evolution of computers
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Updated: 4 Feb 2018
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first computer
First programmable computer. The Z1 was
created by German Konrad Zuse in his parents'
living room between
1936 and 1938. It is considered to be the first
electro-mechanical binary programmable
computer, and the first really
functional modern computer.First programmable computer. The Z1 was
created by German Konrad Zuse in his parents'
living room between 1936 and 1938. It is
considered to be the first electro-mechanical
binary programmable computer, and the first
really functional modern computer.1822: English mathematician Charles Babbage
conceives of a steam-driven calculating machine
that would be able to compute tables of
numbers. The project, funded by the English
government, is a failure. More than a century
later, however, the world's first computer was
actually built1890: Herman Hollerith designs a punch card
system to calculate the 1880 census,
accomplishing the task in just three years and
saving the government $5 million. He establishes
a company that would ultimately become IBM.1937: J.V. Atanasoff, a professor of physics and
mathematics at Iowa State University, attempts
to build the first computer without gears, cams,
belts or shafts1939: Hewlett-Packard is founded by David
Packard and Bill Hewlett in a Palo Alto, California
, garage, according to the Computer History
Museum. 1941: Atanasoff and his graduate student,
Clifford Berry, design a computer that can solve
29 equations simultaneously. This marks the
first time a computer is able to store information
on its main memory.1946: Mauchly and Presper leave the University
of Pennsylvania and receive funding from the
Census Bureau to build the UNIVAC, the first
commercial computer for business and
government applications.1947: William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter
Brattain of Bell Laboratories invent the
transistor. They discovered how to make an
electric switch with solid materials and no need
for a vacuum1953: Grace Hopper develops the first computer
language, which eventually becomes known as
COBOL. Thomas Johnson Watson Jr., son of IBM
CEO Thomas Johnson Watson Sr., conceives the
IBM 701 EDPM to help the United Nations keep
tabs on Korea during the war.1954: The FORTRAN programming language, an
acronym for FORmula TRANslation, is developed
by a team of programmers at IBM led by John
Backus, according to the University of Michigan.1958: Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce unveil the
integrated circuit, known as the computer chip.
Kilby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in
2000 for his work.1964: Douglas Engelbart shows a prototype of
the modern computer, with a mouse and a
graphical user interface (GUI). This marks the
evolution of the computer from a specialized
machine for scientists and mathematicians to
technology that is more accessible to the
general public1969: A group of developers at Bell Labs produce
UNIX, an operating system that addressed
compatibility issues. Written in the C
programming language, UNIX was portable
across multiple platforms and became the
operating system of choice among mainframes
at large companies and government entities. Due
to the slow nature of the system, it never quite
gained traction among home PC users.1970: The newly formed Intel unveils the Intel
1103, the first Dynamic Access Memory (DRAM)
chip.
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