American physicist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Maiman" id="mwpg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Theodore Maiman">Theodore Maiman</a> is given a patent for his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_laser" id="mwpw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Ruby laser">ruby laser</a> systems, the world's first laser.