1960-1969

The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was developed at the USDA National Runoff and Soil Loss Data Center at Purdue University in a national effort led by Walter H. Wischmeier and Dwight D. Smith. The USLE was published in 1965 in USDA Agriculture Handbook 282.

The concept of once-over mechanical, as opposed to multiple-pick hand or experimental multiple-pick machine harvesting, represented a major break-through in the practice of producing vine fruit such as pickling cucumbers.  In the 1950s the cost of hand harvesting was as high as 50% of the production cost.  Once-over mechanical harvesting, coupled with increasing plant population, reduced this cost to 25% thereby making production economically viable.

Established in 1907, the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) was managed by volunteers. In 1925, local editor Raymond Olney was named secretary, thus establishing ASAE in this area. By 1969, with over 7,000 members in 100 countries, an ASAE building was constructed at this site in St. Joseph, Mi. In 2005, ASAE became ASABE to recognize the importance of biology in the profession. ASABE collects and maintains the unique body of knowledge for the agricultural/biological engineering profession.

A crucial step in the evolution of modern plant agriculture was the development of low-cost, energy-efficient greenhouse structures that provide optimum growing conditions year-round. In 1964, Professor William J. Roberts developed the first air-inflated double-layer polyethylene greenhouse covering system at Cook College, Rutgers University.

A drive system that keeps the antenna pointed with millimeter precision regardless of factors such as environmental change

The Arecibo Observatory has the largest radio telescope ever constructed.  Maintaining the greatest electromagnetic wave gathering capacity of any telescope, it has been an essential tool in modern astronomy, ionosphere and planetary studies.

Apollo astronauts who ventured outside of the protective confines of their pressurized capsules faced a number of hazards, among them: exposure to cosmic debris, solar radiation, and surface temperatures that widely varied. The suit also needed to accommodate a wide range of motion to allow the duties of the missions to be successfully accomplished.

Referred to as the "catalyst of the Industrial Revolution," textile manufacturing helped to transform the American economy from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy. It led to transitions from human to mechanical power and from wood to metal construction. Population shifts resulted from significant numbers of people moving from rural areas to work in urban factories. The collection of tools and machinery housed at the American Textile History Museum (ATHM) represents a collection of ideas which developed during this period.

On 23 November 1963, this site received the first transpacific transmission of a TV signal from Mojave earth station in California, U.S.A., via the Relay 1 communications satellite. The Ibaraki earth station used a 20m Cassegrain antenna, the first use of this type of antenna for commercial telecommunications. This event demonstrated the capability and impact of satellite communications and helped open a new era of intercontinental live TV programming relayed via satellite.

On 11 July 1962 a station in Pimsleur-Bodou received the first transatlantic transmission of a TV signal from a twin station in Andover, Maine, USA via the TELSTAR satellite. The success of TELSTAR and the earth stations, the first built for active satellite communications, illustrated the potential of a future world-wide satellite system to provide communications between continents.

On the morning of 17 April 1967, radio astronomers used this radiotelescope at DRAO and a second one at the Algonquin Radio Observatory located 3074 km away to make the first successful radio astronomical observations using Very Long Baseline Interferometry. Today, VLBI networks span the globe, extend into space and continue to make significant contributions to both radio astronomy and geodesy.