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The first practical application of these ideas was the abacus, first invented by the Babylonians before the time of Christ.
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Scottish mathematician named John Napier invented a set of rods, which have become known as “Napier’s Bones,” that could be used to perform complex calculations.
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During the 17th century, several different machines were devised and built that could perform simple calculations in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The most famous of these was designed by Frenchman Blaise Pascal his machine could add numbers to up to eight digits. -
In 1801, Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed a weaving loom that used punchcard to replicate designs. The introduction of the punched card was a revolutionary step towards computer input. -
The elliptical engine was to be a more powerful and more general purpose, mechanical computer. This machine was able to store instructions use punched cards or punched paper tape for input, work on numbers having as many as 40 digits, store results, and work difficult mathematical problems in just seconds.
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The first machine that actually approximated the idea of a computer, that is, input – execution – output, was conceived of in 1832 by Charles Babbage. This machine was called the “difference engine”. A glorified, adding and multiplication machine, it was built to be of gears and levers, and it was to be steam powered. It was to use punchcards or operator and treat for input, and it was to record output on soft metal plates. -
In 1890, a punchcard calculator was created by Herman Hollerith count the US census. The 1880 census had required more than seven years to count because of the hollers machine, the census of 1890 was completed and just six weeks. -
In 1906 Lee De Forest invented the electronic tube. This vacuum tube made possible the development of electronic computers. This invention must be considered one of the three technological advances that are key to the development of the computer industry, along with the transistor and the integrated circuit. -
Many people worked on the idea of a true electronic digital computer. But this activity was stirred greatly by the coming of World War II. The need arose for a machine capable faster calculations.
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in 1939, electronic machines were developed from the purpose of breaking German encryption codes. These machines were the forerunners of modern computers, they were designed for one specific purpose, and not for general use. Today’s computers can be programmed to do many different tasks. -
In 1943, a computer developed at Harvard University by Howard H. Aiken was the first program controlled computer. It worked from punchcards or paper tape. This was very close to being a fully operational computer. -
In 1943, a computer called Colossus was completed in Great Britain. This computer took over the task of code – breaking. It was a general purpose machine, and it was very fast! 10 of these computers were built, but after World War II, they were all destroyed. -
Ballistic Research Labratory, capable of 100,000 calculations per second. -
The transistors could do the work of several electronic tubes, and each was smaller than a postage stamp. Now computers could use less electricity, give off less heat, be made smaller, and be less expensive than the old tube models. -
Institute for advanced study, Princeton, first compared to use magnetic tape for storage.
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Remington Rand, the first computer produced in numbers for business, because before this, computers were strictly for government only. -
This led to the introduction of the modern computer ‘chip’, which contains the equivalent power of millions of transistors. -
Created by Douglas Engelbart, it was a piece of wood with two wheels so it could move around on the desk. -
Grace Hopper, who served in the Navy for many years, developed a high-level language complier. Her work was extremely important in the early years of computing. She even found the first computer bug – literally a moth that was prevent preventing a computer from functioning properly. -
The Cray 1 was the first super computer, which was available for purchase. The super computer is based upon physics. Principles related to super cooling circuits were developed, which took advantage of the increasingly increasing conductivity of materials that cooled when near zero the gray one could do an amazing 150 million calculations per second. GUI was introduced as well.