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Patent for Electric Tabulating Machine
Hollerith received the first patents for his Electric Tabulating Machine -
Logo Change
Edward Canby and Orange O. Ozias purchased the patents for the newly invented computing scale and incorporated the Computing Scale Company for the production of commercial scales -
Tabulating Machine Company
Herman Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company, later incorporated in 1905 -
Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company
Charles F. Flint, a trust organizer, oversaw the merger of Herman Hollerith's Tabulating Machine Company with two others: the Computing Scale Company of America and the International Time Recording Company. The three companies merged into one company called the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company -
Thomas J. Watson, Senior
Former executive at the National Cash Register Company, Thomas J. Watson, Senior becomes the general manager of C-T-R. -
International Business Machines
Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company is renamed the International Business Machines Corporation or IBM. -
Accounting Contract With U.S. Government
The U.S. Social Security Act was passed in 1935 and IBM's punched card equipment was used by the U.S. government to create and maintain employment records for the then current population of 26 million Americans. -
IBM's First Computer The Mark 1
IBM and Harvard University jointly developed and built a Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator or ASCC , also known as the Mark I. This was IBM's first attempt to build a computer. -
Logo Change
IBM borrowed on the equities in its brand image and reputation to help carry it through a difficult transition from the punched-card tabulating business to computers. It began with a change to the logotype, the first in 22 years. The new logo appeared on the masthead of the January 1, 1947 issue of Business Machines with surprisingly little fanfare. The familiar "globe" was replaced with the simple letters "IBM" in a typeface called Beton Bold. -
IBM 701
The IBM 701 was built, IBM's first solo computer project and its first production computer. -
Magnetic Hard Disk Storage
The RAMAC 305 and RAMAC 650 machines were built. RAMAC stood for Random Access Method of Accounting and Control machines. RAMAC machines used magnetic hard disks for data storage. -
Thomas Watson, Jr.
Tom Watson, Jr. moved quickly, using both actions and symbols to signify a new era. The first visible expression was a relatively subtle change in the company's logotype subtle, in part, to communicate that any changes would come within an overall continuity. Created by noted graphic designer Paul Rand, the new logotype replaced the former Beton Bold typography with City Medium, as the letters "IBM" took on a more solid, grounded and balanced appearance. -
Logo Change
The company introduced a new version of the logotype. Designed by Paul Rand, horizontal stripes now replaced the solid letters to suggest "speed and dynamism." In the intervening quarter-century, the basic design has remained constant, one of the most recognized logotypes in the world, and a design that has been widely imitated by others. -
Scanning Tunneling Microscope
IBM scientists discover how to move and position individual atoms on a metal surface, using a scanning tunneling microscope. The technique is demonstrated at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, where scientists created the world's first structure: the letters "I-B-M" - assembled one atom at a time.
