Computer History Timeline

  • The Turing Machine

    The Turing Machine
    Alan Turing created this universal machine that could compute anything computable. Everything was based on his own ideas.
  • Hewlett-Packard

    Hewlett-Packard
    Hewlett-Packard aka (HP) was founded by David Packard and Bill Hewlett.
  • The Atanasoff-Berry Computer

    The Atanasoff-Berry Computer
    John Atanasoff and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, designed a computer that can solve 29 equations simultaneously. This marked the first time a computer was able to store information in its main memory.
  • The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC)

    The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC)
    John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert build the ENIAC. Considered the grandfather of digital computers, it fills a 20-foot by 40-foot room and has 18,000 vacuum tubes.
  • The Graphical User Interface

    The Graphical User Interface
    Douglas Engelbart shows a prototype of the modern computer, with a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI). This marks the evolution of the computer from a machine for technology that is available to the public.
  • The Apple 1

    The Apple 1
    Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak start Apple Computers on April Fool's Day and begin the Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board.
  • PC (personal computer)

    PC (personal computer)
    PCs become gaming machines.
  • Wi-Fi

    Wi-Fi
    The term Wi-Fi becomes part of the computing language and users begin connecting to the Internet without wires.
  • MacBook Pro

    MacBook Pro
    Apple introduces the MacBook Pro, a mobile computer, as well as an Intel-based iMac.
  • Molecular Informatics

    Molecular Informatics
    DARPA is developed new "Molecular Informatics" program that uses molecules as computers.