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600 BCE
Discovery and future uses of Electricity
Although electricity was discovered in 600 BCE by the Greeks, it took more than 2,200 years for any practical applications to be discovered. Some of the first uses of electricity were to create the first battery and to create a telegraph machine. From there more and more inventions were created that used electricity and batteries, making electricity incredibly pervasive in our world. Fun fact: Electricity travels at the speed of light -- more than 186,000 miles per second! -
500
Sources (pt. 1)
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-alexander-graham-bell https://www.tutorialspoint.com/fortran/fortran_overview.htm#:~:text=%20Facts%20about%20Fortran%20%201%20Fortran%20was,for%20character%20strings%20and%20other%20structures...%20More%20 https://www.incrediblelab.com/interesting-computer-facts/#:~:text=1.%20The%20first%20electronic%20computer%20ENIAC%20weighed%20more,physical%20money%2C%20the%20rest%20only%20exists%20on%20computers. -
501
Sources (pt. 2)
http://www.eingang.org/Lecture/pascaline.html https://fossbytes.com/10-interesting-facts-internet-really-need-know/#:~:text=29%20Interesting%20Facts%20About%20The%20Internet%20You%20Really,sent%20are%20spam.%206%20...%20(more%20items) http://www.berwickelectric.com/the-electrical-blog/bid/71719/10-Fun-Facts-about-Electricity#:~:text=10%20Fun%20Facts%20about%20Electricity%201%20Electricity%20travels,shocks%20of%20around%20500%20volts%20for%20both%20self-defense -
Invention of the Mechanical Calculator
Blaise Pascal invented the first calculator so that he could speed up the chore of adding numbers for tax collecting. The invention of Pascal's calculator would lead Leibniz to create his own calculator, this time, however, it was not only capable of adding, but also subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. These early calculators were the beginnings of computers. Fun facts: the original calculator was called the Pascaline and its design was based on a description from Hero of Alexandria. -
Invention of the Telephone
The telephone, which was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, was essentially an improved version of the telegraph. At first, the telephone was used for businesses, but its use, of course, has spread significantly. The telephone allows for greater communication across long distances which is incalculably valuable. Fun facts: Bell also invented an early version of a wireless telephone. However, it could not reach full actualization as the technology of the time could not support it. -
Creation of the first Programming Languages
The first improvement in programming languages was assembly language; this was the first of many steps in enhancing computer programming. With the creation of higher-level languages such as FORTRAN, COBOL, and BASIC computer programming grew, and with the improvement of programming languages came the overall improvement of computers and increased accessibility of computers. Fun facts: there are now more than six versions of FORTRAN many obsolete, but some are still in use to this day. -
Invention of the Personal Computer
The Altair 8800 was an early personal computer created by a company called MITS. It was followed up by Apple's Apple I and Apple II computers, the latter being one of the most popular personal computers ever. Personal computers would soon be adopted more and more by businesses validating their use. The work of this time would be the stepping stones to the computers we possess today. Fun fact: only about 10% of the world’s currency is physical money, the rest only exists on computers. -
Invention of the Internet
The creation of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP) were instrumental to the invention of the internet. TCP handles messages being sent to and from computers using packets. IP is the set of rules for routing data between computers. The internet's impact on the world cannot be understated. It has had major impacts on every industry and field. Fun fact: Approximately 3.2 billion people use the internet.
