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First Mechanical Computer
In 1822, Charles Babbage, an English mathematician and engineer, designed and developed the first automatic computing machine, which was called the “Difference Engine 0.” It was named this based on the mathematical theory on which the machine was created. It could calculate multiple sets of numbers and generate hard copies of the results. Babbage’s design served as a pioneer for the current computers that rule the market. However, his computer was too great in size compared to those today. -
Invention of First Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone on February 4, 1876. He was greatly interested in sound technology because both his mother and wife were deaf. While there is controversy whether he was the actual pioneer of the telephone, he secured exclusive rights to it when he launched the Bell Telephone Company in 1877. The phone converted sound into an electrical signal via a “liquid transmitter” that helped transfer the signal down a wire to a receiver where the sound was heard. -
First Modem Created
In 1962, Dr. Brent Townshend as the head of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) manufactured the first commercial modem, called Bell 103 (hardware that, at the time, converted signals from a computer into signals over the same kinds of wires that were used to transmit telegrams and telephone calls, allowing one to connect to the internet). It is considered the pioneer telephone with a data transmission rate of 300 bits per second. -
First Virtual Reality Headset
The first virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) system, The Sword of Damocles, was invented in 1968 by the computer scientist Ivan Sutherland and his student Bob Sproull. The term “virtual reality” was only popularized later by Jaron Lanier in the 1980s. The only major flaw was that one could not move their head around. It was created for military purposes, helping treat PTSD, or providing “boot camp” experience to new recruits to help them adapt to military life. -
First Use of ARPANET
The Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET), the first packet-switched computer network, was founded in 1966 by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) but was first used in 1968. The idea was established by J. C. R. Licklider but was initiated upon by Robert Taylor to link mainframes at universities and government agencies around the United States. Now ARPANET has grown around the world and is regarded as the forerunner to the Internet. -
The First Virus
The first computer virus, called the “Creeper system,” was an experimental self-replicating virus that was released in 1971, created by Bob Thomas from BBN Technologies. It filled up a hard drive until a computer could not operate any further. This virus allowed the company to check if a self-replicating program was possible to be created. -
First Online Chat System
The first online chat system was called Talkomatic. It was created by Doug Brown and David R. Woolley in 1973 on the PLATO System at the University of Illinois. It consisted of several channels, each with a limit of five people, with messages appearing on screen for all users as the characters were typed unlike today with the option to send the entire message. It became very popular and pioneered the first online chat system. -
First Spam Mail
The world’s first spam mail was sent in May 1978 by Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager for the now-defunct computer company Digital Equipment Corporation. He sent this mass email to hundreds of ARPA users, promoting his firm’s computer products. He had perceived this email as a way of e-marketing and made millions of sales as a result of the spam. -
Launching of NSFNET
In 1985, Stephen Wolfe launched the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), which allowed universities to gain access to the Internet. This was the first large-scale implementation of Internet technology in a complex environment of many independently operated networks. It forced the Internet community to repair technical difficulties and bugs arising from the arising number of computers. -
World Wide Web Created
A British scientist, Tim Berners-Lee, invented the World Wide Web (WWW), initially referred to as the “hypertext project” (created from hypertext language), in 1989 while working at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN). The idea of the World Wide Web was to merge the evolving technologies, such as the computer, data networks, and hypertext into a powerful and easy-to-use global information system. -
First Commercial Release of Photoshop
In 1987, the photograph-editing world was forever changed with the invention of Photoshop, originally named Display, by the American brothers, Thomas and John Knoll. They sold the distribution license to Adobe Systems Incorporated in 1988. Adobe later released the first commercial version of Photoshop on February 19, 1990. It has grown to a world platform with 90% of the world’s creative professionals using Adobe Photoshop. -
Archie (First Web Browser)
Archie was the first online search engine that was created by Alam Emtage. It allowed users to easily identify specific files. It started as a request to connect with the McGill University of Computer Science to the Internet. It created an index of file transfer protocol (FTP) files, which allowed users to look at the Internet. It had limited functionalities compared to other browsers today that are speedy. -
World's First Livestream
On November 22, 1993, one of the Internet’s first “celebrities,” the Trojan room coffee pot, became the subject of the world’s first livestream by Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Paul Jardetzky. A coffee pot was streamed as a joke since coffee is one of the most important things in computer science to help stay awake. It was streamed with the help of a camera that uploaded three images a minute, possibly the “fastest” speed. It became very famous immediately, being launched onto the World Wide Web. -
Launching of Amazon
The behemoth Amazon was launched by Jeff Bezos, an American entrepreneur, computer engineer, and commercial astronaut in Bellevue, Washington, United States. He had first decided to sell books, although wanting to sell everything. he had quit his job at an investment back to build Amazon. Now, however, it is ranked in the top five among other world companies, selling to millions of customers annually, and being worth $1.63 trillion. The company was originally called Cadabra. -
The World Becomes Wireless
The Wireless Internet Connection (Wi-Fi) was first released for consumers in 1997 by Vic Hayes, who was in charge of the IEEE committee that created the 802.11 standards for Wi-Fi to work upon. Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols used for local networking of devices to exchange data through radio waves, allowing computers at the time to connect to the internet. In 2017, there were an estimated 9 billion devices connected to Wi-Fi. -
Google Takes Over
Google, an American company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, was created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in California, United States. It began as a research project, initially known as BackRub, but is now the world’s top web browser. There are about 5.4 billion Google searches everyday, showing its ruling over the world. -
Wikipedia Launched
Wikipedia revolutionized the informational world when it was launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Sanger coined its name by combining the words “wiki” and “encyclopedia.” Rick Gates was associated with the earliest known proposal for an online encyclopedia in 1993, while Richard Stallman was the first to recommend an open-source encyclopedia in 1998. Wikipedia is one of the most well-known with a revenue as much as $157 million. -
Launching of Facebook (Meta)
Facebook was founded by the well-known Mark Zuckerberg alongside his other college friends on February 4, 2004, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It surprisingly was created as a directory for college students, helping them connect with people at the same school. It also gained 1 000 registered users in its first night, expanding to 874 million daily users. -
YouTube Lauches
YouTube was created in San Mateo, California, United States, by Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley. It was created as a platform for anyone to post any video content they desired. It was hoped that users could upload, share, and view content without restriction, compared to other programs that needed payment. YouTube is now the top video sharing platform, seeing that there are 122 million daily users. This increase in usage has led to its well-known reputation worldwide. -
TikTok Spreads In World
TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a video-focused social networking service created by 36-year-old Zhang Yiming, who owns a Chinese company called ByteDance Ltd. It hosts a variety of short-form user videos, that rapidly spread throughout the world, gaining up to 100 million daily users. It contributed to the fame of many people, including Charli D’Amelio. It is one of the most well-known applications that was banned in many countries, including India, due to its many harmful effects.