ABSTRACT This paper describes the events leading up to the discovery of the place cells in 1971 for which the author received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2014, together with May‐Britt and Edvard Moser. In addition, it explores some of the ideas and influences that contributed to the interpretation of that finding as evidence for the Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map. Crucial to the acceptance of the idea of place cells and cognitive maps has been the development of recording technologies, and some of these are covered in the middle section. The final section tries to draw some lessons that the author has reached from his experiences.