# Experiments that succeeded in the late 60s **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2005, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519 "2005-05-05T11:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/21 "2005-05-06T14:57:32Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The mouse was invented and first demo’d in 1967. And you had a home computer then and used a mouse every day? I think I had my first PC around 1980, first mouse maybe 1983. Anyone else? I know the SDMB is all about being correct and concise. But I was thinking more of practical day-to-day things in the late 60s. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/22 "2005-05-06T15:48:29Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > And you had a home computer then and used a mouse every day? I think I had my first PC around 1980, first mouse maybe 1983. Anyone else? > > I know the SDMB is all about being correct and concise. But I was thinking more of practical day-to-day things in the late 60s. Your thread is about _experiments_ that succeeded in the sixties. The mouse was an experiment. And it succeeded. What’s so difficult to understand about that? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/23 "2005-05-06T15:51:15Z")
Also, the first computer game was _Space War_, in 1962. The first battery powered hand-held calculator came out in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/24 "2005-05-06T16:04:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > What’s so difficult to understand about that? Well I was hoping this thread would be more about the things we did socially, or practically. But since you can’t seem to grasp that concept, I suppose we can bend the rules a bit for you anal folks out there. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/25 "2005-05-06T16:07:56Z")
Er, before you start calling _me_ anal, let me quote from post #10: > [@](#): > > I’m going to dispute these. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/26 "2005-05-06T16:12:29Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Er, before you start calling _me_ anal, let me quote from post #10: What years did you first own an video game, CD and pocket calculator? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/27 "2005-05-06T16:18:08Z")
And suddenly this thread reminds me of another thing that was born in the 60s. Confrontational TV talk shows which end up with people yelling at each other. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/28 "2005-05-06T16:29:03Z")
[Phil Donahue] Hello caller, are you on the line? [/Phil Donahue] ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/29 "2005-05-06T16:30:36Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > And suddenly this thread reminds me of another thing that was born in the 60s. Confrontational TV talk shows which end up with people yelling at each other. NO NO NO, that wasn’t until the 70s!!! 😃 OK, my mistake, I should have been more concise in the OP. Actually the devices mentioned WERE invented in the late 60s. I should have said something like “Habits and devices that were popular in the late 60s that still survive today”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/30 "2005-05-06T17:13:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, the first computer game was Space War, in 1962. There was an interesting article on the last page of _American Heritage Magazine of Science and Invention_ several years ago. It showed a picture of the very first “Pong” game, and the article was by the guy who built it. In the late 1950s. They evidently put it together using an oscilloscope and lots of electronics at Bell Labs. It was incredibly popular. I don’t know if it’s really the direct ancestor of the arcade “Pong” that came out in the late 1970s (I doubt it), but it would predate Space War, depending on your definitions, of course. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/31 "2005-05-06T21:30:42Z")
Disposable Bic lighters. Come to think of it, the late 60s may have been the watershed for disposable items in general. ---
**Author:** ![quilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/839c29/32.png) [@quilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quilter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/32 "2005-05-06T23:52:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There was an interesting article on the last page of _American Heritage Magazine of Science and Invention_ several years ago. It showed a picture of the very first “Pong” game, and the article was by the guy who built it. > > In the late 1950s. > They evidently put it together using an oscilloscope and lots of electronics at Bell Labs. It was incredibly popular. > > I don’t know if it’s really the direct ancestor of the arcade “Pong” that came out in the late 1970s (I doubt it), but it would predate Space War, depending on your definitions, of course. _ahem_ Not MIT. Brookhaven National Laboratory. cite: [http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/higinbotham.asp](http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/higinbotham.asp) ---
**Author:** ![quilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/839c29/32.png) [@quilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quilter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/33 "2005-05-06T23:58:13Z")
Denim as a fabric that anyone (not just teens or mechanics) could wear. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/34 "2005-05-07T01:30:16Z")
Pop top cans. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/35 "2005-05-07T17:36:05Z")
Sandals. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/36 "2005-05-07T18:13:50Z")
What about Day-Glo paint and black lights? ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/37 "2005-05-07T20:28:14Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > What about Day-Glo paint and black lights? I think I mentioned florescent colors, I’m not sure if that covers day-glo or not. I was thinking about the black light too. I would say black light posters are very rare these days (put them on the failure list), but you do see some black lights in bars once in awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/38 "2005-05-08T04:00:44Z")
The M16 rifle. Still in use today. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/39 "2005-05-09T07:45:19Z")
Jesus Freaks / Jesus Rock & Roll ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-succeeded-in-the-late-60s/302519/40 "2005-05-09T07:55:13Z")
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