History Of Technology Project

By Gavin P.
  • 3000 BCE

    Chinese Abacus

    Chinese Abacus
    The Chinese abacus was invented in 3000 BC by the Chinese and its significance is it was really the first computer to ever be invented.

  • Slide Rule

    Slide Rule
    The Slide Rule was invented in 1622 by William Oughtred. It was significant because it was faster than the Chinese Abacus and it could do more functions like square roots and could use non-whole numbers (like 1.5).

  • Arithmetic Engine

    Arithmetic Engine
    The Arithmetic Engine was invented in 1642 by Blaise Pascal. It is significant because it was the first known device to combine gears and punch cards.

  • Analytical Engine

    Analytical Engine
    The Analytical Engine was never truly invented but parts of it were in 1837 by Charles Babbage. It was significant in that it was the first programmble computer, it could do looping, branching , and sequential control. Ada Lovelace could also be named as a co-inventer because she thought of the idea that it could be programmed.

  • Census Tabulator

    Census Tabulator
    The Census Tabulator was created in 1888 by Herman Hollerith. It was significant in that it was the first commercially successful computer (it was one of the first computers to make money) It was created to calculate the U.S. Census. It was created by the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. Which was renamed in 1924 to International Business Machines (IBM).

  • Vacuum Tube

    Vacuum Tube
    The Vacuum Tube was invented in 1904 by John Ambrose Fleming. They were significant in that they used binary, which reduced error. They were also faster and more reliable than the gear-using computers. Their were two types, gain and switch, we only care about the switch.

  • Colossus

    Colossus
    The Colossus was invented in 1943 by British Intelligence. It was significant because it was used to decipher German naval messages which helped during WWII. It was also one of the first computers to use Vacuum Tubes.

  • E.N.I.A.C.

    E.N.I.A.C.
    The ENIAC was invented in 1945 by the U.S. Army. It was significant in that It was the first computer used in WWII by the U.S. Army and one of the first created by the U.S. Army.

  • Transistor

    Transistor
    The Transistor was invented in 1925 but didn't get patented until 1947 by Bell Labs which is more properly when it was invented because it was never useable until 1947. Same Idea as the vacuum tube (had gain and switching). It was significant in that it was much smaller, faster, heat effecient, energy effecient, and more reliable than the vacuum tubes.

  • IBM 650

    IBM 650
    The IBM 650 was invented in 1954 by IBM. It was significant in that It was the first mass-produced computer. Which means they sold 120 a year, which is hysterical compared to what we have now.

  • The Integrated Circuit

    The Integrated Circuit
    The integrated circuit was invented in 1958 by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce (Texas Instruments and Silicone Valley) who both ended cross-licensing the technology. It was significant in the fact that it was really easy to make small and required no soldering. This was the revolution that birthed the Modern CPU.

  • Altair 8800

    Altair 8800
    The Altair 8800 was invented in 1975 by MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems). It was significant in that it was one of the first computers to use the Intel 8080 line of processors.

  • Apple II

    Apple II
    The Apple II was invented in 1977 by the Steves (Steve Jobs And Wozniak). It was significant in that it was one of the first proprietary design and it was the invention that made the modern computer layout.

  • IBM PC

    IBM PC
    The IBM PC was made in 1981 by IBM. It was significant in that it was built from off the shelf parts, but you had to have the BIOS from IBM. This made it possible for consumers (like myself) to create their own computers. True while you can get BIOS's that are made by ASUS, ASUS still had to pay IBM for the right to do that.

  • Macintosh

    Macintosh
    The Macintosh was made in 1984 by Apple Computer Inc. It was significant in the fact that it was the first computer to have a mouse and GUI. Meaning it basically was the first computer to have a OS.

  • iPhone

    iPhone
    The iPhone was made in 2007 by Apple Inc. The iPhone was significant in that it was the first computer to use Multi-touch which ushered in that era. It was also significant in that it put a computer into everyone's pocket. Also I mean, it was the first touch screen phone and the first time you could always have a computer with you which was super revolutionary.