List of Achievements Suitable for Milestones

A suggestive list of technical achievements in IEEE's fields of interest which might be suitable for proposal as milestones. The Region number where the achievement took place is shown. This is by no means all of them, nor does an appearance on this list guarantee approval. Please feel free to suggest others to ieee-history@ieee.org -- or even better -- propose an achievement as a milestone. Please consult the Milestone Guidelines for more information on the milestone process. There is also a list according to regions of milestones which have already been dedicated.

Last updated: 27 June 2019

Date, Milestone, Person(s), Location, Region

4th Century Bce, Description of Use of Magnetic Compass, Wang Xu, Defeng County, Henan, China, Region 10 (could Also Be 1040-44, Book collection of Most Important Military Techniques, Kaifeng, Henan,china, Or 1117 First Written Mention of A Magnetic Compass For Maritime Navigation, Zhu Yu, Huanggang, Hubei, China)
1617 Napier's Bones, Napier, Edinburgh, Scotland, Region 8
1621 Slide Rule Oughtred, Albury, England, Region 8
1623 Mechanical Calculator, Schichard, Tuebingen, Germany, Region 8
1642 Advanced Calculator Pascal, Paris, France, Region 8
1671 Reliable Calculator Liebniz Mainz, Germany, Region 8
1729 Discovery of Conduction Gray London, Region 8
1746 Leyden Jar, Unknown, Leyden, Netherlands, Region 8
1790 Galvanism, Galvani, Bologna, Italy, Region 8
1808 Arc Lighting Davy London, England, Region 8
1810 Electrolytic Telegraph Von Sommerin, Munich, Germany, Region 8
1819 Discovery of Current/Magnetism, Oersted, Denmark, Region 8
1824 Electromagnet, Sturgeon, London, England, Region 8
1824 Galvanometer, Ampere, Paris, France, Region 8
1824 Thermocouple, Seebech, Berlin, Germany, Region 8
1828 Electric Motor, Henry, Albany, NY, USA, Region 1
1828 Microphone, Wheatstone, London, England Region 8
1828 Ohm's Law/resistance, Ohm, Cologne, Germany, Region 8
1830 Bimetallic Thermostat, Ure, Glasgow, Scotland, Region 8
1831 Discovery of Induction, Faraday, London, England, Region 8
1833 Difference Engine, Babbage, Cambridge, England, Region 8
1833 Electric Telegraph Key, Gauss/weber, Goettingen, Germany, Region 8
1834 Early Electric Light Lindsay, Dundee, Scotland, Region 8
1836 Electric Telegraph, Cooke&wheatslondon, England, Region 8
1837 Analytical Engine, Babbage, London, England, Region 8
1837 Practical Electric Motor, Davenport, Rutland, VT, USA, Region 1
1840 Electroplating Wright, Birmingham, England, Region 8
1840 First "program", Ada Augusta, London, England, Region 8
1844 Washington-Baltimore Telegraph, Morse, Maryland, USA, Region 2
1850 Kirchoff's Laws Kirchoff, Koenigsberg, Germany, Region 8
1854 Electric Loom Bonelli, Turin, Italy, Region 8
1854 Printing Telegraph Hughes Kentucky, USA, Region 3
1856 Shuttle-wound Armature Von Siemens Berlin, Germany, Region 8
1859 Discovery of Cathode Rays Pluker Bonn, Germany, Region 8
1859 Storage Battery, Plante, France, Region 8
1860 Arc Welding Wilde, London, Region 8
1868 Primary Dry Cell, Leclanche, France, Region 8
1873 DC Generator/lighthouses, Gramme Belgium, Region 8
1874 Early Electric Car, Salomans, Kent, England, Region 8
1875 Electric Dental Drill, Green, Kalamazoo, MI, USA, Region 4
1877 Dynamic Microphone, Curtis/Reddi, Boston, Region 1
1877 Dynamic Microphone, Siemens, Germany, Region 8
1877 Resistance Welding, Thompson, Philadelphia, Pa, USA, Region 2
1877 Telephone Switchboard, Holmes, Boston, MA, USA, Region 1
