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Atomic Bomb
A team led by J.R. Oppenheimer, Arthur H. Compton, Enrico Fermi and Léo Szilard detonates the first atomic bomb at the Los Alamos Lab near Santa Fé, New Mexico. Following the tests, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan -- one at Hiroshima, one at Nagasaki -- that claimed more than 100,000 lives. -
Microsoft
Old high school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen form a partnership known as Microsoft to write computer software. They sell their first software to Ed Roberts at MIT, which has produced the Altair 8800, the first microprocessor-based computer. Gates soon drops out of Harvard. -
GPS Goes Mainstream
Until May 2, 2000, the United States intentionally degraded GPS signals available to the public for national security reasons. -
Toyota Introduces the U.S. to the Prius, Grows Market for Hybrid Car
The hybrid movement started in July 2000, when Toyota Motor Corporation introduced the hybrid Prius to the United States. -
he launch of Wikipedia sparks the rise of user-generated content.
In January 2001, Wikipedia, the free user-generated online encyclopedia, came online and quickly became the reference site of choice for Internet users. -
Launch of Apple's iPhone Introduces Smart Phone Frenzy
On June 29, 2007, thousands of people waited in seemingly-endless lines to buy Apple's highly-hyped iPhone. In 74 days, Apple sold 1 million of its smart phones. -
AT&T Introduces Text Messaging to the U.S.
n October 2000, AT&T became the first U.S. cellular company to offer instant text messaging for mobile phones.