Computer History of the 1960's

  • Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS)

    This system was developed at MIT under the direction of Fernando Corbató. CTSS allowed multiple users to share a single computer, which was a great way to keep up with the increasing demand for computers.
  • Atlas computer

    The Atlas computer was developed by a team at the University of Manchester under the direction of Tom Kilburn. It was one of the worlds first supercomputers, and was considered the most powerful computer in the world at the time of its debut.
  • BASIC Programming Language

    Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, or BASIC for short, was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz. This programming language allowed people to 'communicate' with the computer through a terminal instead of manual input and output with punch cards. The language was also incredibly teachable, which made the field much more accessible.
  • Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)

    Created by Robert H. Dennard, this was a memory chip that greatly increased the memory capacity of computers and was cheaper and more accessible to the average consumer than previous memory devices. It's even still used today in many devices.
  • Network Control Protocol

    Researchers at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), were the ones to combine years of development into creating this network, which is considered to be the birth of the internet. This was essentially the first network that allowed computers to communicate with each other over long distances.