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First machinery and Loom.
In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard, a French merchant and inventor invents a loom that uses punched wooden cards to automatically weave fabric designs. Early computers would use similar punch cards.
The loom invention and timeline -
Steam-driven calculating machine.
In 1822, Charles Babbage created the first mechanical computer, but was not built until 1991. He developed a device, the analytical engine, and worked on it for nearly 40 years. It was a mechanical computer that was powerful enough to perform simple calculations. he called it the Difference Engine. History of computer events -
The world's first computer program.
Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician and the daughter of poet Lord Byron, writes the world's first computer program. According to Anna Siffert, a professor of theoretical mathematics at the University of Münster in Germany, Lovelace writes the first program while translating a paper on Babbage's Analytical Engine from French into English.
The first computer program -
The first transistor computer.
The Transistor Computer, built by Manchester University in 1953 was the first transistor computer or “second-generation computer”. It was extremely unreliable and typically ran without error, for just 1 ½ hours. However, it did not run exclusively on transistors and contained several tubes in its clock.
The Transistor Computer timeline -
Punch-card system to help calculate the 1890 U.S. Census.
The machine, saves the government several years of calculations, and the U.S. taxpayer approximately $5 million, according to Columbia University Hollerith later establishes a company that will eventually become International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
(www.thoughtco.com/computer-punch-cards-4074957#:~:text=Hollerith%20invented%20and%20used%20a%20punched%20card%20device,whose%20holes%20represented%20data%20gathered%20by%20the%20census-takers.) -
Spread spectrum.
Nikola Tesla develops frequency hopping, now known as spread spectrum. The idea of spread spectrum communications originated in 1900 when Nikola Tesla proposed a similar technique called frequency hopping. Commercial use of spread spectrum began in the 1980s, and the FCC allowed for unlicensed use of spread spectrum communications starting in 1985. -
The first radio message was sent across the Atlantic Ocean.
On 12 December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi and his assistant, George Kemp, heard the faint clicks of Morse code for the letter “s” transmitted without wires across the Atlantic Ocean.
(https://www.handlebar-online.com/usefull-tips/what-is-a-transatlantic-radio-signal/#:~:text=On%2012%20December%201901%2C%20Guglielmo%20Marconi%20and%20his,to%20considerable%20advances%20in%20both%20science%20and%20technology.) -
Mechanized calculus.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Vannevar Bush invents and builds the Differential Analyzer, the first large-scale automatic general-purpose mechanical analog computer, according to Stanford University.
(http://museum.mit.edu/150/22#:~:text=Differential%20Analyzer%20Professor%20Vannevar%20Bush%E2%80%99s%20invention%20of%20the,Caldwell%2C%20Gordon%20Brown%2C%20and%20Harold%20Edgerton%E2%80%94filled%20a%20room.) -
Turing machines
Alan Turing, a British scientist and mathematician, presents the principle of a universal machine, later called the Turing machine, in a paper called "On Computable Numbers…" according to Chris Bernhardt's book "Turing's Vision" (The MIT Press, 2017). Turing machines are capable of computing anything that is computable.
(https://www.curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/96dfcf0a-8373-48d3-9662-714ab8c8a428/NCCA-The-Evolution-of-Computers-in-Society-LC-SC-the-turing-machine.pdf) -
the First electric-only computer, without using gears, cams, belts or shafts
John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State University, submits a grant proposal to build the first electric-only computer, without using gears, cams, belts or shafts.
(https://jva.cs.iastate.edu/jvabio.php) -
The HP 200B.
David Packard and Bill Hewlett found the Hewlett Packard Company in Palo Alto, California. Hewlett Packard was founded on 1st January 1939. Hewlett Packard Founded on 1st January 1939 by Stanford University graduates David Packard and Bill Hewlett.
(http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1778/hewlett-packard-founded/#:~:text=Hewlett%20Packard%20Founded%20Hewlett%20Packard%20was%20founded%20on,many%20Silicon%20Valley%20computer%20companies%20of%20the%20time.) -
The world's earliest digital computer.
German inventor and engineer Konrad Zuse completes his Z3 machine, the world's earliest digital computer, according to Gerard O'Regan's book "A Brief History of Computing" (Springer, 2021). The machine was destroyed during a bombing raid on Berlin during World War II.
(http://scihi.org/konrad-zuse/) -
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC).
