This paper gives a brief historical review of the development of high
magnetic fields and high field superconductors including brief summari
es of the early developments of high magnetic fields and the Francis B
itter National Magnet Laboratory (FBNML). The stare of the first revol
ution (when large critical currents in Nb3Sn were observed in high mag
netic fields) and the development of practical superconductors are out
lined in parallel with selected applications developed at Lincoln Labo
ratory, FBNML, and other departments at MIT, Many large scale supercon
ductor applications, supported by governments, are reviewed briefly; a
lthough many models and preliminary designs were completed, a number o
f US initiatives for large superconducting systems were discontinued,
This summary of high-field superconducting applications is followed by
an outline of the development of the highest field superconducting ma
terials, comments on the false reports of high T-c superconductors whi
ch appeared throughout the 1970's, and the start of the second revolut
ion (when the high T-c oxides were reported), Throughout the text I di
scuss the involvement of a few of the many personalities involved.