Disability History Factoid: Vinton Cerf & Jack Kilby

Tuesday, October 10, 2011 - Vinton Cerf & Jack Kilby

Vinton Cerf (1943-present)

You can read this email because of Vinton Cerf, who created the first commercial email service to be connected to the Internet. Cerf, who is hearing impaired, has been called "one of the fathers of the Internet" for his pioneering work in computer science and information technology. He used early text messaging technologies to communicate with his wife, who is deaf. He said, "I have spent, as you can imagine, a fair chunk of my time trying to persuade people with hearing impairments to make use of electronic mail because I found it so powerful myself." Had it not been for Cerf's using text messaging to the extent he did, we may not have had integrated email as part of the functionality of the ARPAnet, the predecessor to the Internet.

To read more about Vinton Cerf: http://www.icann.org/en/biog/cerf.htm

Jack Kilby (1923-2005)

If you used a handheld calculator today, a thermal printer, or any device containing a microchip, you have Jack Kilby to thank. Kilby, a Texan, won the Nobel Prize for physics for helping to lead the way into the digital age. Kilby had a hearing impairment and before the inventions that made him famous, he helped to develop the transistor-based hearing aid.

To read more about Jack Kilby: http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/jackbuilt.shtml

About the Facts

The Disability History Daily Factoids are presented each weekday in October to celebrate "Persons with Disabilities History and Awareness Month" in Texas. HB 3616, passed during the 82nd Legislative session, encourages public schools and state agencies to celebrate the accomplishments of people with disabilities. To learn more about Disability History, go to http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/resources/disability_history/.

Past Facts

For daily factoids from previous days, visit our archive: http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/resources/history_and_awareness_month_factoids.