5000: In present day Zaire, an abacus.
250: The zero appears for the first time.
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1645: Future philosopher Blaise Pascal builds his “Pascaline.”
1801: Joseph-Marie Jacquard loom uses punchcards.
1820: Arithmometer, forerunner of the calculator.
1823: Charles Babbage builds a section of a “difference engine.”
1834: Babbage conceives “analytical engine”, computer forerunner.
1843: Byron’s daughter, Ada Lovelace, explains concept of programming.
1854: George Boole develops logic system.
1873: Lord Kelvin calculates the tides with a machine.
1890: Herman Hollerith counts population with punchcards.
1919: Flip-flop circuit invented; will help computers to count.
1928: IBM adopts the 80-column punched card.
1930: Vannevar Bush’s partly electronic computer.
1931: In Berlin, Konrad Zuse invents a computer, but is ignored.
1936: Alan Turing’s On Computable Numbers.
1937: George Stibitz invents the electrical digital calculator.
1940: Teletypewriter, calculator tied by phone line.
1941: Zuse’s Z3 in Germany is controlled by software.
1942: Atanasoff and Berry in Iowa build the first electronic
digital computer.
1943: British machine Colossus cracks Germany’s Enigma code.
1944: Harvard’s Mark 1, first digital computer in service.
1945: Vannevar Bush conceives idea of hyperlinks, hypermedia.
1946: University of Pennsylvania’s ENIAC heralds the modern electronic
computer.
1948: Shannon and Weaver propound information theory.
1949: Whirlwind at MIT is the first real-time computer.
1949: Magnetic core computer memory is invented.
1949: British EDSAC computer stores programs in memory, switches programs.
1951: Grace Hopper discovers first computer bug, a real moth.
1951: UNIVAC I is the first mass-produced computer.
1952: UNIVAC projects winner of presidential election on CBS.
1952: RCA’s Bizmac has first computer database.
1952: Grace Hopper develops the first computer compiler.
1953: Magnetic core memory in a computer, the Whirlwind.
1953: With the 701, IBM starts building commercial computers.
1956: The first hard disk drive is created at IBM.
1957: FORTRAN, the first high-level programming language.
1957: Computer is in a movie: Desk Set, with Tracy, Hepburn.
1958: Experiments begin to create the modem.
1958: Control Data builds a transistorized computer.
1958: ALGOL, a programming language for math, science.
1959: Magnetic ink character recognition for checks.
1959: Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments builds an integrated circuit.
1959: Grace Hopper writes the COBOL programming language.
1959: The microchip; it will enable the computer revolution.
1960: PLATO, a computer-based method of education.
1961: Fairchild Semiconductor makes integrated circuits.
1961: The time-sharing computer is developed.
1961: Silicon chips.
1963: Douglas Engelbart gets a patent for the computer mouse.
1964: IBM’s OS/360 is first mass-produced operating system.
1964: From Dartmouth: BASIC programming.
1964: Moore’s Law: Microprocessor speed will double each year.
1965: The word “hypertext” is coined.
1965: Doctoral dissertation printed by computer.
1967: Computers get the light pen.
1967: From IBM, the floppy disk.
1967: Newspapers introduce computers into their operations.
1968: Engelbart ties together keyboard, keypad, mouse, windows.
1969: Kenneth Thompson creates the Unix Operating System.
1970: IBM System 370 allows time-sharing, online computing.
1970: A new kind of computer communication: barcodes.
1971: Project Gutenberg starts to enter literature online.
1971: Intel’s 4004 microprocessor, “a computer on a chip.”
1971: Wang 1200 is the first word processor with stored memory.
1972: The Xerox Alto, with a mouse and a graphical interface.
1973: $575 buys kit with a micrprocessor, the Scelbi-8H.
1973: Fairchild builds an image-forming CCD chip, 100 rows x 100 columns.
1974: Article on building home computer inspires hobbyists.
1975: Microcomputer, in kit form, reaches the home market.
1975: In Los Angeles, the first computer store.
1976: The Apple I. Steve Jobs sells his VW van to raise manufacturing funds.
1976: “Electric Pencil,” first popular word-processing program.
1977: The Apple II microcomputer is a best seller. Also: Commodore Pet, TRS-80.
