A historical account of NMR in the solid state

This article attempts to chronicle major milestones in the application of NMR in the solid state over the first 50 years since the discovery of NMR in 1945. After recording the earliest experiments with solids, we discuss in approximate chronological order the following topics: structure of solids, dynamics of solids including molecular reorientation, selfdiffusion and conformational motion, quadrupole effects, NQR, metals, negative temperatures, rotating frame temperatures, magnets and experimental methods, Fourier transform methods, magic angle spinning, multiple pulse NMR, CP/MAS, CRAMPS, double resonance, Overhauser effect, magnetic materials, ordered nuclear spin systems, phase transitions in solids, surfaces of solids, zero field NMR, 2D NMR, multiple quantum and overtone NMR in solids, NMR in high temperature superconductors, NMR in fullerenes, NMR imaging of solids, NMR force spectroscopy.