jan 1, 1820 - The Difference Engine

Description:

Developed by Charles Babbage, the difference engine was a mechanical calculator used to calculate polynomial functions.
1. The difference engine was one of the world's first mechanical calculators, and if completed would have completely revolutionized how humans conducted mathematics much sooner.
2. The difference engine guaranteed that large tables of calculations could be completed without any chance of human error.
3. Reliance on human mathematicians decreased as the machine could do brute math, and theory became more popular.

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