Demonstration of the First Working Integrated Circuit

The twentieth-century age of electronics can trace its roots to the 1906 invention of the triode vacuum tube, which marked the birth of modern radio. The invention of the transistor after World War II ushered in a new era of solid-state electronics. As engineers designed increasingly complex equipment, the difficulty of interconnecting large numbers of individual transistors and other components to form electronic circuits was a barrier to further progress. The need arose for a reliable, cost-effective way to produce and interconnect the components. Technical research groups in the United States and abroad began work on the problem. In 1958, Jack St. Clair Kilby, an engineer at Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas, designed and built an integrated circuit with all the components formed in a single piece of semiconductor material. On September 12, 1958, he demonstrated this first working integrated circuit to TI personnel in the semiconductor building on this site. This conceptual breakthrough and work elsewhere led to development of the microchips that are at the core of modern electronic products, including a broad range of consumer electronics, digital computers, defense systems, and global communications networks.

Demonstration of the First Working Integrated Circuit is a historical marker in Dallas, Dallas County, dedicated in 1988. It is one of 352 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 574 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.9324, -96.7534 near Dallas. The nearest cataloged historic site is Arizona College of Nursing-Dallas (college & university), about 0.7 miles away. Others within a short drive include Restland, Hamilton Park Community, and McKamy Spring.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5113006709. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.