The Story of the Computer

By BasilisAggelou

  • 1642: Pascaline Created by Blaise Pascal

    1642: Pascaline Created by Blaise Pascal
    Blaise Pascal invents the Pascaline, an early mechanical calculator for basic addition and subtraction. It uses gears and wheels to perform simple arithmetic tasks automatically, one of the very first attempts at automating calculation

  • 1671: Leibniz and the Leibniz Wheel

    1671: Leibniz and the Leibniz Wheel
    Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz invents the Leibniz Wheel, adding multiplication and division to mechanical calculation. This opened a way for machines beyond the basic addition and subtraction to do more complex arithmetic.

  • 1804: Jacquard Loom and Automated Weaving

    1804: Jacquard Loom and Automated Weaving
    Invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard, the Jacquard Loom, using punch cards controlling the weaving pattern to automatically design textiles. This approach of punch cards inspired further programmable systems and computers.

  • 1823: Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine

    1823: Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine
    Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine, a mechanical calculator, to be used for computing mathematical tables. Partially built, it laid the foundation for more complicated computing machines.

  • 1837: Babbage’s Analytical Engine

    1837: Babbage’s Analytical Engine
    Babbage develops the Analytical Engine, which is the first general-purpose computing design that incorporates a memory unit and a basic CPU equivalent. It introduced basic concepts in programming and data processing.

  • 1890: Hollerith’s Tabulating Machine

    1890: Hollerith’s Tabulating Machine
    Herman Hollerith invents the Tabulating Machine, which used punch cards to process information for the U.S. Census much quicker than various methods used in the past. This invention greatly revolutionized data processing and later led to the founding of IBM.