| Invention | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Credit Card | USA | by Ralph Schneider |
| 1951 | Breeder Reactor | USA | converted Uranium to Plutonium |
| 1952 | Hydrogen Bomb | USA | by Edward Teller's team |
| 1953 | Transistor Radio | USA | from Texas Instruments |
| 1954 | Robot | USA | by George C Devol Jr |
| 1954 | Solar Cell | USA | also called photovoltaic cells |
| 1955 | Atomic Clock | England | |
| 1955 | Hovercraft | England | by Christopher Cockerell |
| 1956 | Nuclear Power | England | first power station at Calder Hall |
| 1956 | Video Tape, Video Recorder | USA | |
| 1957 | Satellite | Russia | Sputnik I |
| 1958 | Computer Modem | USA | |
| 1958 | Microchip | USA | by Jack Kilby |
| 1959 | Lunar Probes | Russia | Lunik I passed the Moon; Lunik II crashed on the Moon; Lunik III photographed the far side of the Moon |
| 1960 | Heart Pacemaker | USA | by Wilson Greatbatch |
| 1960 | Laser | USA | by Theodore Maiman |
| 1960 | Weather Satellite | USA | Tiros I |
| 1961 | Human Space Travel | Russia | Yuri Gagarin - the first human in space |
| 1962 | Communication Satellite | USA | Telstar |
| 1962 | LEDs | USA ? | Light Emitting Diodes - used for displays |
| 1962 | Venus Probe | USA | Mariner 2 - the first planetary probe |
| 1963 | Tape Cassette | Netherlands | used to record and play audio |
| 1964 | Computer Mouse | USA | by Douglas Engelbart |
| 1965 | Hypertext | USA | for linking text |
| 1965 | Optical Disk | USA | by James Russell - now Compact Disk |
| 1965 | Space Walk | Russia | Aleksei Leonov - first person oustide space vehicle |
| 1966 | Fibre Optics | England | by Charles Keo and George Hockham |
| 1966 | Kevlar | USA | by Stephanie Kwolek |
| 1966 | Moon Landing | Russia | Luna 9 lands softly on the Moon |
| 1966 | Space Docking | USA | Gemini VIII docks with an orbiting satellite |
| 1967 | Portable Calculator | USA | from Texas Instruments |
| 1969 | Cash Dispenser | Turkey | by Luther Simjian |
| 1969 | CCDs | USA | Charge Coupled Device - to capture image |
| 1969 | Internet | USA | US military |
| 1969 | Manned Moon Landing | USA | Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walk on Moon |
| 1970 | LCDs | England | by George Gray - Liquid Crystal Display |
| 1971 | USA | ||
| 1971 | Floppy Disk | USA | by Alan Shugart |
| 1971 | Microprocessor | USA | |
| 1973 | Barcode | USA | by Norman Woodland |
| 1973 | Genetic Engineering | USA | by S Cohen and H Boyer |
| 1973 | Space Station | USA | Skylab |
| 1975 | Laser Printer | USA | |
| 1975 | Personal Computer | USA | by Steve Jobs and Bill Gates |
| 1976 | Ink Jet Printer | USA | |
| 1977 | MRI Scanner | USA | by Raymond Damadian |
| 1978 | In Vitro Fertilisation | England | "test tube baby","Medical |
| 1981 | Scanning Tunnelling, Microscope | Switzerland | produces contour map of molecules |
| 1981 | Space Shuttle | USA | Columbia was first reusable space vehicle |
| 1986 | High Temperature Superconducto | Switzerland | works at -196°C |
| 1990 | Space Telescope | USA | Hubble Telescope |
| 1991 | Clockwork Radio | England | by Trevor Baylis |
| 1997 | Mammal Cloning | Scotland | Dolly, the sheep |
| 1999 | Digital TV Recorder | USA | recording onto a hard disk |
| 2000 | Molecular Transistor | USA | |
| 2001 | Nano-transistor | Netherlands | |
| 2004 | Metal Rubber | USA? | conducts electricity and stretches |
The period from 1945 to 1989 was known as the Cold War. The USA and its allies were lined up against Russia (then known as the Soviet Union) and its allies. Many proxy wars occurred between the two powers fought on other countries' territory. The war between Vietnam and the USA (1954 to 1975) was the longest conflict of the 20th century. Other long standing flashpoints involved areas claimed by different peoples or countries (for example, Kashmir and Palestine).
The 8808m highest mountain in the world (Tibetan: Chomolunga; Nepalese: Sagarmata; English: Everest) was fist climbed by New Zealander, Edmund Hillary and Nepalese, Tenzing Norgay in May 1953, part of a British team lead by John Hunt.
On 4 October 1957, Russia launched the first object (Sputnik I) to leave the Earth's atmosphere and orbit the Earth. On 19 July 1969, the first humans walked on the Moon (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from the USA).
In 1992 Pope John Paul II declared that the Catholic Church was wrong to condemn Galileo Galilei in 1633 for teaching that the Earth revolved around the Sun.
In late 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean generated a tsunami that killed over 250,000 people. In 2005 a fierce hurricane devastated parts of the USA, killing thousands. The historic city of New Orleans is virtually destroyed in an event widely attributated to global warming.
Musicians, singers, composers and singwriters born during this period include:
Scientists and mathematicians include:
