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Konrad Zuse finishes the Z3 Computer. This was the world's first fully automatic computing machine. The Z3 had a 22-bit word length.
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FORTRAN was the first high level programming language. FORTRAN was created by John Backus for IBM and is still used today for programming.
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SpaceWar was the first interactive computer game. SpaceWar was written by MIT students Slug Russell, Shag Graetz, and Alan Kotok. This inspired future video games.
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Douglas Engelbart invented the computer mouse. It was named mouse because it had a "tail" coming out of the back. This was invented to use with a GUI.
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Intel introduces the world's first RAM (random-access memory) chip. It was the bestselling memory chip in the world. The first avaliable computer using RAM was the HP 9800 series.
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Steve Wozniak designed the Apple-1. The Apple-1 was a single-board computer. This is when Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs started Apple.
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IBM introduced the PC. This computer ran on an Intel microprocessor. This computer started a fast growth in the personal computer market.
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Apple introduced the Macintosh computer. The Macintosh had a mouse and window interface. The famous commercial was played to introduce the Macintosh.
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Microsoft introduced Windows. Microsoft also lined up other applications that ran under Windows (Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel). This helped PCs move more toward user friendly concepts.
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The World Wide Web was released to the public. It included a simple browser, web-server software, and a library. At the time, the World Wide Web was the only way to view the web.
