1969-1976 - Supersonic commercial flight
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde, a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner or supersonic transport (SST) is first flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for 27 years.
It is one of only two SSTs to have entered commercial service; the other was the Tupolev Tu-144. Concorde was jointly developed and produced by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty.
1969 - Institution of Locomotive Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers merge with the Institution of Locomotive Engineers, creating the Railway Division.
1969 - First man on the moon
Neil Armstrong is the first man to step onto the moon.
1968 - Jet ski
Clayton Jacobsen patents the jet ski. Kawasaki buy the rights.
1967-1969 - ATM/Cash point
The world's first Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) is installed at the Rockville Centre, Long Island at a branch of Chemical Bank, 1969. It was invented by Don Wetzel.
Barclays Bank had introduced a simpler version two years previously at a branch in North London, but it used paper vouchers (rather than the magnetic strip technology used by the Chemical Bank's ATM).
1966 - First lunar landing
The first scheduled unmanned soft landing on the moon surface is made by the Soviet Luna 9.
1964 - Tokaido Shinkansen
The Tokaido Shinkansen opens. It is the first high speed train in the world, travelling between Tokyo and Shimonoseki at speeds of 130 mph.
1964 - Mouse
Dr Douglas Engelbart invents the computer mouse.
1964 - Land speed record
British speed pioneer Sir Donald Campbell sets a new land speed record of 429mph in his car, Bluebird. Campbell held and broke a number of land and water speed records throughout his career.
1961 - UK carwash
The first fully automated car wash in the UK opens by Stirling Moss on Brompton Road, London.
1961 - First man in space
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to voyage into space, on board Vostok 1.
1960 - Internal pacemaker
The internal heart pacemaker is patented by Wilson Greatbatch. See 1950 - External pacemaker.
1960 - Bubblewrap
The Sealed Air Corporation is formed by US engineers, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, in order to market their new invention, bubble wrap.
1959 - Luna 1
Luna 1, an unmanned Soviet rocket, is the first to fly close to the moon.
1959 - Hydrogen fuel cell
Francis Thomas Bacon builds the first modern fuel cell, fed with high pressure hydrogen.
1958 - Photovoltaic satellite
The first photovoltaic powered satellite is launched in the US.
1957 - Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1, the first satellite to be launched into space, is sent into orbit by the Soviet Union.
1957 - Monorail
Ueno Zoo, Tokyo, is the site of the first monorail.
1956-2001 - Artificial heart
The artificial heart was patented in 1956 by Dr. Paul Winchell.
In 1982 the first 'successful' artificial heart (the Jarvik-7) is designed by Robert Jarvik, it is received by Barney Clark: William DeVries performs the surgery. He lives for 112 days, although the heart was intended to last a lifetime it is the first occurrence of a patient living beyond surgery. Jarvik continued to improve the device for example, working on the Jarvik 2000, a thumb-sized heart pump.
Various incarnations of the technology sought to replace transplant but it was not until 2001 that a major breakthrough occurred.
In 2001 the AbioCor artificial heart is invented by AbioMed. It is fully implantable within a patient, due to a combination of advances in miniaturization, biosensors, plastics and energy transfer. The AbioCor runs on a rechargeable source of power. The internal battery is charged by a transcutaneous energy transmission (TET) system, meaning that no wires or tubes penetrate the skin and therefore there is less risk of infection.
1956-1959 - Hovercraft
The modern hovercraft is invented by Christopher Cockerell. He produced his first hovercraft, SRN 1, in 1959.
1956 - First commercial nuclear power station
Calder Hall, the world's first large-scale commercial nuclear power station, is connected to the national grid.
1955 - Diesel electric trains
Diesel electric trains are first introduced in the UK.
1954 - Photovoltaic cell
The first practical photovoltaic solar cell is demonstrated.
1954 - Nuclear power station
The world's first nuclear power station opens at Obninsk, near Moscow. Britiain's first station opens in the same year, at Harwell.
1953-1969 - Colour television
The first successful colour television system is designed by the Radio Corporation of America. Broadcasting begins on 17 December 1953. It was introduced in the UK on BBC Two for Wimbledon coverage on July 1, 1967. The launch of the BBC2 "full" colour service took place on December 2, 1967. Some British TV programs, however, had been produced in colour even before the introduction of colour television in 1967, for the purpose of sales to American, Canadian, and Filipino networks. BBC One and ITV started colour transmissions November 15, 1969.
1953 - Heart-lung machine
The heart-lung machine is developed by John Gibbon of Philadelphia.
1953 - Airbag
The first patent for the airbag is taken out by American naval engineer, John Hetrick. It is perfected by American inventor, Allen K Breed, in 1968.
1952 - Mechanical heart valve
The first human implant of a mechanical heart valve is made.
1951 - Electricity from nuclear fission
The first usable electricity from nuclear fission is produced at the National Reactor Station, Idaho. Four years later, the neighbouring town of Arco is the first to be powered by nuclear energy.
1950 - Microwave
Percy Lebaron Spencer, from Massachusetts, patents the first microwave oven.
1950 - External pacemaker
Dr Mark Lidewell invents the pacemaker: a medical device that uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contracting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart. See 1960 - Internal pacemaker.
1950 - Cardiac pacemaker
Canadian John Hopps invents the cardiac pacemaker, although the first model is too large to fit into the human body.