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Gottfried Leibniz invents binary code
In 1679, Gottfried Liebniz invented binary code. All modern computers are codend in binary which means that everything is represented by either a one or a zero in specific permutation. No computers today would work without binary. Leibniz didn't realise the full potential of binary, as computers hadn't been invented yet, but his invention would assist the computer makers that came after him. Binary was invented before Leibniz lots of times, but Leibniz was the first to publish it. -
Charles Babbage invents the first digital computer
In the mid 1830s, Charles Babbage invented the first digital computer. His computer could approximate polynomials. Because of monetary problems, he was never able to build a working full-size copy of his computer. In 1991, his computer was finally constructed in the London Science Museum. Charles Babbage was also a philosopher, and mathematician. -
Ada Lovelace writes the first computer algorithm
Sometime in the 1840s, Ada Lovelace, a friend of Chares Babbage, wrote algorithms for his computer. This makes her the first ever documented computer programmer. Her code was never implemented as the computer was never built. She is also an important figure for being one of the first and most influencial women in the field of technology. Unfortunately, Ada Lovelace died very young, and we might have heard more of her if she had lived a longer life. -
Nikola Tesla invents alternating current
Nikola Tesla is often forgotten, but he in fact invented alternating current, the current that most of the world's electrial appliences, including all computers, work on. Alternating current works by switching the direction of the current very quickly. This was different to what Thomas Edison was in favour of, which was direct current where the current is just fed live. Tesla also invented the Tesla coil, which has uses, but mainly is used for education today. -
John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube
in 1907, John Ambrose Fleming invented the vacuum tube. The vacuum tube was the precursor to the modern transistor, and without it, the vast majority of electrical appliences wouldn't work. The vacuum tube works by using theremionic emission to control the flow of electric current. The reason that they are necessary is that they amplify weak signals, i.e. they make weak signals stronger. -
Alan Turing deciphers the Enigma machine
Alan Turing was a mathematician who worked for Great Britain during the second World War. He used computers to decipher the Germans' Enigma machine which was encoding all of their messanges. This likely sped up the downfall of the Germans by up to two to four years. Alan Turing also did many more things for computers and technology. He among other things invented the turing test, a test which is used to see if an artificial intelligence can pass for human. -
ENIAC, the first commercially available computer, is completed
The ENIAC, which stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly and was the first computer to have no mechanical parts that slowed it down. From 1946 to 1955, ENIAC completed more calculations than all of mankind had done up until that point. An ENIAC machine weighed 27 tonnes, was 2.4 m × 0.9 m × 30 m, and contained 18 000 vacuum tubes and 70 000 resistors. -
Bill Gates launches Windows OS
One of the most user friendly, available, and affordable operating systems is launced. It was developed by Bill Gates and his company, Microsoft. Windows later grew to become the world's most used operating system. And without Windows we'd be stuck with Linux or Mac. Ewwww... -
Mitch Resnick invents Scratch
Scratch was invented in 2012 by Mitch Resnick, a software engineer at MIT. Scratch has introduced an entire generation of kids to programming and made it available in a way that makes it accessible to everyone. Scratch may not be the most complicated and sophisticated of programming languages, but it is an introduction that teaches kids the world over to appreciate coding and want to learn more about it. I imagine in the future there will be influential programmers that started on Scratch.