1878 Alternator, Gramme/Fonta, France, Region 8
1878 Alternator, Siemens, Germany Region 8
1879 Commercial Use of Arc-lighting, Brush, Cleveland, Oh, USA, Region 2
1880 Contributions of Lewis Latimer, New York, Region 1
1880 Early Hydroelectric Site, Numerous, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, Region 4
1880 First Electrically Lit Town, Numerous, Wabash, Indiana, Region 4
1881 Commercial Music Over Wire, Cahill, Holyoke, Mass., USA, Region 1
1881 Solar-powered Pump, Adams, Bombay, India, Region 10
1881 Transformer, Gaulard/Gibb, Paris, France, Region 8
1882 "Elektromote" Trackless Car, Von Siemens, Halensee, Germany 8
1882 Commercial Electric Fan, Crocker/Curt, New York, NY, USA, Region 1
1882 Early Hydroelectric Site, Brush, Minneapolis, MN, USA, Region 4
1882 Early Hydroelectric Site, Calder/Barre, Surrey, England, Region 8
1882 Electric Iron Seely, New York, NY, USA, Region 1
1882 Electric Mine Railway, Von Siemens, Saxony, Germany, Region 8
1885 Magnetic Circuit Theory, Hopkinson, London, England 8
1885 Mass Production of Edison Lamps, Thomson, Lynn, Ma, Region 1
1886 Bayonet Cap Light Bulb, Swan, Newcastle-on-tyne,england, Region 8
1886 Electric Heater, Burton, Richmond, VA, USA, Region 3
1886 Electric Submarine, Peral, Spain, Region 8
1886 Electrolytic Reduction of Aluminium, Hall, Oberlin, OH, USA Region 2
1886 Electrolytic Reduction of Aluminium, Herault Paris, France, Region 8
1886 First Electric Trolley System, Numerous people, Montgomery, AL, USA, Region 3
1887 Electric Elevator, Von Siemens Mannheim, Germany 8
1888 AC Induction Motor, Tesla, New York, Region 1
1888 AC Induction Motor, Ferraris, Turin, Italy, Region 8
1888 Edward Weston Precision Meters, USA, Region 1
1889 Automatic Telephone Exchange, Strowger, Kansas City, MO, USA, Region 4
1889 Marmelos Zero Hydro Plant, Numerous, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Region 9
1890 Electric Motor Car, Morrison, Demoines, Iowa, Region 4
1890 High-frequency Generator, Thomson, Chicago, USA 4
1890 Long-distance AC Transmission, Numerous Inventors, Williamette Falls, Or, Region 6
1890 Punched-card Machine, Holerith, Washington, DC, USA, Region 2
1892 Lorentz Paper On The Electron, Benelux Section, Region 8
1893 Coney Island Electric Escalator, Reno, Brooklyn, NY, USA, Region 1
1895 X-rays, Roentgen, Wuerzburg, Germany, Region 8
1897 CRT, Braun, Strausbourg, Germany, Region 8
1897 Discovery of Electron, Thomson, Cambridge, England, Region 8
1898 Wireless Power Transmission, Tesla, New York, NY, USA, Region 1
1899 Loading Coil, Pupin, At&t Region 1
1899 Magnetic Recording, Poulsen, Denmark, Region 8
1901 Electric Typewriter, Cahill ,Washington, DC, USA, Region 2
1901 Mercury Discharge Lamp, Cooper Hewitnew York, NY, USA 1
1902 Early Broadcast, Stubblefield, Murphy,ky, USA 3
1902 Oscilloscope, Ryan, Ithaca, NY, USA 1
1902 George Darby's Patent For Electrical Heat And Smoke Detector, Birmingham, England, Region 8
1906 Crystal Detector, Dunwoody/Pic, Washington, DC, USA 2
1906 Crystal Detector, Braun, Germany 8
1906 Sound Film, Lauste, Brixton, England, Region 8
1906 Telephone Amplifier Tube, Von Lieben, Vienna, Austria 8
1906 Triode, De Forrest, US, Region 1
1906 Electromagnetic Seismograph, Dorpat, Estonia Or St. Petersburg, Russia, Region 8
1907 Bell Labs Founded, Jewett, Cart, New York, NY, USA Region 1
1907 Cinema Projection System, Bell&howell, USA, Region 4
1907 Upright Vacuum Cleaner, Spangler, New Berlin, OH, USA, Region 2
