Carbons to Computers

Historical Timeline 1960-1969

Decade overview

Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows win the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.

In 1963, the Equal Pay Act, the first federal law against sexual discrimination, is passed by Congress, requiring the payment of equal compensation to women and men doing jobs calling for substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility.

In 1963, a direct telephone link, the "hot line," is established between the White House and the Kremlin.

In 1964, the omnibus Civil Rights bill is passed banning discrimination in voting, jobs, and accommodations. The same year the Civil Rights Act is passed, forbidding discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, ethnicity, and sex.

In 1964, the number of computers in the United States has grown to seventeen thousand (up from fifteen in 1954).

In 1967, a Senate subcommittee hears testimony predicting that by 1985, Americans will work twenty-two hours each week, twenty-seven weeks a year, or they will retire at thirty-eight years old.

In 1969, the first man lands on the moon.

In 1969, approximately 225 million telephones are in service in the world, 114 million of which are in the United States.

Corporate milestones

1960

First commercial computer with keyboard input and monitor to display entered material--the PDP-1--introduced

 

Quickborner management consulting group begins to develop the "office landscape" concept, with workspaces organized to reflect flow of information and communications patterns

 

Halogen lamp introduced

1961

IBM introduces Selectric typewriter, in which characters are printed on paper by a rotating ball while the carriage remains fixed

1962

Philips introduces the "Compact Cassette" for recording sound on magnetic tape

 

First "personal computer" intended for a single researcher developed by Digital Equipment Corporation and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. Each LINC computer cost $43,000.

 

World's first telecommunications satellite, Telstar, in orbit, creating worldwide communications network for handling telephone, television, and data transmission

1963

First push-button telephones introduced

 

Fiber-tip pen developed in Japan by Pentel, initially using a bamboo inner barrel to feed ink into the fiber tip (1966, bamboo barrel was replaced by a bundle of acrylic fibers that transferred ink to the tip by capillary action)

1964

Robert Propst and George Nelson of Herman Miler introduce "Action Office" freestanding units

1969

ARPANET, the "Mother of the Internet," is begun as a U.S. government experiment linking researchers with remote computer centers and allowing them to share hardware and software resources

1900-1909 || 1910-1919 || 1920-1929 || 1930-1939 || 1940-1949
1950-1959 || 1960-1969 || 1970-1979 || 1980-1989 || 1990-

This material was generously provided by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Introduction || Birth and Growth of the American Office || Office Equipment
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