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Electronics Innovations Timeline

Metal Rod
Tim Berners-Lee, pioneer
Glass Jar
Internal Ferguson television of the World Wide Web,
Metal
Coating
receiver, type 306T, 1956 c1990s

1989
Chain
External

LATE 1940s
or Wire
Metal
Coating

Michael Faraday Circuit Board British computer

Electronic television sets
IBM PC Model 5150 scientist Tim Berners- Smartphone 5G mobile
Arc lamp carbon rods Early electric kettle and iron started to become more
1958
Lee invented the
Alessandro Volta
Leyden Jar 1821-1831 Phonograph ‘A London Pattern’, c1912. common in homes after the
Second World War. Early sets
with printer, 1981 World Wide Web
2000s
networks
1846-1878 (Street lighting)
1890s
and developed the

1800
were black and white only –
1745 1981-1983
Electrical Engineer Jack
William Gilbert
2019
Michael Faraday made two huge steps first webpage.
forward. He established the principle 1877 colour television did not become Kilby created the first This created a Mobile phones became into
of the electric motor; simply a wire
Scientists developed the first
1881 Electrical appliances such common until the mid 1960s. integrated circuit (IC) ‘front end’ for the multiuse computing devices

1600
Alessandro Volta built the
Lodestone Scientists adapted glass
first battery. This ‘Voltaic Pile’ which rotated around a magnet
practical arc lamps. A bright, Thomas Edison developed the as electric irons, kettles, fans, German technician Paul Nipkow whilst working at Texas IBM launched the first
‘personal computer’ (PC).
internet (invented complete with messaging, 5G mobile networks became
jars to store the electric white light was created when phonograph to record and play back water heaters and cookers invented the first television Instruments. This paved earlier in the cameras, internet access and available for the first time in
was made up of alternate pieces of when a current flowed. Secondly, he Godalming installed the
charge produced by a electric sparks jumped across set in 1884, but his simple This was quickly followed by application software (apps). the UK. These enable access
1296 The word ‘electricity’ comes from discovered that a changing magnetic voice messages, using a tin cylinder first public electricity appeared, improving the the way for almost every decade) so it could
friction machine. These silver and zinc separated by card or a small gap between the ends mechanical design doesn’t look Apple’s Macintosh, which
field will generate an electric current and a stylus. This was later developed supply, for street lighting lives of many by making jobs single electronic device be used in homes These devices became known to the internet at speeds up
the Greek word ‘elektron’, meaning leather soaked in brine. A current featured a graphical user
‘Leyden Jars’, named of two carbon rods, making into the gramophone. easier and quicker. anything like the large flat that we use today! and businesses as smartphones. to 100 x faster than 4G.
amber, and it was first used by flowed when the ends of the pile in a coil of wire. This is the principle and homes. At first, the
Peter Peregrinus wrote about his experiments after the place where the rods white hot. London’s screen digital televisions of interface and a mouse.
William Gilbert, physician to Queen were connected by a conductor. behind modern electricity generators. power came from a water across the world.
with lodestone, a natural magnet, and he the discovery was made, Victoria Embankment was today!
Elizabeth I, in his book De Magnete. wheel on the River Wey.
was the first to use the term ‘magnetic pole’. were the first capacitors. lit by these lamps in 1878.

1200-1500 1600 1700 1800 1900s 2000s

1823 1950 2008
1663 1786 1820 1887-1889 1949 1973
William Sturgeon Leo Fender introduced the first commercial, 1994
600 BC Otto Von Guericke built
a friction machine for
Luigi Galvani accidentally discovered
that electricity could make a
Oersted discovered that an electric current can
change the direction of a compass needle, showing
built the first
practical electric 1876 1878 Sebastian de Ferranti designed the first large- Alan Turing completed the first computer
able to store a program – the Manchester
mass-produced solid body electric guitar:
the Fender Telecaster. It was designed so
Motorola demonstrated the
first handheld mobile phone.
1988 Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Corporation
This is the extension of the internet
to everyday objects, such as washing
producing static electricity. dissected frog’s leg twitch, but motor based scale, out-of-town power station at Deptford. that different components could be produced demonstrated the first high brightness machines, door security systems and
As early as 600 BC people knew that a piece of amber the link between electricity and magnetism. Alexander Graham Bell got Light bulbs, in which an electric current Mark 1. This paved the way for the Ferranti Recordable ‘compact discs’
he wrongly concluded that the on Faraday’s High voltage power lines distributed the individually, with the finished product LED. This resulted in the development home heating controllers. It allows
would attract light objects when rubbed with fur. We the first patent for an electric makes a filament glow, began to appear. Mark 1, the world’s first general purpose (CDs) became available for
electricity efficiently over a larger area.
now know that this is caused by static electricity. Otto Von Guericke electricity was coming from the frog. discoveries.
telephone. Joseph Swan (UK) and Thomas Edison (US) electronic computer available in the shops.
assembled on a production line. Motorola StarTAC the first time.
of white LEDs suitable for home people to control these devices directly
Electricity and magnetism experimented with various designs. mobile phone, 1997
lighting. LEDs use far less energy than from, for example, their mobile phones.
traditional filament light bulbs.
Amber is fossilised tree resin Luigi Galvani’s experiment William Sturgeon Early electric telephone Deptford power station Alan Turing Fender Telecaster electric guitar Compact discs (CDs) The Internet of Things
Early light bulb design LED bulb

A compass needle normally points North and South.

An electric current in a parallel wire either above or
below the needle will change its direction.

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