LED at 50: An illuminating history by the light's inventor

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Heres an interesting article about the history of LEDs, by the BBC:

The light-emitting diode has brightened our lives for half a century - from lighting up the city streets at night, to decorating Christmas trees each December.
The LED started life in October 1962, as a single red illumination in a General Electric research lab in New York state.
Now - as one of the world's biggest retailers, Ikea, announces that by 2016 the only lighting products it will sell will be LED-based ones - Prof Nick Holonyak Jr from the University of Illinois, takes a look back at how it all began with his invention of the first practical visible-spectrum light-emitting diode.


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