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.