The History of the ABC

By joelinia
  • John V. Atanasoff Born

    John V. Atanasoff Born

    Born in Hamilton, New York, to Ivan Atanasoff and Iva Lucena Purdy
  • Period: to

    World War I

  • Clifford Berry Born

    Clifford Berry Born

    Born in Gladbrook, Iowa, to Frank Berry and Grace Strohm
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt Becomes President

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt Becomes President

  • ABC Prototype Test

    ABC Prototype Test

    The prototype tested certain parts of the ABC to ensure that it would function. Work on the ABC began shortly after the prototype test was completed.
  • Period: to

    The ABC's Construction

    The ABC was designed and built by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University in the basement of the physics department building.
  • Period: to

    World War II

  • ABC Completed

    ABC Completed

    The ABC was the first computer to function using solely electric, not mechanical, mechanisms. It also implemented binary arithmetic and separated memory and computational functions.
  • John Gustafson Born

    John Gustafson Born

    John Gustafson was born on this date. He constructed the replica of the ABC.
  • Honeywell v. Sperry Rand

    Honeywell v. Sperry Rand

    Sperry Rand corporation, which produced the ENIAC, sued Honeywell for patent infringement. Honeywell countersued Sperry Rand for monopolizing the data processing industry. This court case was extremely significant and contributed to the computer becoming public domain.
  • ABC Replica Completed

    ABC Replica Completed

    Created at the Ames Laboratory of ISU by John Gustafson. This was an exact replica, using the same blueprints and types of parts as the original ABC, and cost $350,000 to create.