1. Periodization:
Technological
Innovation
1940-1979
By: Sophia Roces

2. Period of Military
Innovations
(1940-1945)
A large percentage of the American
technological innovations during this
period were military inventions,
influenced by U.S. participation in World
War 2 from 1941-1945.

3. Jeep
(1940)
Invented by Karl K.
Pabst of the Bantam
Car Company
Built with
specifications for use
in WWII, later used as
domestic
transportation

4. M1 Bazooka
(1942)
Invented by Edward
G. Uhl and Colonel
Leslie Skinner
Built to shoot
explosive warheads
at armored cars,
bunkers and
bunkers

5. Atomic Bomb
(1945)
Invented by the team of
J.R. Oppenheimer,
Arthur Compton, Enrico
Fermi, and Léo Szilard in
the Manhattan Project
Incorporated the
discoveries of the atomic
reaction from 1942 to
create a nuclear weapon
of mass destruction

6. Period of Medical
Innovations
(1953-1957)
A great deal of medical advancements
were made during this period in particular,
as a result of the plentiful medical research
developments that were ongoing in 1950s
America.

7. Heart-Lung Machine
(1953)
Dr. John H. Gibbon
Jr. & his wife, Mary,
successfully
construct a
functional heart-
lung machine
Enables patients’
circulation while
the surgeon
operates on the still
heart

8. Gamma Camera
(1957)
Invented by H.O. Anger
Using gamma radiation
in the technique of
scintigraphy, the
camera enabled
doctors to see images
from within the
patient’s body without
invasive methods

9. Oral Polio Vaccine
(1957)
Developed by Albert
Sabin
Dramatically reduced
the cases of polio just
ten years after its
development, when
the disease previously
affected thousands of
children

10. Period of Outer Space
Innovations
(1958-1969)
American efforts to develop outer space
technology was at an all-time high during this
period, as it coincided with the Cold War Space
Race between the U.S. and Russia, which lasted
from 1955-1972. The Space Race was essentially a
competition to see which nation could develop
superior space technology.

11. Explorer I
(1958)
Designed and
constructed by the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory
of the California
Institute of Technology
United States’ first
satellite to follow the
Soviet Union’s Sputnik
1, launched during the
International
Geophysical Year

12. Geosynchronous Satellite
(Syncom II)
(1963)
Developed by
Harold Rosen
Underwent a
successful launch
and established an
orbit, whereupon it
worked as an
international
telephone link

13. Landing on the Moon
(1969)
Accomplished by
Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin
Aboard the Apollo
11, these astronauts
were the first men
to set foot on and
explore the moon

14. Period of Computer
Innovations
(1965-1976)
The immense technological progress of the
mid-20th century demanded that computer
hardware be kept up to date. This period saw
the development and design of new computer
technology that increased in efficiency and
decreased in size.

15. Minicomputer (PDP-8)
(1965)
Constructed by
Digital Equipment
Corp.
First computer that
was sold on a
comparatively large
scale; used
integrated circuit
technology

16. Intel 4004
(1971)
Designed by Intel
First 4-bit single-
chip CPU
microprocessor;
used in calculators,
begun the
downsizing of
technology

17. Supercomputer (Cray-1)
(1976)
Designed by
Seymour Cray
Capable of
performing 240
million
calculations/second