Timeline
1917	Albert Einstein establishes stimulated emission.
1957	Charles Townes, James Gordon, and Herbert Zeiger develop first maser.
1958	Arthur Schawlow develops working principles of laser.
1958	Schawlow and Townes publish paper on laser.
1960	Theodore Maiman develops first laser action in solid ruby.
1961	First semiconductor laser, Robert Hall.
1960s	Charles K. Kao is the first to publicly propose the possibility of a practical application for fiber-optic telecommunication.
1970	Robert Maurer leads a team at Corning who design and produce the first optical fiber.
1974	John MacChesney and colleagues at Bell Labs develop the modified chemical vapor deposition process.
1974	John MacChesney introduces an alternative synthesis process leading to low contamination and precise index of refraction profiles.
1975	First nonexperimental fiber-optic link installed in Dorset (UK) police communication system.
1975	First semiconductor laser operating continuously at room temperature.
1976	Bell Labs field tests multimode fiber-optic system at its Norcross, Georgia plant.
1977	General Telephone and Electronics begins first trial of 6Mbit/s fiber-optic link carrying live telephone traffic in Long Beach, California
1977	Bell system starts testing 45 Mbit/s fiber link in downtown Chicago phone system.
1977	Chicago has the first commercial fiber-optic communications system.
1987	Introduction of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.
1988	TAT-8 fiber-optic cable for telephone service laid.