Barclays PLC (ADR) (BCS), General Electric (GE)- Today in History: A Business Legend Steps Down, the ATM Is Born, and Russia Pioneers Nuclear Power

ATMs had been in development for decades. An automated deposit machine was available in New York City as early as 1939, though it was removed after only a few months due to lack customer interest. The Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) machines, created by John Shepherd-Barron, were the first wave of what would become a network of more than 60,000 ATMs in Britain. This is only a small slice of the global total, which was estimated at roughly 2.3 million at the end of 2010 by the ATM Industry Association. More than 400,000 operate in the U.S., and if you’re looking for the company behind many of them, try Diebold Incorporated (NYSE:DBD), the largest ATM manufacturer in the country.

Harnessing the power of the atom
The United States might may have been the first country to produce an A-bomb, but Russia became the first country to generate electricity from nuclear energy when it activated the world’s first nuclear power plant on June 27, 1954. The plant’s single reactor, located in a nondescript building at Obninsk, near Moscow, generated about 6 megawatts of energy to power the nearby town. It remained active for 48 years before it was finally shut down in 2002.

The first commercial nuclear reactor in the U.S. came online three years later, after a period of construction jointly managed by PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) and General Electric (NYSE:GE). This plant, though far more powerful than Obninsk’s, was only operational for six years. Today, there are more than 400 nuclear reactors working around the world, and enough are under construction to push the operational total past 500 plants within the next few years. Roughly a third of the reactors in the U.S. are General Electric (NYSE:GE) designs, and the company has also installed reactors in Europe, India, and Japan.

The article Today in History: A Business Legend Steps Down, the ATM Is Born, and Russia Pioneers Nuclear Power originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company and Microsoft.

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