Students from local high schools visit our beautiful Malibu campus. © 2019 HRL Laboratories.

Read the transcript of Theodore Maiman's historic speech on July 7, 1960 at The Hotel Delmonico, New York.

When it came time to announce Maiman's Laser, Hughes' public relations firm hired a top photographer to take pictures. The photographer liked to get shots of people behind their inventions, but Maiman's first laser was too small, so he insisted on using a larger flashlamp and ruby rod. This photo was widely published as the "first" laser, and when other researchers tried to duplicate Maiman's work, they used this larger flashlamp to pump their ruby rods. Although they had the wrong lamp, their experiments worked within a few weeks.