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Technology
Color TV |
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| In 1954 RCA released their first commercial color television. The model number was CT-100 and was retailed for $1000, which would be about $6,000 today. In the early 1950s before the television was released, RCA and CBS were actively competing to get their TVs approved by the FCC. RCA ended up being approved because it was compatible with the Black and White sets. However, color television did not enter its prime until the 1960s when most television programs were in color. | |
Ball Point Pens |
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In the 1950s ball-point pens were not unheard of; in fact, they were produced by many different people and companies. However, until the mid 1950s all of the ball-point pens malfunctioned. Some of the problems included: air bubbles that blocked the flow of the dye, malfunctioning bearings, dye came out in blobs, and occasionally they would even explode. This went on for sometime until Franz Seech and Patrick Frawley founded the company Paper Mate. They developed a glycerinated ink that dried quickly and did not fade. Then, they had bankers and school principals endorse their pens and they became a huge hit. |
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| Polio Vaccine | |
The polio vaccine was created by Jonas Salk. He began research on the virus while he was the head of the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. He found a way to produce large amounts of the virus and kill the virus with formaldehyde so that it remained intact enough to cause a response in human. In 1952 the vaccine was tested on volunteers who included himself, his wife, and their three sons. When the people received the vaccine they began producing antibodies to the disease but no one became ill. This was a wonderful breakthrough in medical technology considering that there were 57,628 recorded cases in 1952. |
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