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A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. -
Iowa State mathematician and physicist John Atanasoff designed the first electronic digital computer. It would use binary numbers and its data would be stored in capacitors. -
The Manhattan Project was to build the first atomic bomb, on December 2, a team of physicists led by Enrico Fermi used uranium to produce the first self-sustaining chain reaction. -
The Soviet Union surprised the world on October 4, when it launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, a small 83.6-kg metal sphere. The Cold war began between the Soviet Union and the United States. -
The first computers were gigantic but, with putting many transistors on a semiconductor chip, computers became both smaller and more powerful. They finally became small enough for home use.