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1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s

1951

Stanford Industrial Park

Stanford University established the nation's first high-tech research park in Palo Alto. Varian Associates was the first tenant. Instrumental to the creation and growth of Silicon Valley, the park is now home to more than 140 companies in electronics, software, biotechnology and other high-tech fields.

1952

IBM's West Coast Laboratory

IBM established a research center in San Jose headed by Reynold "Rey" Johnson where the first hard disk storage device was designed. Later, in 1956, IBM opened its General Products Division and developed disk storage devices and magnetic strip technology.

1956

Silicon Comes to Silicon Valley

Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory of Mountain View developed Northern California's first prototype silicon devices while training young engineers and scientists for the future Silicon Valley.

1957

Fairchild Semiconductor

Eight scientists, all under the age of 30, become known as the "traitorous eight" when they leave Shockley Labs to begin Fairchild Semiconductor.

1958

Silicon Mesa Transistors Enter Commercial Production

In early 1958 Fairchild Semiconductor of Palo Alto procured its first order, for 100 transistors at $150 apiece from IBM’s Federal Systems Division.

1959

Monolithic Integrated Circuit

Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor built on Jean Hoerni’s planar process to patent a monolithic integrated circuit structure that could be manufactured in high volume.