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In 1946, Harry Williams founded Williams Manufacturing Company in Chicago. The first known original amusement device made by Williams was an early-era pinball machine called Suspense in 1946. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Williams continued to make pinball machines and the occasional bat-and-ball game. In 1950, Williams produced Lucky Inning, their first pinball table to have its bottom flippers facing inward in the modern manner. In late 1958, Williams Manufacturing became known as Williams Electronic Manufacturing Company. In 1960, company founder Harry Williams designed his last pinball table as a full-time designer, the horse racing-themed Nags.
In 1962, 3 Coin became the first Williams table to sell over 1,000 units (1,100 , specifically). One year later, Skill Pool sold 2,250 units. The 1966 pinball table A-Go-Go, with its avant-garde 60s theme, sold a staggering 5,100 units. Early Williams pinball tables often included innnovative features and pinball firsts, such as mechanical reel scoring and the "add-a-ball" feature for locations that didn't allow game replays. By 1967, Williams once agains changed its name, this time to Williams Electronics, Inc.
By 1967, pinball was in the middle of its so-called "golden age", and the number of pinball units that sold began to increase dramatically. Popular Williams pinballs included Shangri-La (1967), Apollo (1967), Smart Set (1969), Gold Rush (1971), and Space Mission (1976).
In 1973, Williams decided to enter the fledgling coin-operated arcade videogame industry. Their first arcade videogame was Paddle-Ball. Williams was moderately successful in this new arena but their big breakthrough was the release of 19801980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. Events January-February January 1- April 1 National steel strike in United Kingdom January 1 Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother January 5 He's DefenderThis page is about the arcade game Defender . For other uses of the term, see Defender. Defender is a horizontally-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game created by Williams Electronics in 1980. It was programmed by Eugene Jarvis, who later formed Vid Kidz an, whose space alien theme and scrolling feature made it an instant classic. Williams' other notable arcade hits were 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du's JoustThis article is about the 1982 arcade game. For the article on the medieval spectacle with knights mounted on horses, see Jousting. Joust is a classic arcade game by Williams Electronics that was produced in 1982. Description The player took the role of a and .
At the same time, Williams would enter the era of solid-state electronic pinball and come to dominate the entire pinball industry. Williams' first solid-state machine was Hot Tip (1976), which had originally been released with electromechanical reel scoring. The updated machine outsold its predecessor by nearly four to one. As the 1970s became the 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends, Williams would release numerous innovative pinballs, such as Firepower (1980), Black Knight (1980), Space Shuttle (1984), Comet (1985), Pin*bot (1986), F-14 Tomcat (1987), and Cyclone (1988).