1609 – Famous astronomer, physicist, engineer and mathematician Galileo Galilei improves the telescope to make many significant astronomical discoveries.
1826 – First (surviving) photograph taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in Burgundy, France
1828 – Anyos Jedlik, a Hungarian, invented an early type of electric motor powering a small model car
1859 – Rechargeable batteries and the first practical electric car are produced
1879 – Thomas Edison invents the first electric light
1957 – First time the acronym “laser” is used by Gordon Gould
1957 – Basil Hirschowitz and Larry Curtiss invent the first fiber optic endoscope
1960-61 – First laser constructed and available commercially
1961 – First optical fiber and medical use lasers developed and used commercially
1964 – Xerox Corporation introduced (and patented) what many consider to be the first commercialized version of the modern fax
1968 – The hologram is invented by Stephen Benton while working at Polaroid Corp.
1969 – RCA introduced SelectVision, a color video cartridge player
1974 – First bar code read by a scanner on a pack of chewing gum
1977 – Birth of optical communication and the first underground fiber optic transmission system linking Illinois Bell and its customers
1982 – First audio CD is developed
1984 – CAD/CAM technology gains momentum and results in a demand for high resolution color graphic displays
2006 – OLED (Optical LED) is pioneered at Princeton University
2007 – Steve Jobs announces the iPhone, packed with photonics technology
2011 – Osama bin Laden is captured; enabled by satellites and the use of infrared technology
2013 – Curiosity Rover enabled by lasers lands on Mars
2017 – First quantum-encrypted virtual teleconference, between Beijing and Vienna
2019 – First time a quantum computer performs a calculation impossible for a classical computer