1950s cover photo

Technology of the 1950s

  • UNIVAC I

    UNIVAC I
    The UNIVAC was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly in 1951. It was the first commercially produced digital computer at the time a was made to replace the punch card machines. It was the fastest business device at the time with fast execution of simple arithmetic and data transport operations.
  • A-0 system

    A-0 system
    A-0, also known as Arithmetic Language version 0, was written and completed in 1952 by Grace Hopper. A-0 translated mathematical codes into machine-readable, binary codes to give a computer instructions. She paved the way for future programmers and helped in the creation of modern programming languages.
  • Fortran

    Fortran
    Fortran was created John Backus in 1954, and is still widely used today. It is a general purpose programming language mainly used for mathematical computations. It made many opportunities in modern day computing possible.
  • Microchip

    Microchip
    In 1958, Jack Kilby created the first integrated circuit (microchip). The microchip is a single component that can act as may things including an amplifier, counter, timer, computer memory, and microprocessor. It's a big reason why phones and computers are so widespread today.
  • LISP

    LISP
    LISP (list processing) was created by John McCarthy in 1958. It is a programming language which helped programmers easily manipulate data strings. LISP is still widely used today for AI programs.