Computer History Timeline

Computer History Timeline

History Timelines of the United States of America

		2400 BC	Abacus: The abacus, the first known calculator, was invented in Babylonia
		500 BC	Panini: Introduced the forerunner to modern formal language theory
		300 BC	Pingala: Pingala invented the binary number system
		87 BC	Antikythera Mechanism: Built in Rhodes to track movement of the stars
		60 AD	Heron of Alexandria: Heron of Alexandria invents machines which follow a series of instructions
		724	Liang Ling-Can: Liang Ling-Can invents the first fully mechanical clock
		1492	Leonardo da Vinci: Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci depict inventions such as flying machines, including a helicopter, the first mechanical calculator and one of the first programmable robots
		1614	John Napier: John Napier invents a system of moveable rods (Napier's Rods) based on logarithms which was able to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots
		1622	William Oughtred: William Oughtred develops slide rules
		1623	Calculating Clock: Invented by Wilhelm Schickard
		1642	Blaise Pascal: Blaise Pascal invents the the "Pascaline", a mechanical adding machine
		1671	Gottfried Leibniz: Gottfried Leibniz is known as one of the founding fathers of calculus
		1801	Joseph-Marie Jacquard: Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents an automatic loom controlled by punched cards
		1820	Arithmometer: The Arithmometer was the first mass-produced calculator invented by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar
		1822	Charles Babbage: Charles Babbage designs his first mechanical computer
		1834	Analytical Engine: The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage
		1835	Morse code: Samuel Morse invents Morse code
		1848	Boolean algebra: Boolean algebra is invented by George Boole
		1853	Tabulating Machine: Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard invent the Tabulating Machine
		1869	William Stanley Jevons: William Stanley Jevons designs a practical logic machine
		1878	Ramon Verea: Ramon Verea invents a fast calculator with an internal multiplication table
		1880	Alexander Graham Bell: Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone called the Photophone
		1884	Comptometer: The Comptometer is an invention of Dorr E. Felt which is operated by pressing keys
		1890	Herman Hollerith: Herman Hollerith invents a counting machine which  increment mechanical counters
		1895	Guglielmo Marconi: Radio signals were invented by Guglielmo Marconi
		1896	Tabulating Machine Company:  Herman Hollerith forms the Tabulating Machine Company which later becomes IBM
		1898	Nikola Tesla: Remote control was invented by  Nikola Tesla
		1906	Lee De Forest: Lee De Forest invents the electronic tube
		1911	IBM: IBM is formed on June 15, 1911
		1923	Philo Farnsworth: Television Electronic was invented by  Philo Farnsworth
		1924	John Logie Baird:  Electro Mechanical television system was invented by John Logie Baird Walther Bothe: Walther Bothe develops the logic gate
		1930	Vannevar Bush: Vannevar Bush develops a partly electronic Difference Engine
		1931	Kurt Godel:  Kurt Godel publishes a paper on the use of a universal formal language
		1937	Alan Turing: Alan Turing develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine
		1938	Konrad Zuse: Konrad Zuse creates the Z1 Computer a binary digital computer using punch tape
		1939	George Stibitz: George Stibitz develops the Complex Number Calculator - a foundation for digital computers Hewlett Packard: William Hewlett and David Packard start Hewlett Packard John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry: John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry develop the ABC (Atanasoft-Berry Computer) prototype
		1943	Enigma: Adolf Hitler uses the Enigma encryption machine Colossus: Alan Turing develops the code-breaking machine Colossus
		1944	Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper: Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper designed the MARK series of computers at Harvard University
		1945	ENIAC: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) Computer Bug: The term computer ‘bug’ as computer bug was first used by Grace Hopper
		1946	F.C. Williams: F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to  random-access memory (RAM)
		1947	Pilot ACE: Donald Watts Davies joins Alan Turing to build the fastest digital computer in England at the time, the Pilot ACE William Shockley: William Shockley invents the transistor at Bell Labs Douglas Engelbart: Douglas Engelbart theorises on interactive computing with keyboard and screen display instead of on punchcards
		1948	Andrew Donald Booth: Andrew Donald Booth invents magnetic drum memory Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn: Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn develop the SSEM "Small Scale Experimental Machine" digital CRT storage which was soon nicknamed the "Baby"
		1949	Claude Shannon: Claude Shannon builds the first machine that plays chess Howard Aiken: Howard Aiken develops the Harvard-MARK III
		1950	Hideo Yamachito: The first electronic computer is created in Japan by Hideo Yamachito. Alan Turing: Alan Turing publishes his paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence which helps create the Turing Test.
		1951	LEO:  T. Raymond Thompson and  John Simmons develop the first business computer, the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) at Lyons Co. UNIVAC: UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was introduced -  the first commercial computer made in the United States and designed principally by John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly EDVAC: The EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) begins performing basic tasks. Unlike the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal
		1953	The IBM 701 becomes available and a total of 19 are sold to the scientific community.
		1954	John Backus & IBM: John Backus & IBM develop the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language
		1955	Bell Labs introduces its first transistor computer.
		1956	Optical fiber was invented by  Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss
		1957	Sputnik I and Sputnik II: Sputnik I and Sputnik II are launched by the Russians
		1958	ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA is formed Silicon chip: The first integrated circuit, or silicon chip, is produced by the US Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce
