The Development Of Computers

By Pjlatu9

  • Hewlett and Packard in the garage workshop courtesy HP Archives

    Hewlett-Packard is Founded. David Packard and Bill Hewlett found Hewlett-Packard in a Palo Alto, California garage.

  • The Complex Number Calculator (CNC)

    http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?category=cmptr

  • Konrad Zuse finishes the Z3 computer.

    The Z3 was an early computer built by German engineer Konrad Zuse working in complete isolation from developments elsewhere.

  • The first Bombe is completed.

    Based partly on the design of the Polish “Bomba,” a mechanical means of decrypting Nazi military communications during WWII, the British Bombe design was greatly influenced by the work of computer pioneer Alan Turing and others.

  • The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) is completed.

    After successfully demonstrating a proof-of-concept prototype in 1939, Atanasoff received funds to build the full-scale machine.

  • Project Whirlwind begins.

    During World War II, the U.S. Navy approached the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) about building a flight simulator to train bomber crews.

  • The Relay Interpolator is completed.

    The U.S. Army asked Bell Labs to design a machine to assist in testing its M-9 Gun Director.

  • The first Colossus is operational at Bletchley Park.

    Designed by British engineer Tommy Flowers, the Colossus was designed to break the complex Lorenz ciphers used by the Nazis during WWII.

  • Harvard Mark-1 is completed.

    Conceived by Harvard professor Howard Aiken, and designed and built by IBM, the Harvard Mark-1 was a room-sized, relay-based calculator.

  • In February, the public got its first glimpse of the ENIAC

    Start of project: 1943
    Completed: 1946
    Programmed: plug board and switches
    Speed: 5,000 operations per second
    Input/output: cards, lights, switches, plugs
    Floor space: 1,000 square feet
    Project leaders: John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert.

  • IBM´s SSEC

    Speed: 50 multiplications per second
    Input/output: cards, punched tape
    Memory type: punched tape, vacuum tubes, relays
    Technology: 20,000 relays, 12,500 vacuum tubes
    Floor space: 25 feet by 40 feet
    Project leader: Wallace Eckert

  • Maurice Wilkes assembled the EDSAC

  • Engineering Research Associates of Minneapolis built the ERA 1101

    The first commercially produced computer; the company´s first customer was the U.S. Navy.

  • The National Bureau of Standards constructed the SEAC

    The SEAC was the first computer to use all-diode logic, a technology more reliable than vacuum tubes, and the first stored-program computer completed in the United States.

  • The precursor to the minicomputer

    DEC´s PDP-1 sold for $120,000. One of 50 built, the average PDP-1 included with a cathode ray tube graphic display, needed no air conditioning and required only one operator.

  • Digital Equipment Corp

    Introduced the PDP-8, the first commercially successful minicomputer.

  • The Kenbak-1

    The first personal computer, advertised for $750 in Scientific American.

  • MITS Altair

    The January edition of Popular Electronics featured the Altair 8800 computer kit, based on Intel´s 8080 microprocessor, on its cover.

  • Osborne I

    Adam Osborne completed the first portable computer, the Osborne I, which weighed 24 pounds and cost $1,795.

  • Amiga 1000 with Seiko Music Keyboard

    Commodore’s Amiga 1000 sold for $1,295 dollars (without monitor) and had audio and video capabilities beyond those found in most other personal computers.

  • NeXT

    Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, who left Apple to form his own company, unveiled the NeXT. The computer he created failed but was recognized as an important innovation.

  • VideoToaster Installed at Local Television Station

    Video Toaster is introduced by NewTek. The Video Toaster was a video editing and production system for the Amiga line of computers and included custom hardware and special software.

  • Intel Pentium Processor diagram

    The Pentium microprocessor is released. The Pentium was the fifth generation of the ‘x86’ line of microprocessors from Intel, the basis for the IBM PC and its clones.

  • Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, 2000

    Yahoo is founded. Founded by Stanford graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo, Yahoo started out as "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web" before being renamed.