Two professors at the University of Pennsylvania, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, design and build the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). The machine is the first "automatic, general-purpose, electronic, decimal, digital computer," according to Edwin D. Reilly's book "Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology" (Greenwood Press, 2003).
(https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/birth-of-the-computer/4/78) -
The transistor.
William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories invent the transistor. They discover how to make an electric switch with solid materials and without the need for a vacuum. Shockley introduced the improved bipolar junction transistor in 1948, which entered production in the early 1950s and led to the first widespread use of transistors.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_transistor) -
Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC). The first practical stored-program computer.
A team at the University of Cambridge develops the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC). EDSAC ran its first program in May 1949 when it calculated a table of squares and a list of prime numbers," O'Regan wrote. In November 1949, scientists with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), now called CSIRO.
(https://www.tnmoc.org/edsac) -
The first computer language.
Grace Hopper develops the first computer language, which eventually becomes known as COBOL, which stands for COmmon, Business-Oriented Language according to the National Museum of American History. Hopper is later dubbed the "First Lady of Software" in her posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom citation.
(https://www.space.com/34885-grace-hopper-biography.html) -
Newly created FORTRAN programming language.
John Backus and his team of programmers at IBM publish a paper describing their newly created FORTRAN programming language, an acronym for FORmula TRANslation, according to MIT. Fortran (FORMula TRANslator) became the first computer language standard, “helped open the door to modern computing,” and may well be the most influential software product in history.
(https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/fortran/) -
Integrated circuit, known as the computer chip.
Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce unveil the integrated circuit, known as the computer chip. Kilby is later awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work. then first implemented by Jack Kilby on August 28 1958, who wire bonded 3 transistors together into what today would be called a system in a package (SIP).
(https://www.chiphistory.org/integrated-circuit-invention-history-1958#:~:text=First%20conceived%20in%201952%20by,the%20modern%20Integrated%20Circuit%20was) -
A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect.
Douglas Engelbart reveals a prototype of the modern computer at the Fall Joint Computer Conference, San Francisco. His presentation, called "A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect" includes a live demonstration of his computer. This marks the development of the computer from a specialized machine for academics to a technology that is more accessible to the general public.
(https://dougengelbart.org/content/view/140/000/) -
UNIX.
Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and a group of other developers at Bell Labs produce UNIX, an operating system that made "large-scale networking of diverse computing systems. The team behind UNIX continued to develop the operating system using the C programming language, which they also optimized.
(https://homepage.cs.uri.edu/~thenry/resources/unix_art/ch02s01.html) -
The newly formed Intel unveils the Intel 1103, the first Dynamic Access Memory (DRAM) chip.
The newly formed Intel company publicly released the 1103, the first DRAM – dynamic random access memory – chip in 1970. It was the bestselling semiconductor memory chip in the world by 1972, defeating magnetic core type memory. The first commercially available computer using the 1103 was the HP 9800 series.
(https://www.thoughtco.com/who-invented-the-intel-1103-dram-chip-4078677#:~:text=The%20newly%20formed%20Intel%20company,was%20the%20HP%209800%20series.) -
A team of IBM engineers invents the "floppy disk,".
A team of IBM engineers led by Alan Shugart invents the "floppy disk," enabling data to be shared among different computers.In 1971, IBM introduced the first "memory disk," better known today as the "floppy disk." It was an 8-inch flexible plastic disk coated with magnetic iron oxide. Computer data was written to and read from the disk's surface. The first Shugart floppy held 100 KBs of data.
(https://www.thoughtco.com/invention-of-the-floppy-disk-1991405) -
The world's first commercially successful video game.
Ralph Baer, a German-American engineer, releases Magnavox Odyssey, the world's first home game console, in September 1972 , according to the Computer Museum of America. Months later, entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell and engineer Al Alcorn with Atari release Pong, the world's first commercially successful video game
(https://www.computermuseumofamerica.org/2020/06/22/the-first-gaming-console/) -
Ethernet.
Robert Metcalfe, a member of the research staff for Xerox, develops Ethernet for connecting multiple computers and other hardware.Bob Metcalfe (then at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, PARC, in California) wrote a memo describing the Ethernet network system he had invented for interconnecting advanced computer workstations, making it possible to send data to one another.
(https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/ethernet-the-definitive/1565926609/ch01.html) -
The Altair.
