Integrated Circuit Invented

In 1958, Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments demonstrated the first integrated circuit (IC) — multiple electronic components fabricated on a single piece of semiconductor material. Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor independently developed a similar concept using a planar process that proved more practical for manufacturing. The IC made it possible to pack thousands, then millions, then billions of transistors onto a single chip, enabling the exponential growth in computing power described by Moore's Law. Kilby received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution.