Inventions in Computer History for the 1940s

By ncourson

  • World War II started

    World War II started
    Athough the conflict was started earlier, the war did not officially begin until September 1, 1939.

  • First Handheld 2-way radio created

    First Handheld 2-way radio created
    The first handheld two-way radio called the "Handy Talkie" is created by Motorola for the U.S. Army Signal Control by Donald Mitchell. He recognized the strategic value of portable communications when less portable radios were being abandoned in the mud and confusion of battle.

  • ENIAC begins construction

    ENIAC begins construction
    ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) is considered to be the first electronic computer. It was designed and invented by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly to calculate artillery firing tables for the US Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory.

  • Mark 1 Colossus computer became operational

    Mark 1 Colossus computer became operational
    The Colossus was the first electric programmable computer used by the British during WW2. It was used as a codebreaker to decode the Lorenz cipher providing valuable military intelligence during the war. By the end of the war, there were ten total Colossus computers in use. It was programmed by programmers who would change one of the hundreds of different wires that were plugged into plugboards.

  • WW2 ended

    WW2 ended
    officially concluded with the signing of the peace treaty with Japan.

  • ENIAC completed

    Although it was not completed until the end of the war, during the war, there was a shortage of male engineers so the programming was done by a team of six women computers (people who did computations): Betty Jean Jennings, Marilyn Wescoff, Ruth Lichterman, Elizabeth Snyder, Frances Bilas, and Kathleen McNulty.
    Was turned off for the last time in 1955. Its estimated to have performed more arithmetic than the entire human race before 1945.

  • First Trackball device invented

    First Trackball device invented
    Was invented by Ralph Benjamin. Named the "roller ball," it was designed for use with a military radar plotting system. A prototype device was developed, and its use was a military secret, never released to the public. It was later picked up and designed upon in 1952 by engineers from Ferranti Canada. (Pictured is the Ferranti version)

  • First Transistor invented

    First Transistor invented
    Invented at Bell Laboratories by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. It is made up of semiconductors and is the primary building block of all microchips including the CPU. It replaced vacuum tubes and is in virtually all electronic devices today.