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Joseph Marie Jacquard invents a loom
Loom that uses punched wooden cards to automatically weave fabric designs. -
Steam-driven calculating machine
English mathematician Charles Babbage conceives of a steam-driven calculating machine that would be able to compute tables of numbers. -
Punch card system
Herman Hollerith designs a punch card system to calculate the 1880 census, accomplishing the task in just three years and saving the government $5 million. -
J.V. Atanasoff
Attempts to build the first computer without gears, cams, belts or shafts. -
Curt Herzstark designs calculator
Curt Herzstark made history as the smallest all-mechanical, four-function calculator ever built. -
Manchester Mark I
Built by a team led by engineers Frederick Williams and Tom Kilburn, the Mark I serves as the prototype for Ferranti’s first computer – the Ferranti Mark 1. -
Project Whirlwind
During World War II, the US Navy approaches the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) about building a flight simulator to train bomber crews. -
MIT researchers build the TX-o
The TX-0 is the first general-purpose programmable computer built with transistors. -
Librascope LGP-30 Introduced
Physicist Stan Frankel, intrigued by small, general-purpose computers, developed the MINAC at Caltech. Librascope division of defense contractor General Precision buys Frankel’s design, renaming it the LGP-30 -
Digital Equipment Corporation introduce PDP-8
The Canadian Chalk River Nuclear Lab needed a special device to monitor a reactor. Instead of designing a custom controller, two young engineers from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) -- Gordon Bell and Edson de Castro -- do something unusual: they develop a small, general purpose computer and program it to do the job. -
Bell Labs produce UNIX
Operating system that addressed compatibility issues. Written in the C programming language, UNIX was portable across multiple platforms and became the operating system of choice among mainframes at large companies and government entities. -
Teletype introduced
At a cost to computer makers of roughly $700, the ASR-33 Teletype is originally designed as a low cost terminal for the Western Union communications network. -
Alan Shugart
Leads a team of IBM engineers who invent the "floppy disk," allowing data to be shared among computers. -
Robert Metcalfe develops Ethernet
Robert Metcalfe, a member of the research staff for Xerox, develops Ethernet for connecting multiple computers and other hardware. -
The first IBM personal computer
Acorn," is introduced. It uses Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system. It has an Intel chip, two floppy disks and an optional color monitor. -
Microsoft announces Windows
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Pentium microprocessor
The Pentium microprocessor advances the use of graphics and music on PCs. -
Google search engine
Sergey Brin and Larry Page develop the Google search engine at Stanford University. -
Microsoft
Microsoft invests $150 million in Apple -
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi becomes part of the computing language and users begin connecting to the Internet without wires.