William Bradford Shockley Jr. (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American physicist and inventor. He was the manager of a research group at Bell Labs that included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The three scientists were jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for "their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect".
Partly as a result of Shockley's attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s and 1960s, California's "Silicon Valley" became a hotbed of electronics innovation. In his later life, while a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, Shockley became a proponent of eugenics. A 2019 study in the journal Intelligence found him to be the second-most controversial (behind Arthur Jensen) intelligence researcher among 55 persons covered.
1947Dec, 16
William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.
Choose Another Date
Events on 1947
- 10Feb
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia. - 5Jun
George Marshall
Marshall Plan: In a speech at Harvard University, the United States Secretary of State George Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe. - 15Aug
Indian independence movement
India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of Crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. - 30Sep
New York Yankees
The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time. - 5Oct
Harry S. Truman
The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.