Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor, moved his lab in early 1956 into a former apricot packing shed. Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce were among his early hires.
In 1957 eight of his scientists left and became the core of Fairchild Semiconductor. The building was razed in 2015, and an IEEE Milestone plaque now marks the site as the Birthplace of Silicon Valley.