1952 - 1961
 1952 First bar code
The first patent for a bar code was issued by Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver.
1952 Artificial Heart
Artificial heart used for first time in a 41-year-old steel worker in Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.
1952 Hydrogen bomb invented
The first Hydrogen bombs were being tested by many nations in South Pacific and in Siberia.
 1953 Coronation televised
The coronation of the Queen Elizabeth II was televised to a worldwide audience of 20 million, from Westminster Abbey.
1953 DNA
Crick and Watson discover the structure of life - DNA
1954 First Boeing plane
Boeing 707 prototype plane was first displayed and made its maiden flight from Renton Field, south of Seattle.
1954 Silicon transistor
Texas Instruments was the first company to start commercial production of silicon transistors.
1954 First business computer
IBM announces development of a machine that consists of a central arithmetic and logic unit and can perform 10 million calculations in an hour. They cost $25,000 a month to hire.
1954 TV goes Europewide
Eight European countries, including Britain, link up to broadcast pictures of the Pope and a Swiss flower festival.
 1955 Sony radio launched
World's first mass-produced transistor radio launched by Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo LTD, the company later to be called Sony.
1955 ITV starts
ITV broadcasts for the first time - the first advert was for toothpaste.
1956 Ampex videotape recorder
Charles Ginsburg was the main developer at the Ampex Corporation in creating the first practical videotape recorder.
1956 Hovercraft invented by Cockrell
The hovercraft was invented by Christopher Cockerell. The first tests in 1955 were based on an empty KiteKat cat food tin, coffee tin, air blower and a pair of kitchen scales.
 1957 Sputnik satellite launched
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. This was the world's first artificial satellite and was the size of a basketball and weighed 183 pounds. A month later they launched a dog called Laika into space.
1957 TV detector vans
Post Office unveils new weapon in battle to beat TV-licence dodgers - the detector van.
1958 Stereo broadcast
BBC began experimental stereo radio transmissions.
1958 Lycra fabric
Lycra elastic fibre was introduced by Du Pont.
1958 Trunk dialling
Queen opens new trunk dialling system which allows 18,000 private telephone users to dial direct rather than using an operator. Calls cost 2d.
 1959 Portable TV
First portable transistor based television, TV8 301 launched by Sony.
1959 Pictures of Earth
Explorer VI spacecraft took the first television pictures of Earth.
1960 Felt-tip design
World's first felt-tip pen, Pentel sold.
1960 Weather
First weather satellite launched by US called Tiros 1. First in a planned network to improve forecasting.
 1961 Sinclair formation
Sinclair Radionics Ltd is founded by Clive Sinclair. Sinclair would later create the first electronic calculator.
 1961 Videodisk
David Paul Gregg creates the VIDEODISK. Gauss Electrophysics, was later acquired by MCA who also bought the the patent for making a video record disc.
1961 First man in space
The Soviet Union's Major Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space as he performs a single orbit of Earth in the Vostok spaceship in 108 minutes.
 1961 Electric typewriter
IBM Selectric typewriter producer was invented by Eliot Noyes.
1961 The pill
The contraceptive pill goes on sale for the first time in the UK. The Ministry of Health considers whether to offer it on the NHS.
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