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Period: Jan 1, 700 to
Computer History Timeline
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Jan 1, 724
Liang Ling- Can
Liang Ling-Can: Liang Ling-Can invents the first fully mechanical clock -
Jan 1, 1492
Leonardo da Vinci
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: 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: William Oughtred develops slide rules -
Clock
Calculating Clock: Invented by Wilhelm Schickard -
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal: Blaise Pascal invents the the "Pascaline", a mechanical adding machine -
Calculus
Gottfried Leibniz: Gottfried Leibniz is known as one of the founding fathers of calculus -
Joseph-Marie Jacquard
Joseph-Marie Jacquard: Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents an automatic loom controlled by punched cards -
Arithometer
Arithmometer: The Arithmometer was the first mass-produced calculator invented by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar -
Mechanical computer
Charles Babbage: Charles Babbage designs his first mechanical computer -
Analytical Engine
Analytical Engine: The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage -
Morse Code
Morse code: Samuel Morse invents Morse code -
Boolean Algebra
Boolean algebra: Boolean algebra is invented by George Boole -
Tabulating Machine
Tabulating Machine: Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard invent the Tabulating Machine -
William Stanley Jevons
William Stanley Jevons: William Stanley Jevons designs a practical logic machine -
Ramon Verea
Ramon Verea: Ramon Verea invents a fast calculator with an internal multiplication table -
Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell: Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone called the Photophone -
Comptometer
Comptometer: The Comptometer is an invention of Dorr E. Felt which is operated by pressing keys -
Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith: Herman Hollerith invents a counting machine which increment mechanical counters -
Radio
Guglielmo Marconi: Radio signals were invented by Guglielmo Marconi -
tabulatin machine company
Tabulating Machine Company: Herman Hollerith forms the Tabulating Machine Company which later becomes IBM -
Remote Control
Nikola Tesla: Remote control was invented by Nikola Tesla -
Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest: Lee De Forest invents the electronic tube -
IBM
IBM: IBM is formed on June 15, 1911 -
Philo Farnsworth
Philo Farnsworth: Television Electronic was invented by Philo Farnsworth -
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird: Electro Mechanical television system was invented by John Logie Baird -
Walther Bothe
Walther Bothe: Walther Bothe develops the logic gate -
Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush: Vannevar Bush develops a partly electronic Difference Engine -
Kurt Godel
Kurt Godel: Kurt Godel publishes a paper on the use of a universal formal language -
Alan Turing
Alan Turing: Alan Turing develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine -
Konard Zuse
Konrad Zuse: Konrad Zuse creates the Z1 Computer a binary digital computer using punch tape -
George Stibitz
George Stibitz: George Stibitz develops the Complex Number Calculator - a foundation for digital computers -
Hewlett Packard
Hewlett Packard: William Hewlett and David Packard start Hewlett Packard -
ABC
John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry: John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry develop the ABC (Atanasoft-Berry Computer) prototype -
Enigma
Enigma: Adolf Hitler uses the Enigma encryption machine -
Colossus
Colossus: Alan Turing develops the the code-breaking machine Colossus -
Aiken & Hopper
Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper: Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper designed the MARK series of computers at Harvard University -
ENIAC
ENIAC: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) -
Computer Bug
Computer Bug: The term computer ‘bug’ as computer bug was first used by Grace Hopper -
F.C. Wlliams
F.C. Williams: F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to random-access memory (RAM) -
Pilot ACE
Pilot ACE: Donald Watts Davies joins Alan Turing to build the fastest digital computer in England at the time, the Pilot ACE -
William Shockley
William Shockley: William Shockley invents the transistor at Bell Labs -
douglas engelbart
Douglas Engelbart: Douglas Engelbart theorises on interactive computing with keyboard and screen display instead of on punchcards -
Andrew Donald Booth
Andrew Donald Booth: Andrew Donald Booth invents magnetic drum memory -
Fredrick Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn
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: Claude Shannon builds the first machine that plays chess -
Howard Aiken
Howard Aiken: Howard Aiken develops the Harvard-MARK III -
Hideo Yamachito
Hideo Yamachito: The first electronic computer is created in Japan by Hideo Yamachito -
Alan Turing
Alan Turing: Alan Turing publishes his paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence which helps create the Turing Test. -
UNIVAC
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 -
EDVAC
EDVAC: The EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) begins performing basic tasks. Unlike the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal -
LEO
LEO: T. Raymond Thompson and John Simmons develop the first business computer, the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) at Lyons Co. -
IBM 701
The IBM 701 becomes available and a total of 19 are sold to the scientific community -
John Backus
John Backus & IBM: John Backus & IBM develop the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language -
Bell Labs
Bell Labs introduces its first transistor computer -
Optical Fiber
Optical fiber was invented by Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss -
Sputnik I & II
Sputnik I and Sputnik II: Sputnik I and Sputnik II are launched by the Russians -
ARPA
ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA is formed -
Silicon Chip
