1954 – Radio-controlled Lawnmower – William M. Brobeck (American)

William "Bill" M. Brobeck  joined the UC Berkeley lab in 1937 and moved several years later to Orinda with his late wife, Jane Knox. Their home became a local landmark in the mid-1950s, after Mr. Brobeck used his engineering talents to build an automatic lawn mower. Neighborhood kids would gather outside the couple's backyard to watch …