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Period: Jan 1, 700 to
Computer History
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Jan 1, 724
Liang Ling-Can
Liang Ling-Can invents the first fully mechanical clock. -
Jan 1, 1492
Leonardo da Vinci
Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci depict inventions such as flying machines, including a helicopter, the first mechanical calculator and one of the first programmable robots -
John Napier
John Napier invents a system of moveable rods (Napier's Rods) based on logarithms which was able to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots -
William Oughtred
William Oughtred develops slide rules -
Calculating Clock
Invented by Wilhelm Schickard -
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal invents the the "Pascaline", a mechanical adding machine -
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz is known as one of the founding fathers of calculus -
Joseph-Marie Jacquard
Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents an automatic loom controlled by punched cards -
Arithmometer
The Arithmometer was the first mass-produced calculator invented by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar -
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage designs his first mechanical computer -
Analytical Engine
The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage -
Morse code
Samuel Morse invents Morse code -
Boolean algebra
Boolean algebra: Boolean algebra is invented by George Boole -
Tabulating Machine
Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard invent the Tabulating Machine -
William Stanley Jevons
William Stanley Jevons designs a practical logic machine -
Ramon Verea
Ramon Verea invents a fast calculator with an internal multiplication table -
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone called the Photophone -
Dorr E. Felt
The Comptometer is an invention of Dorr E. Felt which is operated by pressing keys -
Guglielmo Marconi
Radio signals were invented by Guglielmo Marconi -
Nikola Tesla
Remote control was invented by Nikola Tesla -
Lee Dee Forest
Lee De Forest invents the electronic tube -
IBM
IBM is formed on June 15, 1911 -
Philo Farnsworth
Television Electronic was invented by Philo Farnsworth -
John Logie Baird
Electro Mechanical television system was invented by John Logie Baird -
Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush develops a partly electronic Difference Engine -
Kurt Godel
Kurt Godel publishes a paper on the use of a universal formal language -
Alan Turing
Alan Turing develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine -
Konrad Zuse
Konrad Zuse creates the Z1 Computer a binary digital computer using punch tape -
George Stibitz
George Stibitz develops the Complex Number Calculator - a foundation for digital computers -
Enigma
Adolf Hitler uses the Enigma encryption machine -
Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper
Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper designed the MARK series of computers at Harvard University -
ENIAC: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly:
John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) -
F.C. Williams
F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to random-access memory (RAM) -
Douglas Engelbart
Douglas Engelbart theorises on interactive computing with keyboard and screen display instead of on punchcards -
Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn
Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn develop the SSEM "Small Scale Experimental Machine" digital CRT storage which was soon nicknamed the "Baby" -
Claude Shannon
Claude Shannon builds the first machine that plays chess -
Alan Turing
Alan Turing publishes his paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence which helps create the Turing Test. -
UNIVAC
UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was introduced - the first commercial computer made in the United States and designed principally by John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly -
Scientific community
The IBM 701 becomes available and a total of 19 are sold to the scientific community. -
John Backus & IBM
John Backus & IBM develop the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language -
Sputnik
Sputnik I and Sputnik II: Sputnik I and Sputnik II are launched by the Russians -
Hypertext
Andries van Dam and Ted Nelson coin the term "hypertext" -
Floppy Disk
IBM creates the first floppy disk -
Super Computer
Seymour Cray develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer
Gary Starkweather invents the laser printer whilst working with Xerox
The U.S. Department of Defense sets up the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET ) this network was the first building blocks to what the internet is today but originally with the intention of creating a computer network that could withstand any type of disaster. -
RAM
Intel introduces the world's first available dynamic RAM ( random-access memory) chip and the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. -
Email and Floppy disk
E-mail was invented by Ray Tomlinson
Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ): Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ) was invented by James Fergason Pocket calculator was invented by Sharp Corporation Floppy Disk was invented by David Noble with IBM - Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility. -
First video game
Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game
The compact disc is invented in the United States. -
Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs
Robert Metcalfe creates the Ethernet, a local-area network (LAN) protocol
The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers
Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn develop gateway routing computers to negotiate between the various national networks -
SEQUEL
IBM develops SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language ) now known as SQL
Charles Simonyi coins the term WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) to describe the ability of being able to display a file or document exactly how it is going to be printed or viewed -
Altair Portable Computers
Altair produces the first portable computer
The Microsoft Corporation was founded April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800 -
Apple was founded
Apple Computers was founded Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs -
Apple Computers
Apple Computer’s Apple II, the first personal computer with color graphics, is demonstrated
Ward Christensen writes the programme "MODEM" allowing two microcomputers to exchange files with each other over a phone line -
Magnetic Tape
The first magnetic tape is developed in the US -
Computer owners
Over half a million computers are in use in the United States. -
Paul Allen and Bill Gates
IBM hires Paul Allen and Bill Gates to create an operating system for a new PC. They buy the rights to a simple operating system manufactured by Seattle Computer Products and use it as a template to develop DOS. -
Microsoft
MS-DOS Computer Operating System increases its success -
WordPerfect
WordPerfect Corporation introduces WordPerfect 1.0 a word processing program
The Commodore 64 becomes the best-selling computer of all time. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is introduced -
DNS
Domain Name System (DNS) pioneered by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris and Craig Partridge. Seven 'top-level' domain names are initially introduced: edu, com, gov, mil, net, org and int. Windows: Microsoft Windows introduced eliminating the need for a user to have to type each command, like MS-DOS, by using a mouse to navigate through drop-down menus, tabs and icons -
Apple Macintosh
Apple introduces the Macintosh with mouse and window interface
William Gibson coins the word cyberspace when he publishes Neuromancer -
Nintendo
Paul Brainard introduces Pagemaker for the Macintosh creating the desktop publishing field. The Nintendo Entertainment System makes its debut. -
Computers
More than 30 million computers are in use in the United States. -
Microsoft
Microsoft introduces Microsoft Works -
PC owners
Over 45 million PCs are in use in the United States. -
The Internet, World Wide Web & Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau propose a 'hypertext' system starting the modern Internet -
WWW
The World Wide Web is launched to the public on August 6, 1991 -
World Wide Web Servers
At the beginning of the year only 50 World Wide Web servers are known to exist -
Yahoo
The World Wide Web Consortium is founded by Tim Berners-Lee to help with the development of common protocols for the evolution of the World Wide Web
YAHOO: YAHOO is created in April, 1994. -
Stuff Founded
Java is introduced
Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos
EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar
Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia. -
Hotmail, Babel Fish
Altavista introduces its free online translator Babel Fish
Microsoft acquires Hotmail -
Google
Google is founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page -
Xbox
Bill Gates introduces the Xbox on January 7th 2001. -
PayPal and PC's
Approximately 1 billion PCs been sold
PayPal is acquired by eBay -
eBay
eBay acquires Skype -
Skype
Skype announces that it has over 100 million registered users.
