Theodore Maiman invents the laser
Maiman’s laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers. The laser was successfully fired on May 16, 1960.
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United States
Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Scylla I becomes world’s first machine to achieve controlled thermonuclear fusion
The team that achieved it was led by a British scientist named James Tuck. After the success of Scylla-1, Los Alamos went on to build multiple pinch machines over the next few years.
Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson at Bell Labs invent the silicon photovoltaic cell, a major breakthrough for solar power
Many argue that this event marks the true invention of PV technology because it was the first instance of a solar technology that could actually power an electric device for several hours of a day.
Civil rights movement begins in the United States
With roots starting in the Reconstruction era during the late 19th century, the movement resulted in the largest legislative impacts after the direct actions and grassroots protests organized from the mid-1950s until 1968.
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Albert Schatz of Rutgers University isolates the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, streptomycin
Streptomycin is now on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. The World Health Organization classifies it as critically important for human medicine.
Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman of Yale School of Medicine run first human trial of cancer chemotherapy
In collaboration with a thoracic surgeon, Gustaf Lindskog, they injected the chemical mustine into a patient with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The patient, a Polish immigrant to Connecticut known in literature only as JD, received his first injections on August 27, 1942 at 10 a.m. The doctors observed a dramatic reduction in the patient’s tumor masses.
DuPont invents nylon, the world’s first commercially viable synthetic textile
Nylon was first used commercially in a nylon-bristled toothbrush in 1938, followed more famously in women’s stockings or “nylons” which were shown at the 1939 New York World’s Fair and first sold commercially in 1940.
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U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt begins implementing his “New Deal”
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations in the U.S. between 1933 and 1938. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, “perhaps the greatest achievement of the New Deal was to restore faith in American democracy at a time when many people believed that the only choice left was between communism and fascism”.
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Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to complete transatlantic flight
In 1932, piloting a Lockheed Vega 5B, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat. She received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment.
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The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America becomes world’s first union to successfully demand a five-day workweek
While Sunday was already often taken as a day off in the U.S. and other nations, Saturday came to be taken as a holiday as well only in the 20th century.