Jack Kilby’s first working integrated circuit consisted of a transistor, several resistors, and a capacitor on a sliver of germanium less than half an inch long. It was a rough device by any standard, but it worked.

Kilby often remarked that if he’d known he’d be showing the first working integrated circuit, he would’ve “prettied it up a little.”

At 6 feet, 6 inches, Jack St. Clair Kilby stood tall. But probably never more so than on Sept. 12, 1958, when he demonstrated the first integrated circuit to fellow TI engineers.

They probably didn’t realize it then, but Sept. 12 would become one of the most important birthdates in the history of technology.

Even seven years after introducing the world to the integrated circuit, Jack Kilby shrugged off his invention, predicting, “It won’t be that big a deal in the long term.”

Fifty years later, we know better. The integrated circuit’s DNA makes the Internet, PCs, cell phones and, well, the world, go round.