1910 Ni-Cd Battery, Jungner, Sweden, Region 8
1910 Radio Direction Finder, Bellini/Tosiboulogne, France Region 8
1910 Tungsten Filament, Coolidge, Us 1
1911 Automobile Self Starter, Kettering, Dayton, OH, USA, Region 2
1914 Electric Traffic Light, Benesch, Cleveland, OH, USA Region 2
1915 1st Transcontinental Telephone, Bell & Watson, San Francisco 6
1915 2nd Transcontinental Telephone, Bell & Watson, Washington, DC, USA 3
1916 Radio Telephone, Numerous, Arlington, Virginia 2
1916 Radio Telephone, Numerous, San Francisco 6
1917 Superheterodyne, Armstrong, Columbia University, New York City, Region 1
1917 Superheterodyne, Levy, France 8
1917 VHF, Marconi, Wales, Region 8
1918 Electric Refrigerator, Wales Et Al., Detroit, USA, Region 4
1918 Practical AC Clock, Warren, Ashland, MA, USA, Region 1
1919 Neutrodyne Hazeltine, Hoboken, NJ, USA 1
1919 Permanent Electrostatic Fields, Eguchi, Japan, Region 10
1921 Magnetron Hall, Schenectady, NY, USA 1
1923 PNJ Interconnection, Numerous, Valley, Forge, PA, USA 1
1924 Stereo Phonography, Keller Bell, Labs 1
1925 Cinemascope, Chretien, France, Region 8
1925 Electrodynamic Loudspeaker, Numerous, Schenectady, NY, USA 1
1925 Quartz Crystal, Watch, Numerous New York 1
1926 All-electric Gramaphone, Brunswick Et, Chicago, USA 4
1926 Mechanical TV/1st TV License, Baird, London, England Region 8
1926 South Africa Lightning Research, Numerous, Capetown, South Africa, Region 8
1927 1st Commercial Movie with Sound (Talkie) "The Jazz Singer", Numerous Inventors, Hollywood, USA, Region 6
1927 All-electric Juke Box, Harrison, West Chicago, USA, Region 4
1927 Differential Analyzer, Bush, Cambridge, MA, USA Region 1
1927 Negative Feedback Amp, Black, Bell Labs, Region 1
1927 Pentode, Holst/Tellegen, Eindhoven, Netherlands, Region 8
1927 Pop-up Toaster, Strite, Stillwater, MN, USA, Region 4
1927 Technicolor, Kalmus et al, Cambridge, MA, USA, Region 1
1928 All-electronic TV, Farnsworth, USA, Region 6
1928 Geiger Tube, Geiger/Mulletuebingen, Germany, Region 8
1929 Coaxial Cable, Numerous, New York, NY, USA, Region 1
1929 Electro-encephalogram, Berger, Jena, Germany, Region 8
1929 Electron Microscope, Knoll/Ruska, Berlin, Germany, Region 8
1929 Recording Tape, Pfleumer, Austria, Region 8
1930 Fm, Armstrong, Columbia University, New York City, Region 1
1931 Commercial Electric Guitar, Rickenbackerla, CA, USA, Region 6
1931 Crystal Microphone Sawyer, Cleveland Hts., OH, Region 2
1931 Electric Razor, Schick, Stamford, CT, USA, Region 1
1931 Iconoscope, Zworykin, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Region 2
1932 TVA, Numerous, Muscle Shoals, AL, Region 3
1933 Wind Turbine Connected To Grid, Balaclava, Ukraine, Region 8
1934 "Tone Wheel" Electric Organ Hammond/Hane, Chicago, IL, USA, Region 4
1934 Diesel-electric Traction, Kettering, Cleveland, OH, USA, Region 2
1934 Radio Beam Aerial Navigation, Plendl, Rechlin, Germany, Region 8
1935 Early Radar, Watson-watt, London, Region 8
1935 IBM Mass-prod. Electric Typewriter, numerous, Endicott, NY, USA, Region 1
1936 AEG "magnetophone" Rec. & Tape, Numerous, Berlin, Germany, Region 8
1936 Boulder Dam, Numerous, Boulder City, NV, USA, Region 6
1938 Klystron, Varian, Broth, Silicon Valley, CA, USA, Region 6
1938 Xerography, Carlson, New York, NY, USA, Region 1
1939 1st Electronic-digital Computerat, Anasoff/Beames, IA, USA, Region 4
194? Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Felix Bloch, Edward Purcell, Stanford and Harvard, USA, Region 1 & 6
