April 25.2C 1961 .28Tuesday.29 April 1961

early integrated circuit



u.s. patent 2,981,877 issued robert noyce, founder of intel corporation first ever granted integrated circuit. noyce s application semiconductor device-and-lead structure had been filed on july 30, 1959, after jack kilby s filing on may 6, 1959 miniaturized self-contained circuit modules , method of fabrication , not approved until june 23, 1964 (and granted u.s. patent 3,138,744) because more complex.
in order prevent atomic bomb falling under control of mutineering french officers in algeria, france hastily detonated last of plutonium fission devices @ reggane in sahara desert.
an unmanned american atlas rocket destroyed ground control @ altitude of 16,000 feet (4,900 m), 40 seconds after attempt launch orbit, sending rain of shrapnel downward . gus grissom, piloting f-106a observe launch, able fly through debris without injury.




^ arjun n. saxena, invention of integrated circuits: untold important facts (world scientific, 2009) pp159-160
^ joseph a. angelo, nuclear technology (greenwood publishing group, 2004) p385
^ rocketing capsule veers off course , spokane spokesman-review, april 26, 1961, p1
^ hamish lindsay, tracking apollo moon (springer, 2001) p45