A handy little timeline of computer history

Roman Times

Glass drawn into fibers.

1790s

Claude Chappe invents the "optical telegraph" which uses a series of semaphores mounted on towers.

1880

Alexander Graham Bell patents an optical phone system he called "Photophone" based on the idea of sending signals through the air. However, such communication is deemed too unreliable.

1888

Dr. Roth and Prof. Reuss of Vienna use bent glass rods to illuminate body cavities.

1920s

John Logie Baird in England and Clarence W. Hansell in the U.S. patent the idea of using arrays of hollow pipes to transmit images for television or facsimile systems.

1953

Abraham van Heel publishes first report of clad fiber. This transparent layer of lower refractive index protected the surface of the fiber from contamination and reduced crosstalk between fibers.

1956

Larry Curtiss makes first glass-clad fibers by rod-in-tube method; they are much clearer than plastic-clad fibers.

1959

American Optical draws fibers so thin that they transmit only a single mode of light (single-mode waveguides).

1960

Glass-clad fibers have an attenuation of about one decibel per meter. Good for medical imaging but too high for communications.

1962

Four groups simultaneously make first semiconductor for diode lasers but they operate at only liquid nitrogen temperature.

1966

Charles K. Kao and George Hockman predict that fiber loss could be reduced to below 20 dB/km, attracts research funds from the British Post Office.

1967

Shorjiro Kawakami of Tohoku University in Japan proposes graded-index optical fibers.

1970

Robert Maurer, Donald Kneck, and Peter Schultz at Corning Inc. announce single-mode fibers with attenuation below 20 dB/km by doping titanium into the fiber core. Opens door for further development over the next few years.

1970

Zhores Alferov's group at the Ioffe Physical Institute in Leningrad and Mort Panish and Izuo Hayashi of Bell Labs make first semiconductor diode lasers able to emit continuous waves at room temperature.

1975

First non-experimental fiber-optic link installed by Dorset (UK) police.

1977

General Telephone and Electronics sends first live telephone traffic through fiber optics in Long Beach, CA.

1978

Japan's Hi-OVIS project (led by Mashahiro Kawahata), a fiber optic "wired city" of 150 homes, begins carrying signals.

1980

Graded-index fiber optics carry video signals for 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.

mid-1980s

Sprint founded on a 100% fiber optic network.

1996

Fujitsu, NTT Labs, and Bell Labs all report sending one trillion bits per second through single optical fibers.

Most dates drawn from Jeff Hecht's Short History of Fiber Optics and Fiber-Optic Chronology.

Last Modified: 3/15/00
By Brian Patterson and Erin Quealy

	Roman Times
	Glass drawn into fibers.
	1790s
	Claude Chappe invents the "optical telegraph" which uses a series of semaphores mounted on towers.
	1880
	Alexander Graham Bell patents an optical phone system he called "Photophone" based on the idea of sending signals through the air. However, such communication is deemed too unreliable.
	1888
	Dr. Roth and Prof. Reuss of Vienna use bent glass rods to illuminate body cavities.
	1920s
	John Logie Baird in England and Clarence W. Hansell in the U.S. patent the idea of using arrays of hollow pipes to transmit images for television or facsimile systems.
	1953
	Abraham van Heel publishes first report of clad fiber. This transparent layer of lower refractive index protected the surface of the fiber from contamination and reduced crosstalk between fibers.
	1956
	Larry Curtiss makes first glass-clad fibers by rod-in-tube method; they are much clearer than plastic-clad fibers.
	1959
	American Optical draws fibers so thin that they transmit only a single mode of light (single-mode waveguides).
	1960
	Glass-clad fibers have an attenuation of about one decibel per meter. Good for medical imaging but too high for communications.
	1962
	Four groups simultaneously make first semiconductor for diode lasers but they operate at only liquid nitrogen temperature.
	1966
	Charles K. Kao and George Hockman predict that fiber loss could be reduced to below 20 dB/km, attracts research funds from the British Post Office.
	1967
	Shorjiro Kawakami of Tohoku University in Japan proposes graded-index optical fibers.
	1970
	Robert Maurer, Donald Kneck, and Peter Schultz at Corning Inc. announce single-mode fibers with attenuation below 20 dB/km by doping titanium into the fiber core. Opens door for further development over the next few years.
	1970
	Zhores Alferov's group at the Ioffe Physical Institute in Leningrad and Mort Panish and Izuo Hayashi of Bell Labs make first semiconductor diode lasers able to emit continuous waves at room temperature.
	1975
	First non-experimental fiber-optic link installed by Dorset (UK) police.
	1977
	General Telephone and Electronics sends first live telephone traffic through fiber optics in Long Beach, CA.
	1978
	Japan's Hi-OVIS project (led by Mashahiro Kawahata), a fiber optic "wired city" of 150 homes, begins carrying signals.
	1980
	Graded-index fiber optics carry video signals for 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.
	mid-1980s
	Sprint founded on a 100% fiber optic network.
	1996
	Fujitsu, NTT Labs, and Bell Labs all report sending one trillion bits per second through single optical fibers.