GEOFFREY DUMMER

Do you think kids made fun of Geoffrey Dummer when he was in primary school? Kids do that sort of thing. Silly kids.

On this date in 1952, Dummer made a presentation at a conference in Washington D.C. that drew little note outside of those in attendance. An English electrical engineer, he expounded on his theory that it would be possible to fabricate multiple electrical circuits, integrated circuits, onto a substance like silicon.

Six years later, Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments was awarded a patent for the same idea. It is now commonly called the microchip. It is the basis for all computers.