		1959	Paul Baran: Paul Baran theorises on the "survivability of communication systems under nuclear attack", digital technology and symbiosis between humans and machines
		1960	COBOL: The Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) programming language is invented.
		1961	Unimate: General Motors puts the first industrial robot, Unimate, to work in a New Jersey factory.
		1962	The first computer game:  The first computer game Spacewar Computer Game invented BY Steve Russell & MIT
		1963	The Computer Mouse: Douglas Engelbart invents and patents the first computer mouse (nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end) The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is developed to standardize data exchange among computers.
		1964	Word processor: IBM introduces the first word processor BASIC: John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz develop Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Language (BASIC)
		1965	Hypertext:  Andries van Dam and Ted Nelson coin the term "hypertext"
		1967	Floppy Disk: IBM creates the first floppy disk
		1969	Seymour Cray: Seymour Cray develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer Gary Starkweather: Gary Starkweather invents the laser printer whilst working with Xerox ARPANET:  The U.S. Department of Defense sets up the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET ) this network was the first building blocks to what the internet is today but originally with the intention of creating a computer network that could withstand any type of disaster.
		1970	RAM: Intel  introduces the world's first available dynamic RAM ( random-access memory) chip and the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
		1971	E-mail: E-mail was invented by  Ray Tomlinson Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ): Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ) was invented by  James Fergason Pocket calculator: Pocket calculator was invented by Sharp Corporation Floppy Disk: Floppy Disk was invented by  David Noble with IBM - Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.
		1972	First Video Game: Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game The CD: The compact disc is invented in the United States.
		1973	Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs: Robert Metcalfe creates the Ethernet, a local-area network (LAN) protocol Personal computer: The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers Gateways: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn develop gateway routing computers to negotiate between the various national networks
		1974	SQL: IBM develops SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language ) now known as SQL WYSIWYG:  Charles Simonyi coins the term WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) to describe the ability of being able to display a file or document exactly how it is going to be printed or viewed
		1975	Portable computers: Altair produces the first portable computer Microsoft Corporation: The Microsoft Corporation was founded April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800
		1976	Apple: Apple Computers was founded Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs
		1977	Apple Computer’s Apple II, the first personal computer with color graphics, is demonstrated MODEM: Ward Christensen writes the programme "MODEM" allowing two microcomputers to exchange files with each other over a phone line
		1978	Magnetic tape: The first magnetic tape is developed in the US
		1979	Over half a million computers are in use in the United States.
		1980	Paul Allen and Bill Gates: IBM hires Paul Allen and Bill Gates to create an operating system for a new PC. They buy the rights to a simple operating system manufactured by Seattle Computer Products and use it as a template to develop DOS.
		1981	Microsoft: MS-DOS Computer Operating System increases its success
		1982	WordPerfect: WordPerfect Corporation introduces WordPerfect 1.0 a word processing program Commodore 64:  The Commodore 64 becomes the best-selling computer of all time. SMTP: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is introduced
		1983	More than 10 million computers are in use in the United States Domain Name System (DNS): Domain Name System (DNS) pioneered by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris and Craig Partridge. Seven 'top-level' domain names are initially introduced: edu, com, gov, mil, net, org and int. Windows: Microsoft Windows introduced eliminating the need for a user to have to type each command, like MS-DOS, by using a mouse to navigate through drop-down menus, tabs and icons
		1984	Apple Macintosh: Apple introduces the Macintosh with mouse and window interface Cyberspace: William Gibson coins the word cyberspace when he publishes Neuromancer
		1985	Paul Brainard: Paul Brainard introduces Pagemaker for the Macintosh creating the desktop publishing field. Nintendo: The Nintendo Entertainment System makes its debut.
		1986	More than 30 million computers are in use in the United States.
		1987	Microsoft introduces Microsoft Works Perl: Larry Wall introduces Perl 1.0
		1988	Over 45 million PCs are in use in the United States.
		1990	The Internet, World Wide Web & Tim Berners-Lee:  Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau propose a 'hypertext' system starting the modern Internet Microsoft and IBM stop working together to develop operating systems
		1991	The World Wide Web: The World Wide Web is launched to the public on August 6, 1991
		1993	At the beginning of the year only 50 World Wide Web servers are known to exist
		1994	The World Wide Web Consortium is founded by Tim Berners-Lee to help with the development of common protocols for the evolution of the World Wide Web YAHOO: YAHOO is created in April, 1994.
		1995	Java: Java is introduced Amazon: Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos EBay: EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar Hotmail: Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia.
		1996	WebTV: WebTV is introduced
		1997	Altavista introduces its free online translator Babel Fish Microsoft acquires Hotmail
		1998	Google: Google is founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page on September 7, 1998 PayPal is founded by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin
		2001	Xbox: Bill Gates introduces the Xbox on January 7th 2001.
		2002	Approximately 1 billion PCs been sold PayPal is acquired by eBay
		2005	September 12: eBay acquires Skype
		2006	Skype announces that it has over 100 million registered users.