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| Summary | 1875- | 1900- | 1925- | 1950- | 1975- | 1990- | 2000- |
Toshiba's early history has two strands: 1875 saw the establishment of Tanaka Seizo-sho (Tanaka Engineering Works), Japan's first manufacturer of telegraphic equipment. Its founder, Hisashige Tanaka (1799 - 1881), was well known from his youth for inventions that included mechanical dolls and a perpetual clock. Under the name Shibaura Seisaku-sho (Shibaura Engineering Works), his company became one of Japan's largest manufacturers of heavy electrical apparatus. In 1890, Hakunetsu-sha & Co., Ltd. was established as Japan's first plant for electric incandescent lamps. Subsequent diversification saw the company evolve as a manufacturer of consumer products. In 1899, the company was renamed Tokyo Denki (Tokyo Electric Co.).
In 1939, these two companies, leaders in their respective fields, merged to form an integrated electric equipment manufacturer, Tokyo Shibaura Denki (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd.). The company was soon well known as 'Toshiba,' which became its official name in 1978.
| 1875 | Hisashige Tanaka opened a telegraph equipment factory in Shimbashi, Tokyo.
Kurume board of education |
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| 1890 | Ichisuke Fujioka and Shoichi Miyoshi established Hakunetsu-sha & Co., Ltd. in Kyobashi, Tokyo. Manufactured Japan's first electric incandescent light bulbs. |  |
| 1894 | Produced Japan's first waterwheel power generators (60 kW). | |
| Manufactured Japan's first electric fans. | ||
| 1895 | Produced Japan's first induction motors. |  |
| 1915 | Manufactured Japan's first X-ray tubes. |
| 1919 | Produced Japan's first radio transmission tubes. |
| 1921 | Invented the "double coil electric bulb," one of the six great inventions in bulb technology. |
| 1924 | Started trial manufacture of cathode-ray tubes. |
| Manufactured Japan's first radio receivers. |
| 1930 | Manufactured Japan's first electric washing machines and refrigerators. |  |
| 1931 | Released Japan's first vacuum cleaners. | |
| 1936 | Completed Japan's first 150kilowatt broadcast transmitter for NHK. | |
| 1939 | Tokyo Electric Company merged with Shibaura Engineering Works Co., Ltd. and established Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd. | |
| 1940 | Manufactured Japan's first fluorescent lamps. | |
| 1942 | Completed Japan's first radars. | |
| 1949 | Completed Japan's first 1,500A-1,000kilowatt unipolar mercury rectifiers. | |
| 1952 | Completed Japan's first TV broadcast transmitters and TV microwave relay system. | |
| 1953 | Manufactured Japan's first 72,500 kVA umbrella type waterwheel generators. | |
| 1955 | Released Japan's first electric rice cookers. | |
| 1957 | Completed aurora radars for Antarctic observation and radars to observe scattering phenomena | |
| 1959 | Developed Japan's first transistorized televisions | |
| Developed Japan's first microwave ovens. | ||
| 1963 | Completed Japan's first 12,500kW nuclear power turbine generators. |  |
| Developed transmitters for satellite communications. | ||
| 1964 | Completed one of the world's largest centralized remote-control monitoring systems at electricity substations for Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains. | |
| 1967 | Completed the world's first automatic zip code reader. | |
| 1968 | Developed a 100,000 gauss superconducting magnet, the most powerful in Japan. | |
| 1970 | Developed the world's first color video phone. | |
| 1971 | Released the world's first expanded IC color TV. | |
| 1972 | Completed Japan's first 700,000kilowatt turbine generator. | |
| Released the world's first color TV with black stripe-type cathode-ray tubes. | ||
| 1975 | Celebrated 100th anniversary. | |
| Completed 1-million kilowatt turbine generator, the largest in Japan. | ||
| 1978 | Launched medium-sized experimental broadcast satellite, Yuri. | |
| Released the first Japanese word processor. |  |
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| 1979 | Completed world's first optical-disc based data filing systems. | |
| 1982 | Developed Japan's first Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems (MRI). | |
| 1983 | Commercialized the world's first OCR technology able to read Chinese characters. | |
| 1984 | Completed new head office Toshiba Building. | |
| Started operation of experimental 50kilowatt fuel cell power plant, the largest in Japan. |  |
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| 1985 | Developed Japan's first transceiver device for HDTV systems. | |
| Developed 1-megabit CMOS DRAM. | ||
| Developed superconducting MRI systems. | ||
| Introduced world's first laptop personal computers. |  |
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| 1986 | Developed 4-megabit dynamic RAM. | |
| 1988 | Developed 16-megabit dynamic RAM. | |
| 1989 | Introduced notebook personal computer, Dynabook. | |
| 1991 | Developed the world's first 4-megabit NAND-type Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read-only Memory (EEPROM). | |
| 1992 | Developed the world's first 16-megabit NAND-type EEPROM. | |
| Developed technology to turn chlorine-based plastics into fuel oil. | ||
| 1993 | Produced prototype product of the world's smallest MOS transistor, with a gate length of 0.04 microns. | |
| 1994 | Introduced the sub-notebook personal computer, Dynabook SS. | |
| 1995 | Began commercial production of Microfilter Cathode-ray tubes, the world's first CRT with a filter incorporating the three primary colors. | |
| Developed high-density optical disc, DVD. | ||
| DVD standardized | ||
| 1996 | Introduced the mini-notebook personal computer, Libretto. | |
| Introduced DVD video players and DVD-ROM drives. | ||
| 1997 | Introduced pocket size mobile communicator with build-in PHS, GENIO | |
| 1998 | Manufactured flat TV, FACE. | |
| Developed the world's first MPEG 4 graphical data compression and expansion LSI. | ||
| 1999 | Introduced in-house company system. | |
| Launched the world's quietest MRI. | ||
| Spun off Air Conditioning Equipment Division to a joint venture company with Carrier, Toshiba Carrier Corporation. | ||
| 2000 | Celebrated 125th anniversary. | |
| Manufactured BS digital TVs. | ||
| 2001 | Commercialized the world's first HDD & DVD video recorder. | |
| 2002 | Established a joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial to unify LCD business. | |
| Developed the world's first networked home appliances. | ||
| Developed the world's first 65-nanometer (nm) CMOS process technology for embedded DRAM system LSIs. | ||
| 2003 | Introduced a 2-gigabit (Gb) single-die NAND flash memory. | |
| Introduced to Japan a high-definition TV upgradable to receive terrestrial digital broadcasts. | ||
| Adopted the "Company with Commitees" system. | ||
| 2004 | Joined United Nation's Global Compact. | |
| Developed the 0.85-inch HDD, the world's smallest. | ||
| Introduced a 4-gigabit (Gb) single-die NAND flash memory. | ||
| Developed the world's smallest direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) with energy output of 100 mw. |  |
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| Developed SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display), the next-generation flat panel display, with Canon Inc. | ||
| 2005 | Developed 8-gigabit NAND flash memory chip, using 70nm process technology, with SanDisk. | |
| Announced details of Cell broadband processor, co-developed with IBM, Sony Corporation, and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. | ||
| 2006 | Announced the world's first HD DVD players and recorders, and AV notebook PC with HD DVD drive. | |
| Acquired Westinghouse's nuclear power business. | ||
| 2007 | Developed 320-slice Dynamic Volume CT system that can capture complete images of the heart or brain in only one rotation. |  |
| Achieved cumulative sales of 60 million notebook PCs. | ||
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