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Ho,nhum. So somebody invented a new way of regulating electrical currentnand amplifying and switching electronic signals. Some drearynphysicists who got a Nobel Prize for their efforts—hooray fornthem!—but why would anyone else care?
Ho,nhum. So somebody invented a new way of regulating electrical currentnand amplifying and switching electronic signals. Some drearynphysicists who got a Nobel Prize for their efforts—hooray fornthem!—but why would anyone else care?n
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Butnwhen William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain invented thentransistor on this date in 1947, they ushered in an entirely new eranof electronics and made possible the integrated circuit andnmicroprocessor.
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Butnwhen William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain invented thentransistor on this date in 1947, they ushered in an entirely new eranof electronics and made possible the integrated circuit andnmicroprocessor.n
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nAlmostneverything we build these days depends on transistors! So, hooray fornall of us—and happy birthday, transistors!
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nDidnyou know…?
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nThen word “transistor” was created by shortening the words transfern resistor.n (That makes the word a “portmanteau,” like “smog,” with wasn created by combining smoken and fog.)
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nModernn integrated circuits (or computer microchips) have billions ofn transistors!
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Beforen transistors, amplification of radio signals and other electronicn signals was obtained by vacuum tubes. However, vacuum tubes weren bulky and fragile, and they consumed a lot of power.n
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nYouncan imagine the world of the 1940s, when radios were pieces ofnfurniture and there was no way to “take music with you.”
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nYouncan imagine the world of the 1940s, when radios were pieces ofnfurniture and there was no way to “take music with you.”
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- In 1954ntransistor radios were introduced, and suddenly music becamenportable—pocket-sized, even! It was a revolution, and thentransistor radio became the most popular electronic communicationndevice in history. Billions were manufactured in the 1960s and 1970s.
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| That dark thing between the boys’ cheek and shoulder isn’t a cell phone. Those hadn’t been invented yet! It’s a transistor radio. |
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- Transistorn radios were so popular that some were manufactured as novelty orn advertising items. You will probably have to do some research ton understand why the Jimmy Carter radio was peanut-shaped, or what then “Mork from Ork” egg-shaped radio was all about. People could buyn Charlie the Tuna-shaped radios from Star-Kist or Donald Duck-shapedn radios from Disney!
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nAlsonon this date:
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nKazakhstan’s Independence Day
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Beethoven’snBirthday n
Beethoven’snBirthday nn
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MargaretnMead’s Birthday (scrollndown)
MargaretnMead’s Birthday (scrollndown)n
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nAnniversarynof Boston Tea Party n
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