HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

As what I've known way back in highschool the earliest known device to record computations was the abacus. It dates back to ancient times and was invented by the Chinese. Ten beads were strung onto wires attached to a frame. Addition and subtraction were read from the final positions of the beads. It was considered the first manual tool used in calculating answers to problems that provided information and in a primitive way storing the results.

The abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations. Its only value is that it aids the memory of the human performing the calculation. A skilled abacus operator can work on addition and subtraction problems at the speed of a person equipped with a hand calculator (multiplication and division are slower). The abacus is often wrongly attributed to China. In fact, the oldest surviving abacus was used in 300 B.C. by the Babylonians. The abacus is still in use today, principally in the far east. A modern abacus consists of rings that slide over rods, but the older one pictured below dates from the time when pebbles were used for counting (the word "calculus" comes from the Latin word for pebble).

ABACUS

Prehistoric man did not have the Internet, but it appears that he needed a way to count and make calculations. The limitations of the human body’s ten fingers and ten toes apparently caused early man to construct a tool to help with those calculations. Scientists now know that humankind invented an early form of computers. Their clue was a bone carved with prime numbers found in 8,500 BC.

The abacus was the next leap forward in computing between 1000 BC and 500 BD. This apparatus used a series of moveable beads or rocks. The positions changed to enter a number and again to perform mathematical operations. Leonardo DaVinci was credited with the invention of the world’s first mechanical calculator in 1500. In 1642, Blaise Pascal’s adding machine upstaged DaVinci’s marvel and moved computing forward again.

In 19^th century England, Charles Babbage, a mathematician, proposed the construction of a machine that he called the Babbage Difference Engine. It would not only calculate numbers, it would also be capable of printing mathematical tables. The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA (near San Diego) built a working replica from the original drawings. Visitors can see in the device in operation there. Unable to construct the actual device, he earned quite a few detractors among England’s literate citizens. However, Babbage made a place for himself in history as the father of computing. Not satisfied with the machines limitations, he drafted plans for the Babbage Analytical Engine. He intended for this computing device to use punch cards as the control mechanism for calculations. This feature would make it possible for his computer to use previously performed calculations in new ones.

Babbage’s idea caught the attention of Ada Byron Lovelace who had an undying passion for math. She also saw possibilities that the Analytical Machine could produce graphics and music. She helped Babbage move his project from idea to reality by documenting how the device would calculate Bernoulli numbers. She later received recognition for writing the world’s first computer program. The United States Department of Defense named a computer language in her honor in 1979.

The computers that followed built on each previous success and improved it. In 1943, the first programmable computer Turing COLOSSUS appeared. It was pressed into service to decipher World War II coded messages from Germany. ENIAC, the brain, was the first electronic computer, in 1946. In 1951, the U.S. Census Bureau became the first government agency to buy a computer, UNIVAC .

The Apple expanded the use of computers to consumers in 1977. The IBM PC for consumers followed closely in 1981, although IBM mainframes were in use by government and corporations.


                                                                                   MODERN DAY COMPUTER

                                                                  TIMETABLE

Computer History Year/Enter	Computer History Inventors/Inventions	Computer History Description of Event
1936	Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer	First freely programmable computer.
1942	John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry ABC Computer	Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as ABC.
1944	Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper Harvard Mark I Computer	The Harvard Mark 1 computer.
1946	John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly ENIAC 1 Computer	20,000 vacuum tubes later...
1948	Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn Manchester Baby Computer & The Williams Tube	Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the memories.
1947/48	John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & Wiliam Shockley The Transistor	No, a transistor is not a computer, but this invention greatly affected the history of computers.
1951	John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly UNIVAC Computer	First commercial computer & able to pick presidential winners.
1953	International Business Machines IBM 701 EDPM Computer	IBM enters into 'The History of Computers'.
1954	John Backus & IBM FORTRAN Computer Programming Language	The first successful high level programming language.
1955 (In Use 1959)	Stanford Research Institute, Bank of America, and General Electric ERMA and MICR	The first bank industry computer - also MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) for reading checks.
1958	Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce The Integrated Circuit	Otherwise known as 'The Chip'
1962	Steve Russell & MIT Spacewar Computer Game	The first computer game invented.
1964	Douglas Engelbart Computer Mouse & Windows	Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end.
1969	ARPAnet	The original Internet.
1970	Intel 1103 Computer Memory	The world's first available dynamic RAM chip.
1971	Faggin, Hoff & Mazor Intel 4004 Computer Microprocessor	The first microprocessor.
1971	Alan Shugart &IBM The "Floppy" Disk	Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.
1973	Robert Metcalfe & Xerox The Ethernet Computer Networking	Networking.
1974/75	Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 Computers	The first consumer computers.
1976/77	Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers	More first consumer computers.
1978	Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston VisiCalc Spreadsheet Software	Any product that pays for itself in two weeks is a surefire winner.
1979	Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Barnaby WordStar Software	Word Processors.
1981	IBM The IBM PC - Home Computer	From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution
1981	Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating System	From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of the century.
1983	Apple Lisa Computer	The first home computer with a GUI, graphical user interface.
1984	Apple Macintosh Computer	The more affordable home computer with a GUI.
1985	Microsoft Windows	Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple.