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Period: Sep 15, 600 to
computer timeline
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Sep 15, 724
Liang Ling-Can
Liang Ling-Can invents the first fully mechanical clock -
Sep 15, 1492
Leonardo da Vinci
Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci depict inventions such as flying machines, including a helicopter, the first mechanical calculator and one of the first programmable robots -
John Napier
John Napier invents a system of moveable rods (Napier's Rods) based on logarithms which was able to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots -
William Oughtred
William Oughtred develops slide rules -
Calculating Clock
Invented by Wilhelm Schickard -
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal invents the the "Pascaline", a mechanical adding machine -
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz is known as one of the founding fathers of calculus -
Joseph-Marie Jacquard
Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents an automatic loom controlled by punched cards -
Arithmometer
The Arithmometer was the first mass-produced calculator invented by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar -
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage designs his first mechanical computer -
Analytical Engine
The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage -
Morse code
Samuel Morse invents Morse code -
Boolean algebra
Boolean algebra is invented by George Boole -
Tabulating Machine
Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard invent the Tabulating Machine -
William Stanley Jevons
William Stanley Jevons designs a practical logic machine -
Ramon Verea
Ramon Verea invents a fast calculator with an internal multiplication table -
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone called the Photophone -
Comptometer
The Comptometer is an invention of Dorr E. Felt which is operated by pressing keys -
Herman Hollerith
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Guglielmo Marconi
Radio signals were invented by Guglielmo Marconi -
Tabulating Machine Company
Herman Hollerith forms the Tabulating Machine Company which later becomes IBM -
Nikola Tesla
Remote control was invented by Nikola Tesla -
Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest invents the electronic tube -
IBM
IBM is formed on June 15, 1911 -
Philo Farnsworth
Television Electronic was invented by Philo Farnsworth -
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird: Electro Mechanical television system was invented by John Logie Baird Walther Bothe: Walther Bothe develops the logic gate -
Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush develops a partly electronic Difference Engine -
Kurt Godel
Kurt Godel publishes a paper on the use of a universal formal language -
Alan Turing
Alan Turing develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine -
Konrad Zuse
Konrad Zuse creates the Z1 Computer a binary digital computer using punch tape -
George Stibitz
George Stibitz: George Stibitz develops the Complex Number Calculator - a foundation for digital computers Hewlett Packard: William Hewlett and David Packard start Hewlett Packard John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry: John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry develop the ABC (Atanasoft-Berry Computer) prototype -
Enigma
Adolf Hitler uses the Enigma. Colossus: Alan Turing develops the the code-breaking machine Colossuencryption machine -
Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper
Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper designed the MARK series of computers at Harvard University -
ENIAC
John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) Computer Bug: The term computer ‘bug’ as computer bug was first used by Grace Hopper -
F.C. Williams
F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to random-access memory (RAM) -
Pilot ACE
Pilot ACE: Donald Watts Davies joins Alan Turing to build the fastest digital computer in England at the time, the Pilot ACE William Shockley: William Shockley invents the transistor at Bell Labs Douglas Engelbart: Douglas Engelbart theorises on interactive computing with keyboard and screen display instead of on punchcards -
Andrew Donald Booth: Andrew Donald Booth invents magnetic drum memoryFrederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn: Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn develop the SSEM "Small Scale Experimental Machine" digital CRT storage which was soon nicknamed the "
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Claude Shannon: Claude Shannon builds the first machine that plays chessHoward Aiken: Howard Aiken develops the Harvard-MARK III
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Hideo Yamachito: The first electronic computer is created in Japan by Hideo Yamachito.Alan Turing: Alan Turing publishes his paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence which helps create the Turing Test.
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LEO
LEO: T. Raymond Thompson and John Simmons develop the first business computer, the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) at Lyons Co. UNIVAC: UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was introduced - the first commercial computer made in the United States and designed principally by John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly EDVAC: The EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) begins performing basic tasks. Unlike the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal -
John Backus & IBM:
John Backus & IBM develop the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language -
Bell Labs introduces its first transistor computer.
