Nick Holonyak Jr. was an American electronics engineer. He is noted particularly for his 1962 invention and first demonstration of a semiconductor laser diode that emitted visible light. This device was the forerunner of the first generation of commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs). He was then working at a General Electric research laboratory near Syracuse, New York. He left General Electric in 1963 and returned to his alma mater, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he later became John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics.
Nick Holonyak, an engineer for General Electric, gave the first public demonstration of a light-emitting diode.
On October 9, in the year 1962, Nick Holonyak, an engineer for General Electric, gave the first public demonstration of a light-emitting diode. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of October 9, a notable event in this corner of history.
Key Facts
- This event took place on October 9, 1962 (AD era).
- It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
- Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
- Wikipedia source last updated on 2 September 2026.
On This Date in History
This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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