FBE Research Company was officially founded July 21, 1975 as a sole proprietorship. The letters F B E have no particular meaning. The first sale, Invoice #118, occurred on December 1, 1975. The "I" became the corporate "we" on July 19, 1977.

In the beginning, FBE developed and sold software development programs for the DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) PDP-8 series minicomputer which allowed programs for the Intel 8080 microprocessor to be developed and tested on the PDP-8.

In 1980, FBE became involved with the H-89 all-in-one microcomputer manufactured by the Heath Company and sold in kit form. Zenith Data Systems, Heath's owner, sold the same computer (assembled) as the the Z-89. FBE developed a series of products for the H/Z-89 and for several subsequent computers produced by Heath and Zenith.

FBE ceased Heath/Zenith activity in 1995 after the untimely death of Henry Fale, the owner of Quikdata, Inc. In business since 1976, Quikdata was our only remaining commercial customer. Henry was the mainstay of support for the thousands of computer owners left stranded as Heath/Zenith rushed into the future. Henry also published the H-SCOOP newsletter, an invaluable resource to the Heath/Zenith user's community.

Our last sale, Invoice #8839, occurred on 8/15/95 to Quikdata. The merchandise was later returned.

On December 18, 1998, ownership of FBE Research Company, Inc., was donated to the Brockman/Smedley Charitable Remainder Unitrust. Early in 1999, the corporation was dissolved and the proceeds were invested by the trustee, the Washington State University Foundation. Upon the death of the surviving donor, the balance of the trust will go to the College of Veterinary Medicine at WSU.

Proceed to the DEC Period