jan 1, 152 BC - First Analogue Computer: Antikythera mechanism

Description:

- Before we had our digital computers, we had analogue computers. Essentially, they used electrical, mechanical and hydraulic means to model the problem being solved. The were the ancestors of modern computers, hence being significant.

- The Antikythera mechanism demonstrates a machine solving problems for human beings, the basis behind the usage of every computer. Through following the moon's orbit with its 37 gears, it simplified astronomical processes for humans.

- Whiel we are unsure whether the Antikythera mechanism was indeed the first analogue computer (we think it is), it and other analogue computers serve as an important bridge between getting from very simply automatic computers like the abacus to complex digital computers. Without this bridge, the drastic change to modern digital computers wouldn't have been possible.

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