USA. In 1965, helium party balloons were only available to the rich and famous, and a technology known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which requires liquid helium to be able to take pictures inside our bodies, was still just a theory in scientists’ minds.
In October of that year, a plant capable of producing liquid helium in larger quantities than ever before, came online in Otis, Kansas, US, and helped support a cultural and scientific revolution.
BOC will be commemorating the 40th anniversary of its Otis plant this month by hosting a series of events for employees and invited guests.
The Otis plant was a trailblazer for its time, the culmination of work BOC had done to develop the market for helium. Before then, the production and distribution of helium was mostly controlled by the U.S. government, which used it to hoist weather and military observation balloons. But legislative changes in the early 1960s paved the way for private industry to enter the helium business.
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