The Sixties were a decade of great things; music being one of them. The invention of the very first CD changed the way we listened to music forever! Alongside this, technology began to develop as we saw the arrival of the Computer Mouse.

Computer Mouse

It was the year of 1964 that changed the way computers worked, from specialised machinery that only a trained scientist could use, to a user-friendly tool that almost anyone could use.

Douglas Englebart was the man behind the invention of the computer mouse, which he named due to the wire that resembled a tail. Engelbart received a patent for the wooden shell with two metal wheels, describing it in the patent application as an “X-Y position indicator for a display system.”

In 1968 Englebart staged public demonstration of a networked computer system and his was the first public appearance of the mouse in the United States.

CD

Imagine life without CDs? Well it wasn’t until 1965 that James Russell produced the very first compact disc we find ourselves using day to day.

Russell was granted a total of 22 patents for various elements of his compact disc system. However, the compact disc did not become popular until it was mass manufactured by Philips years later in 1980.

It was considered as a “Big Bang” in the digital audio world. This disc was taken over by nearly all markets across the globe. The first successful CD to be launched was Brothers in Arms in 1985.

Valium

Valium was invented by Leo Sternbach in 1963 and rapidly became the most commonly sold pill in the world. Sternbach was a research chemist born in Hungary and worked for the international drug company Hoffmann-LaRoche in New Jersey. Valium is used to relieve anxiety, seizures, muscle spasms and agitation.

Sternbach had 241 drug patents, and at one point his innovations accounted for 40% of the Roche Group’s worldwide sales. Valium was the biggest selling drug in the United States from 1969 to 1980, but it lost some of its luster when it was found to be addictive.