Key tech moments during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee reign

Born in 1926, Queen Elizabeth II has lived through it all – from multiple wars and times of conflict to joyous moments of scientific innovation, cultural progression and sporting success. 2022 finds Her Majesty celebrating an unprecedented 70 years on the throne.

Elizabeth II took over the crown at the age of just 25 when her father, King George VI, died of lung cancer and her formal coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2nd June, 1953. Throughout her long reign, there have been a number of technological breakthroughs and here we provide a timeline of just some of these momentous and world-changing events…

1954 – Colour television was introduced to consumers

1955 – The Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union started

1957 – Sputnik 1 – the first artificial Earth satellite – was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union

1961 – Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into space

1962 – LED lights were invented by Nick Holonyak, Jr

1969 – The Apollo 11 mission saw the first humans – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin – set foot on the moon

1973 – The first mobile cell phone was invented by Motorola

1977 – Star Wars: A New Hope was released in cinemas

1980 – The Pac-Man arcade game was released

1980 – CNN – the world’s first 24-hour rolling-news channel – made its debut

1984 – The first Apple Macintosh computer was put on sale

1989 – Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web

1990 – The Hubble Telescope was launched into orbit

1992 – The first text message was sent

1995 – Toy Story – the first entirely computer-animated feature film – was released

1998 – Google was launched

2000 – Broadband was invented

2001 – Apple launched the iPod

2005Tech21 was established

2005 – YouTube debuted

2007 – Apple announced the launch of the first iPhone

2007 – Netflix launched its streaming service

2008 – Samsung announced the first Galaxy device

2011 – Siri launched on the iPhone 4s

2011 – Uber was launched in San Francisco

2014 – Announcement of the Apple Watch

2019 – Disney Plus and Apple TV both launched

2020 – Tech21 launches recycled phone cases and biodegradable phone cases

2021 – Tech21 launched Evo Max – the most protective rugged case on the market