| 1969 |
Option is exercised on major portion of Rita Road site acreage. |
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| Oct. 12, 1977 |
Decision to build in Tucson is announced |
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| Oct. 23, 1977 |
Offices open at 4400 East Broadway with seven employees at the start. |
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| Nov. 28, 1977 |
First survey trips to Tucson by Boulder employees begin. |
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| Dec. 1, 1977 |
Groundbreaking ceremony is held for Airport site. |
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| March 21, 1978 |
Ground is broken for first building at Rita Road site. |
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| April 5, 1978 |
"Dodge" building is leased at Grant Road and Dodge Blvd. |
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| April 17, 1978 |
"Grant" building is leased at Drexel Road and South Sixth Ave. |
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| May 22, 1978 |
The first product -- an IBM 3420 magnetic tape unit --- is shipped to a customer. |
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| July 5, 1978 |
First steel framework is erected at Rita Road site. |
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| Oct. 3, 1978 |
The site's first new product -- the IBM 8809 magnetic tape unit -- is announced. |
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| Jan. 22, 1979 |
Great Western Building is leased at 5151 East Broadway |
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| April 21, 1979 |
GPD Tucson holds first Open House. |
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| July 18, 1979 |
Building is leased at 7840 East Broadway. |
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| August 6, 1979 |
Employees begin occupying Rita Road site. |
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| December 1979 |
There are 3,000 employees at IBM Tucson. |
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| March 1, 1980 |
Two buildings are leased at Broadway Center, Broadway and Arcadia. |
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| March 6, 1980 |
Storage Extension Frame for the IBM 3851 mass storage facility is announced. |
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| June 2, 1980 |
Main lobby opens at Rita Road site. |
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| June 6, 1980 |
First million square feet of space at Rita Road site is occupied. |
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| July 7, 1980 |
Cafeteria opens in Building 51 at Rita Road site. |
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| Oct. 17, 1980 |
Rita Road site is dedicated. There are now nearly 4,000 employees (eventually 5,000 people work at IBM Tucson). |
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| Oct. 21, 1981 |
The first products both developed and manufactured in Tucson -- the IBM 3880 storage control Models 11 and 13 -- are announced. |
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| Nov. 1, 1982 |
The IBM 3800 Model 3 printing subsystem is announced. |
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| March 15, 1983 |
The IBM 3430 magnetic tape subsystem is announced. |
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| Sept. 15, 1983 |
New models of the IBM 3370 DASD are announced. |
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| March 22, 1984 |
The IBM 3480 magnetic tape subsystem, cartridge media and software are announced. |
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| March 22, 1984 |
Data Facility Hierarchical Storage Manager (DFHSM) Version 2, Release 1 is announced. |
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| Sept. 18, 1984 |
The IBM 3880 storage control Models 21 and 23 are announced. |
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| Nov. 19, 1985 |
DFHSM Version 2, Release 2 is announced. |
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| March 4, 1986 |
The IBM 3422 magnetic tape subsystem is announced. |
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| May 27, 1986 |
The IBM 3380 with one-million-bit memory chip becomes available. |
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| June 3, 1986 |
Automatic Cartridge Loader feature for IBM 3480 is announced. |
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| Sept. 18, 1986 |
IBM 3480 Models A11 and B11 are announced. |
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| April 2, 1987 |
IBM 3363 optical disk drive and associated software are announced. |
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| May 19, 1987 |
DFHSM Version 2, Release 3 is announced. |
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| Sept. 1, 1987 |
The IBM 3990 storage control is announced. |
