Profile America: The Transistor 

Wednesday, July 13 — One of the most important inventions of our time was announced in early July 1948 in a press release by Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. It was the transfer resistance device — far better known as the transistor. The small, simple, and tough transistor replaced fragile and heat-generating vacuum tubes, which had been the heart of electronics for decades. The discovery led to the development of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor that are the basis of modern electronics. Today, transistor technology makes possible the devices we take for granted in daily life such as computers and cell phones, as well as satellites and medical equipment. Making semiconductors and other components for electronics is an $87 billion per year business employing 270,000 people in over 4,000 businesses. 

You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <>.

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