Ford changes the manufacturing industry, one of the most popular game consoles is released, and the International Space Station starts to take shape.… It all happened this week in tech history.
This week in 1910 – Modern neon lighting was demonstrated for the first time at the Paris Motor Show. The first neon advertising sign was sold to a Paris barber two years later. The first neon signs to arrive in the US were for an LA car dealership in 1923 at a cost in today’s money of over $300,000.
1913 – Ford Motor Company introduced the first moving assembly line and forever changed the manufacturing industry. Ford’s innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two and a half.
1958 – Phone calls without the need for an operator are inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
1994 – The original PlayStation developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment was released in Japan. The PlayStation has gone on to become one of the most popular and widely-used game consoles.
And this week in 1998 – Astronauts on the U.S. space shuttle “Endeavour” completed the most difficult task of their 12-day mission, mating modules from Russia and the United States to create the first two building blocks of International Space Station.