Texas Instruments
Founded as Geophysical Service Inc. (GSI), an oil-exploration seismology firm.
Founded1930
HeadquartersDallas, TX
IndustrySemiconductors
Regency TR-1, the world's first commercial transistor radio, built on TI transistors, 1954 · CC BY 2.0 — Joe Haupt · Wikimedia Commons
Overview
Reorganized and renamed Texas Instruments in 1951, it became a semiconductor pioneer.
Founders
J. Clarence Karcher and Eugene McDermott
Founded May 16, 1930; renamed TI 1951
Landmark Achievements
- Produced the world's first commercial silicon transistor (1954) and designed the first transistor radio (the Regency) the same year.
- TI engineer Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit in 1958, for which he won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- Invented the handheld electronic calculator (1967) and the single-chip microcontroller (TMS 1000, early 1970s).
Texas Instruments's place in the story
Continue through the chronicle — the builders of American technology, in founding order.