https://www.siliconvalley.com/2019/08/05/how-nasas-apollo-program-kicked-off-silicon-valleys-tech-revolution/ > Silicon Valley, its visionaries like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and the entire tech revolution may not have happened without the Cold War space race. > President John F. Kennedy’s iconic 1962 speech, directing the United States to put boots on the moon within the decade, set in motion a leap in innovation. In just seven years, America went from lagging the Soviet Union in space technology to planting a flag on the lunar surface.