Video Tech
History of Silicon Valley in one animated timeline
Corey Protin, Matthew Stuart, and Matt Weinberger
2020-12-18T22:30:00Z
Description
Silicon Valley is an almost$3 trillion neighborhoodthanks to companies likeApple, Google, and Tesla.But it wasn't always this way.
In the late 1800s,San Francisco's port helped make it a hubof the early telegraphand radio industries.In 1909,San José became home to oneof the US'sfirst radio stations.In 1933, the Navypurchased Moffett Fieldto dock and maintainthe USS Macon.This made Moffett Field a major hubfor the early days of the aerospace industry.Many scientists and researchers all found work in the area. In 1939, the Ames ResearchCenter was founded in the area,and it became home to the world's largest wind tunnel in 1949.
Also in 1939, William Hewlettand Dave Packard foundedHewlett-Packard in Palo Alto,which originally made oscilloscopes.Then, during World War II, HPmade radar andartillery technology.At this point, computers were about the size of a room.
In the 1940s, WilliamShockley coinventedthe transistor while at Bell Labs. The transistor is now known as the computer processor.In 1956, Shockley left Bell and founded his own company —Shockley Semiconductor Labs. It was the first company tomake transistors out of siliconand not germanium. The company was founded in Mountain View, California —so Shockley could be closer to his sick mother. Shockley's company employed many recent grads of Stanford.
In 1957, eight Shockley employees grew tired of his demeanorand left the company.Shockley called the groupthe "Traitorous Eight."They partnered withSherman Fairchildto create Fairchild Semiconductor. In the early 1960s, Fairchild helped make computer componentsfor the Apollo program.Later in the decade, manyof the "Traitorous Eight" left Fairchild and foundedtheir own companies.Including Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, who in 1968 founded their own company in Santa Clara called Intel. Soon after, otherex-Fairchild employeesand "Traitorous Eight"members helped foundAMD, Nvidia, and venturefund Kleiner Perkins.
In 1969, the Stanford Research Institutebecame one of the four nodes of ARPANET. A government research project that would go on to become the internet.In 1970, Xerox openedits PARC lab in Palo Alto.PARC invented early computing tech,including ethernet computing and the graphical user interface.In 1971, journalist Don Hoeflertitled a 3-part reporton the semiconductor industry "SILICON VALLEY USA." The name stuck.
In the 1970s, companies likeAtari, Apple, and Oraclewere all founded in the areaIn the 1980s, Silicon Valley becamethe widely accepted centerof the computer industry.eBay, Yahoo, PayPal, and Googleare just some of the companies founded in the area in the 1990sWith Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Teslajoining them the following decade.The growth of the tech industry in the area continues to this day.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published in May 2017.
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Silicon Valley is an almost$3 trillion neighborhoodthanks to companies likeApple, Google, and Tesla.But it wasn't always this way.
In the late 1800s,San Francisco's port helped make it a hubof the early telegraphand radio industries.In 1909,San José became home to oneof the US'sfirst radio stations.In 1933, the Navypurchased Moffett Fieldto dock and maintainthe USS Macon.This made Moffett Field a major hubfor the early days of the aerospace industry.Many scientists and researchers all found work in the area. In 1939, the Ames ResearchCenter was founded in the area,and it became home to the world's largest wind tunnel in 1949.
Also in 1939, William Hewlettand Dave Packard foundedHewlett-Packard in Palo Alto,which originally made oscilloscopes.Then, during World War II, HPmade radar andartillery technology.At this point, computers were about the size of a room.
In the 1940s, WilliamShockley coinventedthe transistor while at Bell Labs. The transistor is now known as the computer processor.In 1956, Shockley left Bell and founded his own company —Shockley Semiconductor Labs. It was the first company tomake transistors out of siliconand not germanium. The company was founded in Mountain View, California —so Shockley could be closer to his sick mother. Shockley's company employed many recent grads of Stanford.
In 1957, eight Shockley employees grew tired of his demeanorand left the company.Shockley called the groupthe "Traitorous Eight."They partnered withSherman Fairchildto create Fairchild Semiconductor. In the early 1960s, Fairchild helped make computer componentsfor the Apollo program.Later in the decade, manyof the "Traitorous Eight" left Fairchild and foundedtheir own companies.Including Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, who in 1968 founded their own company in Santa Clara called Intel. Soon after, otherex-Fairchild employeesand "Traitorous Eight"members helped foundAMD, Nvidia, and venturefund Kleiner Perkins.
In 1969, the Stanford Research Institutebecame one of the four nodes of ARPANET. A government research project that would go on to become the internet.In 1970, Xerox openedits PARC lab in Palo Alto.PARC invented early computing tech,including ethernet computing and the graphical user interface.In 1971, journalist Don Hoeflertitled a 3-part reporton the semiconductor industry "SILICON VALLEY USA." The name stuck.
In the 1970s, companies likeAtari, Apple, and Oraclewere all founded in the areaIn the 1980s, Silicon Valley becamethe widely accepted centerof the computer industry.eBay, Yahoo, PayPal, and Googleare just some of the companies founded in the area in the 1990sWith Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Teslajoining them the following decade.The growth of the tech industry in the area continues to this day.
Follow Tech Insider:On Facebook
EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published in May 2017.
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