The magazine cover of the January issue of "Popular Electronics" highlights the Altair 8080 as the "world's first minicomputer kit to rival commercial models." After seeing the magazine issue, two "computer geeks," Paul Allen and Bill Gates, offer to write software for the Altair, using the new BASIC language.
(https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1325625#:~:text=In%20January%201975%2C%20a%20photograph,%24395%2C%20and%20assembled%20for%20%24498.) -
The first computer with a single-circuit board and ROM (Read Only Memory)
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-found Apple Computer on April Fool's Day. They unveil Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board and ROM (Read Only Memory). In early 1976 Wozniak and Jobs finish work on a preassembled computer circuit board. It has no Product keyboard, case, sound or graphics. They call it the Apple I.
(https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Apple-and-the-Personal-Computer-Revolution-39118) -
The Commodore Personal Electronic Transactor (PET).
The Commodore Personal Electronic Transactor (PET), is released onto the home computer market, featuring an MOS Technology 8-bit 6502 microprocessor, which controls the screen, keyboard and cassette player. The PET is especially successful in the education market, according to O'Regan.
(http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/6223/Commodore-PET-8096SK/) -
The world's first commercially successful word processor.
MicroPro International, founded by software engineer Seymour Rubenstein, releases WordStar, the world's first commercially successful word processor. WordStar is programmed by Rob Barnaby, and includes 137,000 lines of code.
(http://www.landley.net/history/mirror/timelines/inventors/html/aa030199.htm#:~:text=It's%20easy%20with%20new%20About%20SiteBuilder!&text=Released%20in%201979%20by%20Micropro,program%20of%20the%20early%20eighties.) -
Model 5150.
IBM's own Personal Computer (IBM 5150) was introduced in August 1981, only a year after corporate executives gave the go-ahead to Bill Lowe, the lab director in the company's Boca Raton, Fla., facilities. "Acorn," IBM's first personal computer, is released onto the market at a price point of $1,565, according to IBM. Acorn uses the MS-DOS operating system from Windows.
(https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_birth.html) -
PC featured a graphical interface.
The Apple Lisa, standing for "Local Integrated Software Architecture" but also the name of Steve Jobs' daughter, according to the National Museum of American History (NMAH), is the first personal computer to feature a GUI. The machine also includes a drop-down menu and icons. Also this year, the Gavilan SC is released and is the first portable computer with a flip-form design and the very first to be sold as a "laptop."
(https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alto-computer) -
Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi, the abbreviated term for "wireless fidelity" is developed, initially covering a distance of up to 300 feet (91 meters) Wired reported. In fact, it seems to just be an arbitrary term adopted by the WiFi Alliance in 1999, when they developed a standard for interoperability between devices using the IEEE 802.11x wireless protocol.
(https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-Fi-in-Wi-Fi-mean#:~:text=Nothing.,IEEE%20802.11x%20wireless%20protocol.) -
Windows 7.
Microsoft launches Windows 7 on July 22. The new operating system features the ability to pin applications to the taskbar, scatter windows away by shaking another window, easy-to-access jump lists, easier previews of tiles and more, TechRadar reported.
(https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/take-a-closer-look-at-windows-7s-jump-list-feature/) -
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a new "Molecular Informatics" program that uses molecules as computers. "Chemistry offers a rich set of properties that we may be able to harness for rapid, scalable information storage and processing," Anne Fischer, program manager in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office, said in a statement.
(https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-12-27) -
Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.
Google introduced the Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL on May 7, 2019. Apple introduced macOS X 10.15, code-named Catalina, at the WWDC on June 3, 2019. Android version 10 released on September 3, 2019. Apple released the Find My app on September 19, 2019.
(https://www.computerhope.com/history/2019.htm) -
Tesla autopilot.
In July, Elon Musk declared that a Tesla autopilot update is coming later this year that will bring their vehicles one step closer to complete “level-5” autonomy. Level-5 autonomy would finally allow passengers to reach their destination without any human intervention. The long-awaited software update would likely increase the company’s value massively and Musk’s net worth along with it.(https://compscicentral.com/history-of-computers/) -
Humanoid robot.
Musk continues to innovate, announcing in August that Tesla is developing a near-life-size humanoid robot. Many are skeptical of the viability of the robot while others claimed this is another of Musk’s inventions that science fiction warned against similar to the Brain-Computer Interface.
(https://compscicentral.com/history-of-computers/)