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Silicon Valley

1939 CE – 2020 CE

The South Bay corridor from Hewlett-Packard's garage to the smartphone era — the cradle of the modern technology industry.

92 events · 15 people

Key events

1. Intel founded1968 CE
   Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore left Fairchild to found Intel in Santa Clara, which became the world's largest chipmaker.
2. Apple Computer founded1976 CE
   Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer to sell the Apple I, hand-built in Los Altos.
3. Apple II launched1977 CE
   Apple launched the Apple II, one of the first highly successful mass-produced personal computers.
4. Apple Macintosh introduced1984 CE
   Apple introduced the Macintosh, the first mass-market personal computer with a graphical user interface and mouse.
5. Google founded1998 CE
   Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in a Menlo Park garage, building the world's dominant search engine.
6. Tesla Motors founded2003 CE
   Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors to build electric cars; Elon Musk led its first funding round.
7. Facebook moves to Palo Alto2004 CE
   Mark Zuckerberg moved Facebook from Harvard to Palo Alto, where it grew into the world's largest social network.
8. YouTube founded2005 CE
   Three former PayPal employees founded YouTube in San Mateo; Google acquired it the following year.
9. iPhone announced2007 CE
   Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone at Macworld, reshaping the mobile phone and software industries.
10. Apple introduces the iPad2010 CE
    Apple introduced the iPad, popularising the modern tablet computer.
11. Hewlett-Packard founded1939 CE
    Bill Hewlett and David Packard founded Hewlett-Packard in a Palo Alto garage, later called the birthplace of Silicon Valley.
12. First ARPANET message sent1969 CE
    On 29 October 1969 the first ARPANET message was sent from UCLA to SRI in Menlo Park, a precursor of the Internet.

Notable people

• Elon Musk1971 CE –
• Steve Jobs1955 CE – 2011 CE
• Mark Zuckerberg1984 CE –
• Larry Page1973 CE –
• Sergey Brin1973 CE –
• Steve Wozniak1950 CE –
• Larry Ellison1944 CE –
• William Shockley1910 CE – 1989 CE
• Gordon Moore1929 CE – 2023 CE
• Robert Noyce1927 CE – 1990 CE
• Marc Andreessen1971 CE –
• Jerry Yang1968 CE –

Related atlas views

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Want the background? Read the guides on what was happening at the same moment in history.

Events from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA); boundaries from OpenHistoricalMap (ODbL). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].