1977: Apple II‘s floppy disk drive leads to writing of many software
programs.
1978: Intel offers a 16-bit microprocessor.
1978: Xerox manufactures the first laser printer.
1979: Speech recognition machine identifies 1,000 words.
1979: A spreadsheet program, VisiCalc, attractd small businesses.
1979: Motorola’s 68.000 microprocessor contains the equivalent of 68,000
transistors.
1979: WordStar, an early, successful word processing program.
1980: Reporters use 25 lb. portable computer to send news.
1980: The public sees a computer digital imaging system.
1980: The PC hard drive, holds 10 MB.
1981: The IBM PC.
1981: 450,000 transistors fit on a silicon chip 1/4-inch square.
1981: From Microsoft, the MS-DOS 1.0 operating system.
1981: The laptop computer is introduced.
1981: Most modems run at 300 bits/sec.
1981: Some malls in Canada provide touch screens for shoppers.
1981: ADA, a programming language named in honor of Ada, Lady Lovelace.
1982: Commodore 64 introduced; popular with game players.
1982: 5.5 million PCs have been sold.
1982: The one-button point-and-click mouse is born.
1983: Time names the computer as “Man” of the Year for 1982.
1983: Compaq builds the first fully compatible IBM clone.
1983: Apple’s Lisa, first micro with a graphical user interface.
1983: Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program.
1983: Computer chip holds 288,000 bits of memory.
1984: Machine translates basic Japanese into basic English, but with mistakes.
1984: Apple Macintosh and IBM PC AT are introduced.
1984: 3 1/2-inch floppy disk drive.
1984: The 32-bit microprocessor.
1984: The one-megabyte memory chip.
1985: Desktop publishing becomes familiar.
1985: Cray-2 supercomputer does 1.2 billion calculations/sec.
1985: Images can be broken into digital bits.
1985: PageMaker layout program proves to be a “killer-ap.”
1985: Microsoft ships the Windows 1.0 operating system.
1985: Text-to-speech computer pronounces 20,000 words.
1986: Laser printers start to replace dot matrix and daisy wheel printers.
1987: IBM offers VGA, with 262,144 colors.
1987: Excel is born.
1988: Steve Jobs offers the futuristic NeXT computer.
1989: AT&T claims speech recognition machine understands 300 billion sentences.
1990: From IBM, a line of workstations using RISC chips.
1990: World Wide Web originates at CERN in Europe. Tim Berners-Lee writes program.
1992: 65 million personal computers have been sold.
1992: English-Spanish translator recognizes 450 spoken words.
1992: Michelangelo is first virus to reach national attention.
1993: Compaq brings out Concerto, a pen-based notebook PC.
1993: Apple Newton, a PDA, recognizes handwriting.
1993: From Intel, the Pentium chip.
1994: Almost 1 in 3 of all American homes has a computer.
1994: The Zip drive, with removable storage of up to 100 MB.
1996: Computer makers sell flat-panel displays.
1997: IBM computer defeats chess champion Garry Kasparov.
1997: 43% of U.S. homes have computers.
1998: The Pentium II processor with 7.5 million transistors.
1998: Apple unveils the colorful iMac computer.
1998: Survey: average American with a computer uses it more than 5 hours weekly.
1999: Apple introduces computer with USB ports.
2000: Apple G4 Cube has firewire ports.
2000: Experimental IBM microprocessor uses a molecule with five fluorine atoms.
2000: “I Love You” virus causes estimated $10 billion damage.
2000: Microsoft gives the mouse an optical sensor.
2001: The iPod music player.
2001: Personal headsets display movies, video games, spreadsheets.
2002: A Wi-Fi-equipped laptop, the Tablet PC, reads writing.
2002: From England, roll-up screens for computers, TV sets.
2003: Apple's G5 64-bit processor contains 58 million transistors.
2003: Destructive computer worms and viruses sharply increase.
2003: iTunes music download service offers tunes for 99 cents.
2003: The IP phone is a mini-computer that can transmit movies.
2004: The Sims 2 advances story games for computers.
2004: Wi-Fi cellphone/cameras are replacing some computers.
2004: Multi-million dollar mapping programs now less than $100.