Silicon chip: The first integrated circuit, or silicon chip, is produced by the US Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce -
Paul Baran
Paul Baran: Paul Baran theorises on the "survivability of communication systems under nuclear attack", digital technology and symbiosis between humans and machines -
COBOL
COBOL: The Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) programming language is invented. -
Unimate
Unimate: General Motors puts the first industrial robot, Unimate, to work in a New Jersey factory. -
First computer game
The first computer game: The first computer game Spacewar Computer Game invented BY Steve Russell & MIT -
Computer Mouse
The Computer Mouse: Douglas Engelbart invents and patents the first computer mouse (nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end) -
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is developed to standardize data exchange among computers -
Word processor
Word processor: IBM introduces the first word processor -
BASIC
BASIC: John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz develop Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Language (BASIC) -
Hypertext
Hypertext: Andries van Dam and Ted Nelson coin the term "hypertext" -
Floppy Disk
Floppy Disk: IBM creates the first floppy disk -
Seymour Cray
Seymour Cray: Seymour Cray develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer -
Gary Starkweather
Gary Starkweather: Gary Starkweather invents the laser printer whilst working with Xerox -
ARPANET
ARPANET: 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
RAM: Intel introduces the world's first available dynamic RAM ( random-access memory) chip and the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. -
E-mail
E-mail: E-mail was invented by Ray Tomlinson -
LCD
Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ): Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ) was invented by James Fergason -
Pocket calculator
Pocket calculator: Pocket calculator was invented by Sharp Corporation -
Floppy Disk
Floppy Disk: Floppy Disk was invented by David Noble with IBM - Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility. -
First Video Game
First Video Game: Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game -
CD
The CD: The compact disc is invented in the United States -
LAN
Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs: Robert Metcalfe creates the Ethernet, a local-area network (LAN) protocol -
Personal computer
Personal computer: The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers -
Gateways
Gateways: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn develop gateway routing computers to negotiate between the various national networks -
SQL
SQL: IBM develops SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language ) now known as SQL -
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG: 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 -
Portable Computers
Portable computers: Altair produces the first portable computer -
Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Corporation: 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
Apple: Apple Computers was founded Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs -
Apple II
Apple Computer’s Apple II, the first personal computer with color graphics, is demonstrated -
MODEM
MODEM: Ward Christensen writes the programme "MODEM" allowing two microcomputers to exchange files with each other over a phone line -
Magnetic Tape
Magnetic tape: The first magnetic tape is developed in the US -
Over 1/2 million computers in US
Over half a million computers are in use in the United States -
Paul Allen & Bill Gates
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
Microsoft: MS-DOS Computer Operating System increases its success -
WordPerfect
WordPerfect: WordPerfect Corporation introduces WordPerfect 1.0 a word processing program -
Commodore 64
Commodore 64: The Commodore 64 becomes the best-selling computer of all time. -
SMTP
SMTP: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is introduced -
10 million + computers in the US
More than 10 million computers are in use in the United States -
Windows
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 -
DNS
Domain Name System (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. -
Apple Macintosh
Apple Macintosh: Apple introduces the Macintosh with mouse and window interface -
Cyberspace
Cyberspace: William Gibson coins the word cyberspace when he publishes Neuromancer -
Paul Brainard
Paul Brainard introduces Pagemaker for the Macintosh creating the desktop publishing field. -
nintendo
The Nintendo Entertainment System makes its debut -
30 million + computers in US
More than 30 million computers are in use in the United States. -
Microsoft Works
Microsoft introduces Microsoft Works -
Perl
Larry Wall introduces Perl 1.0 -
+45 million Pcs in US
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 -
Micro. & IBM stop working together
Microsoft and IBM stop working together to develop operating systems -
WWW is launched
The World Wide Web: The World Wide Web is launched to the public on August 6, 1991 -
50 W.W.W servers
At the beginning of the year only 50 World Wide Web servers are known to exist -
W.W.W Consortium
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: YAHOO is created in April, 1994. -
Java
Java: Java is introduced -
Amazon
Amazon: Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos -
EBay
EBay: EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar -
Hotmail
Hotmail: Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia -
WebTV
WebTV: WebTV is introduced -
Altavista
Altavista introduces its free online translator Babel Fish -
Microsoft acquires Hotmail
Microsoft acquires Hotmail -
Google
Google: Google is founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page on September 7, 1998 -
PayPal
PayPal is founded by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin -
Xbox
Xbox: Bill Gates introduces the Xbox on January 7th 2001 -
1 billion PCs sold
Approximately 1 billion PCs been sold -
PayPal is acquired by ebay
PayPal is acquired by eBay -
eBay acquires Skype
September 12: eBay acquires Skype -
Skype had +100 million users
Skype announces that it has over 100 million registered users.
