the first working Klystron |
1937 |
C M Van Alta produces a diffusion pump with a pumping rate in excess of 100 litres per second |
1937 |
L Malter demonstrates a multi-stage, self fractionating diffusion pump |
1938 |
Mazda introduce the MO in the UK as an alternative to the International Octal |
1939 |
RCA and Du Mont demonstrate Television at the NY World's Fair |
1939 |
The Loctal or B8B was introduced in America |
1939 |
The Philips introduce the all glass valve and with it the B9G base |
1939 |
The first all-glass valve for use above 30 MHz was produced. The EF50 played a major part in early Radar |
1939 |
The B7G all-glass valve base was introduced in America. Its introduction to the UK was in 1947 |
1940 |
February 21st 1940 John Randall and Harry Boot make operational the cavity magnetron at Birmingham University |
1940 |
On September 6th 1940 Sir Henry Tizard takes the cavity magnetron to the USA. This is one of the most secret inventions of the war |
1940 |
In September 1940 the first RDF system using a cavity magnetron is made in the UK |
1940 |
In the USA the first all glass B7G 1.4 Volt miniature valve is introduced. This was the 1R5 |
1941 |
In America the 525 line system is approved by the FCC for commercial black and white broadcasting |
1941 |
A UHF oscillator is made using Acorn valves. See 955 |
1941 |
The UK government introduce the common valve (CV) lists to streamline procurement and increase flexibility in sourcing the valves required by all branches of government especially the military |
1942 |
Rudi Kompfner at Oxford University produces the first travelling wave tube |
1943 |
Dr Tommy Flowers builds the first electronic computer for code breaking at Bletchley Park |
1943 |
Percy Spencer of the Raytheon Co designs the laminated anode cavity magnetron which increased production rates |
1945 |
Double triodes |
1947 |
Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley demonstrate the first semiconductor amplifier |
1947 |
B7G used on UK valves for the first time |
1948 |
F C Williams describes the use of a CRT as a digital memory |
1948 |
The B8A 'Rimlock' valve base is introduced |
1948 |
B9A based all glass double triodes 12AU7, 12AX7 and 12AT7 are introduced |
1949 |
Valve memory is introduced |
1950 |
October 3rd 1950 the transistor is patented |
1950 |
RCA demonstrate the shadow mask colour TV tube |
1952 |
Ring getter with U-shaped cross section for valve manufacture is introduced |
1953 |
B8A 'Rimlock' valves of all glass construction are introduced in the UK |
1954 |
Mullard introduce the EL34 25 Watt dissipation audio output pentode |
1954 |
Texas Instruments produces the first silicon transistor |
1957 |
The Nixie display tubes are introduced |
1958 |
Elmer Fridrich and Emmett Wily file a patent application on the tungsten halogen lamp |
1958 |
Varian Associates introduce the 'modern' Vacsorb cryosorption pump |
1958 |
The IMB 709 was introduced. This was the last major valve computer and featured magnetic core memory |
1959 |
IBM 7090 introduced, this is the world's first all transistor computer |
1959 |
The Varian Klystron VA842 introduced. This multi-cavity liquid-cooled Radar klystron is the largest documented production klystron |
1960 |
Varian Associates Inc. produce the 1000 Litre per second Valcon pump |
1960 |
Ross Aiken develops CRT for aircraft and 14 inch thin CRT |
1960 |
The Nuvistor is developed. See 6CW4 |
1960 |
Ali Javan invents the Helium-Neon gas discharge laser |
1961 |
C H Kruger and A H Shapiro unveil statistical theory of turbo-molecular pumping |
1961 |
Varian Associates Inc produce very large sorption pumps for roughing large chambers |
1961 |
Gilbert Reiling files a US patent for 'modern' metal-halogen incandescent lamp |
1961 |
William R Wheeler introduces the UHF metal-gasket captured step-seal |
1962 |
Fairchild Semiconductors produce the first integrated circuit |
1962 |
Varian VA126 high power travelling wave tube introduced |
1968 |
July 1968, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore founded Intel |
1968 |
A Y Cho et al develop molecular-beam epitaxy |
1969 |
K H Mirgel produces the vertical uni-directional turbomolecular pump |
1971 |
Intel introduce the 4004, the world's first microprocessor. This was a 4-bit device in a 16 pin DIL package. |
1974 |
First oil-free vacuum pump |
1975 |
Altair computer with microprocessor introduced for home use |
1975 |
NASA Cryo-pumps for space simulation and semiconductor manufacture |
1976 |
April 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple computer |
1977 |
Mass production of valves ends in most Western European countries and the USA |
1978 |
June 1978, the industry standard 8086 16-bit microprocessor is made. It has 29,000 transistors and a clock speed of 4.77 MHz. It was made in quantity on 4-inch silicon wafers |
1986 |
Raytheon close the last major valve production line in the USA |
1989 |
The 1.2 million transistor Intel 80486 is produced. The initial clock frequency is 25 MHz |
1993 |
Intel introduce the Pentium processor. This is fabricated on 8-inch wafers. The 8-inch wafer process having been developed in April 1992 |