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Optical fiber was invented by Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss
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Sputnik I and Sputnik II: Sputnik I and Sputnik II are launched by the Russians
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ARPA
ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA is formed Silicon chip: The first integrated circuit, or silicon chip, is produced by the US Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce -
Paul Baran
Paul Baran theorises on the "survivability of communication systems under nuclear attack", digital technology and symbiosis between humans and machines -
COBOL
The Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) programming language is invented. -
Unimate
General Motors puts the first industrial robot, Unimate, to work in a New Jersey factory. -
The first computer game
The first computer game Spacewar Computer Game invented BY Steve Russell & MIT -
The Computer Mouse
The Computer Mouse: Douglas Engelbart invents and patents the first computer mouse (nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end) The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is developed to standardize data exchange among computers. -
Word processor
Word processor: IBM introduces the first word processor BASIC: John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz develop Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Language (BASIC) -
1964-1969
1965 Hypertext: Andries van Dam and Ted Nelson coin the term "hypertext" 1967 Floppy Disk: IBM creates the first floppy disk 1969 Seymour Cray: Seymour Cray develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer Gary Starkweather: Gary Starkweather invents the laser printer whilst working with Xerox ARPANET: The U.S. Department of Defense sets up the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET ) this network was the first building blocks to what the internet is today but originally wi -
1970-1971
1970 RAM: Intel introduces the world's first available dynamic RAM ( random-access memory) chip and the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. 1971 E-mail: E-mail was invented by Ray Tomlinson Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ): Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ) was invented by James Fergason Pocket calculator: Pocket calculator was invented by Sharp Corporation Floppy Disk: Floppy Disk was invented by David Noble with IBM - Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility. -
1972-1973
1972 First Video Game: Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game The CD: The compact disc is invented in the United States. 1973 Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs: Robert Metcalfe creates the Ethernet, a local-area network (LAN) protocol Personal computer: The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers Gateways: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn develop gateway routing computers to negotiate between the various national networks -
1974-75
1974 SQL: IBM develops SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language ) now known as SQL WYSIWYG: Charles Simonyi coins the term WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) to describe the ability of being able to display a file or document exactly how it is going to be printed or viewed 1975 Portable computers: Altair produces the first portable computer Microsoft Corporation: The Microsoft Corporation was founded April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters -
1976-78
1976 Apple: Apple Computers was founded Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs
1977 Apple Computer’s Apple II, the first personal computer with color graphics, is demonstrated MODEM: Ward Christensen writes the programme "MODEM" allowing two microcomputers to exchange files with each other over a phone line 1978 Magnetic tape: The first magnetic tape is developed in the US -
1979-81
1979 Over half a million computers are in use in the United States. 1980 Paul Allen and Bill Gates: IBM hires Paul Allen and Bill Gates to create an operating system for a new PC. They buy the rights to a simple operating system manufactured by Seattle Computer Products and use it as a template to develop DOS. 1981 Microsoft: MS-DOS Computer Operating System increases its success -
1982 WordPerfect: WordPerfect Corporation introduces WordPerfect 1.0 a word processing programCommodore 64: The Commodore 64 becomes the best-selling computer of all time.SMTP: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is introduced
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1983
1983 More than 10 million computers are in use in the United States Domain Name System (DNS): Domain Name System (DNS) pioneered by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris and Craig Partridge. Seven 'top-level' domain names are initially introduced: edu, com, gov, mil, net, org and int. Windows: Microsoft Windows introduced eliminating the need for a user to have to type each command, like MS-DOS, by using a mouse to navigate through drop-down menus, tabs and icons -
1984-85
1984 Apple Macintosh: Apple introduces the Macintosh with mouse and window interface Cyberspace: William Gibson coins the word cyberspace when he publishes Neuromancer 1985 Paul Brainard: Paul Brainard introduces Pagemaker for the Macintosh creating the desktop publishing field. Nintendo: The Nintendo Entertainment System makes its debut. -
1986-88
1986 More than 30 million computers are in use in the United States.
1987 Microsoft introduces Microsoft Works Perl: Larry Wall introduces Perl 1.0 1988 Over 45 million PCs are in use in the United States. -
1990
1990 The Internet, World Wide Web & Tim Berners-Lee: Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau propose a 'hypertext' system starting the modern Internet Microsoft and IBM stop working together to develop operating systems 1991 The World Wide Web: The World Wide Web is launched to the public on August 6, 1991 -
1993-94
1993 At the beginning of the year only 50 World Wide Web servers are known to exist 1994 The World Wide Web Consortium is founded by Tim Berners-Lee to help with the development of common protocols for the evolution of the World Wide Web YAHOO: YAHOO is created in April, 1994. -
1995-97
1995 Java: Java is introduced Amazon: Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos EBay: EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar Hotmail: Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia. 1996 WebTV: WebTV is introduced 1997 Altavista introduces its free online translator Babel Fish -
1998-2002
1998 Google: Google is founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page on September 7, 1998 PayPal is founded by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin 2001 Xbox: Bill Gates introduces the Xbox on January 7th 2001. 2002 Approximately 1 billion PCs been sold PayPal is acquired by eBay -
2004-2006
2005 September 12: eBay acquires Skype
2006 Skype announces that it has over 100 million registered users.