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The CNC
The Complex Number Calculator (CNC) was invented by George Stibitz in 1937 but was placed in production in 1940. This machine can add, subtract, multiply, or divide complex numbers. The machine itself was built from flashlight bulbs and a switch made out of a tobacco tin. George thought that we could use telephone switching systems for something more. The brain of the machine has 450 telephone relays. -
The Z3 Computer
Designed by Konrad Zuse in 1938 this was the third adaptation of the program. Zuse created Z1 and Z2 but was dismissed by professors since it only worked for a few minutes. The Z3 is the world's first programmable computer using 2,600 relays. The computer had R1 and R2 designations. When information was placed on R1 it would store it and new information would go on R2 then R1 would get cleared and information would stay on R2. -
The ABC
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the world's first automatic electronic digital computer. It is also known as the first computer to use vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes allowed the computer to process information at faster speeds than relays. The computer was able to compute complex algebraic equations but was not programmable and did not have memory designations. The computer used 300 vacuum tubes and about 1 mile worth of wiring, it weighed 700 pounds and was the size of a desk. -
The Curta
The Curta is the world's first pocketable calculator. It was designed and manufactured by Curt Herzstark in Germany. The Curta was designed in the 1930s however, in 1938 Curt was arrested and sent to a concentration camp by the Nazis. Due to its look, it was coined the nickname the "Math Grenade." -
The Colossus
This design was created by Tommy Flowers and is a set of computers that were invented to decipher German codes from intercepted radiotelegraphs. This machine was kept secret from the government until 1970. It used 2,500 vacuum tubes. Many people believed that this machine sped up the end of the war. What took many weeks to decipher, this machine did it in hours. (Please watch the Imitation Game before Doctor Strange) -
The Plankalkül (Plan Calculus)
Plankalkul is the world's first high-level programming language designed for a computer. The designer is Konrad Zuse and it was created for his computer Z3. During World War 2 Zuse was focused on perfecting his computer the Z3 which some say contributed to the failure of the first high-level programming language. -
The ENIAC
The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first programmable electronic digital computer. Many computers had some of these functions however, ENIAC was the first all-in-one computer at the time. The computer was designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert and it was used by the Army to study thermonuclear weapons. This computer had 18,000 vacuum tubes. -
The Williams Tube
The Williams Tube was the first random-access digital storage device. It was designed and created by Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn. The duo used cathode ray tubes like what TVs have inside of them and was able to store bits on dots in the screen. It was able to store 2,560 bits of data in one tube. -
The Manchester Baby
The Manchester Baby also known as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) was the first electronic stored-program computer. The computer was built by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Tootill. This machine was designed as a tester for the Willams Tube the first random access memory that was created a year before this computer. This tester brought forth the Manchester Mark I computer. This computer contained all the elements of what we have now in modern computers. -
The Modem
The first modem was born in 1949. Another military project from the US Air Force was created for transmitting radio signals. The modulation of data into sounds and the demodulation of sounds in data created the name modem. (MODulation+DEModution)