Animated timeline shows how Silicon Valley became a $2.8 trillion neighborhood

Silicon Valley is a name that is synonymous with the technology industry, but when and how did this small area of California become the center of the tech world? The area’s transformation happened gradually, over a period of more than 100 years. Here’s how. Silicon Valley is an almost $3 trillion neighborhood thanks to companies like Apple, Google, and Tesla. But it wasn’t always this way. In the late 1800s, San Francisco’s port helped make it a hub of the early telegraph and radio industries. In 1909, San José became home to one of the US’s first radio stations. In 1933, the Navy purchased Moffett Field to dock and maintain the USS Macon. This made Moffett Field a major hub for the early days of the aerospace industry. Many scientists and researchers all found work in the area. In 1939, the Ames Research Center was founded in the area, and it became home to the world’s largest wind tunnel in 1949. Also in 1939, William Hewlett and Dave Packard founded He