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In France, Joseph Marie Jacquard invents a loom that uses punched wooden cards to automatically weave fabric designs. Early computers would use similar punch cards.
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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 public.
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1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak start Apple Computers on April Fool's Day and roll out the Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board, according to Stanford University
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1977: Jobs and Wozniak incorporate Apple and show the Apple II at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It offers color graphics and incorporates an audio cassette drive for storage.
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1986: Compaq brings the Deskpro 386 to market. Its 32-bit architecture provides as speed comparable to mainframes.
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1994: PCs become gaming machines as "Command & Conquer," "Alone in the Dark 2," "Theme Park," "Magic Carpet," "Descent" and "Little Big Adventure" are among the games to hit the market.
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1999: The term Wi-Fi becomes part of the computing language and users begin connecting to the Internet without wires.
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2003: The first 64-bit processor, AMD's Athlon 64, becomes available to the consumer market.
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2005: YouTube, a video sharing service, is founded. Google acquires Android, a Linux-based mobile phone operating system.
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2006: Apple introduces the MacBook Pro, its first Intel-based, dual-core mobile computer, as well as an Intel-based iMac. Nintendo's Wii game console hits the market.
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2007: The iPhone brings many computer functions to the smartphone.
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2010: Apple unveils the iPad, changing the way consumers view media and jumpstarting the dormant tablet computer segment.
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2012: Facebook gains 1 billion users on October 4.
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2015: Apple releases the Apple Watch. Microsoft releases Windows 10.
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Microsoft releases Windows 10.