1941 Honeywell Electronic Autopilot Numerous Minneapolis, MN, USA, Region 4
1941 Grandpa's Knob Wind Turbine, Putnam, Grandpa's Knob, VT, Region 1
1943 IBM Mark I, Numerous, Endicott, NY, USA, Region 1
1943 Special-purpose Electronic Computer (colossus), Newman/Flowers, Buckinghamshire, England, Region 8
1948 Atomic Clock/C-14 Dating, Libby Chicago, IL, USA, Region 4
1948 Experimental Cable TV, Numerous Inventors, Oregon, USA, Region 6
1948 LP, Goldmark, CBS Laboratories, New York, USA, Region 1
1949 Electric Guitar Fender, Anaheim, CA, USA, Region 6
1952 Cinerama, Numerous, New York, USA, Region 1
1952 Compiler, Hopper, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, Region 1
1952 Magnetic Core Memory, Wang, Harvard University, Region 1
1952 Univac I, Mauchley/Eck, Philadelphia,pa, USA, Region 2
1954 Maser, Townes et al, Bell Labs, Region 1
1954 Regency Portable Transistor, Radpies & Koch, Indianapolis, In, USA Region 4
1955 Shockley Lab, Shockley, Palo Alto, CA, USA Region 6
1956 Commercial Nuclear Power Generation, Shippingport, PA, USA Region 2
1956 Fortran Programming Language, Backus, New York Region 1
1956 IBM Comm. Magnetic Memory Core, Numerous, San Jose, CA, USA Region 6
1956 Flight Data Recorder ("black Box")
1958 TI Silicon Junction Transistor Teal (TI) Dallas, Tx, USA Region 5
1958 Van Allen Belts, Van Allen, Ames, IA, USA Region 4
1959 Point-to-point Microwave Radio, Numerous Vancouver, Canada, Region 7
1959 Texaco/TR Computer-Controlled, Numerous Port Arthur, Tx, USA, Region 5
1959 Tunnel Diode, Esaki, Tokyo, Japan Region 10
1960 COBOL, Numerous, Washington, DC, USA Region 2
1962 GE LED, Numerous, Syracuse, NY, USA Region 1
1962 Implantable Pacemaker, Greatbach, Clarence, New York Region 1
1962 Unimation Industrial Robot, Numerous Danbury, Ma, USA Region 1
1963 Langmuir Lab, Numerous, New Mexico, Region 6
1963 Instant reply, Tony Verna, Philadelphia, Region 2
1964 Basic, Kurtz, Hanover, NH, USA Region 1
1964 IBM 360, Numerous, Endicott, NY, USA Region 1
1964 Laser Holography, Numerous Inventors, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Region 4
1964 Voltage-controlled Music Synth, Moog, Trumansburg, NY, USA, Region 1
1965 PDP-8, Numerous, Boston, MA, USA, Region 1
1965 Affordable Home Smoke Detector, Lakewood, Colorado, USA, Region 5
1967 Dolby Sound, Dolby, London, England, Region 1
1967 Viterbi Algorithm, California, USA, Region 6
1968 Computer Mouse, Engelbart Et Al, Palo Alto, CA, USA, Region 6
197? Computer Assisted Tomography (CAT) scans, Allan Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfeld, England, Region 8
1970 Pascal Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland, Region 8
1970 Codd's Relational Database Paper, San Jose, CA, USA, Region 6
1971 Intel 4004, Grove et al., Silicon Valley, USA, Region 6
1971 Microprocessor, Hoff et al., Silicon Valley, USA, Region 6
1972 Cochlear Implant, Graeme Clark, Australia, Region 10
1972 Space War: "1st Computer Game,", Brand, Stanford University, USA, Region 6
1972 Xerox Alto, Palo Alto, CA, USA, Region 6
1973 Ethernet, Metcalfe, Et Palo Alto, CA, USA, Region 6
1974 First PCs (Scelbi-8h, Mark-8, A), Numerous, Englewood, NJ, USA, Region 1
1977 BIOS, Kildall, Monterey, CA, USA, Region 6
1979 Oracle Database, Menlo Park, CA, USA Region 6
1980 Mandelbrot article on fractals, Mandlebrot, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA, Region 1
1981 Scanning Tunneling Microscope, IBM Labs, Zurich, Switzerland, Region 8
1982 Sun 1, Palo Alto, CA, USA, Region 6