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E.N.I.A.C.
Two professors named John Mauchly and J.Presper Eckert built the Electronic Numerical Intergrator and Calculator, that could take up a 20 by 40 foot room -
UNIVAC
Presper and Mauchly get funding to build the U.N.I.V.A.C. the first comercial computer for business and government applications -
COBOL
Grace Hopper develops the first computer language, which eventually becomes know as COBOL. Inventory Thomas Johnson Watson, Jr., son of IBM CEO Thomas Johnson Watson, Sr., conceives the IBM 701 EDPM to help the United Nations keep tabs on Korea during the war -
FORTRAN
The FORTRAN programming language is born. -
Computer Chip
Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce unveil the integrated circuit, known as the computer chip. -
Prototype
Douglas Engelbart shows a prototype of the modern computer, with a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI). This marks the evolution of the computer from a specialized machine for scientists and mathematicians to technology that is more accessible to the general public -
DRAM
The newly formed Intel unveils the Intel 1103, the first Dynamic Access Memory (DRAM) chip. -
Floppy disk
Alan Shugart leads a team of IBM engineers who invent the floppy disk,” allowing data to be shared among computers. -
Ethernet
Robert Metcalfe, a member of the research staff for Xerox, develops Ethernet for connecting multiple computers and other hardware. -
IBM
The IBM 5100 becomes the first commercially available portable computer -
Apple computer
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak start Apple Computers on April Fool’s Day and roll out the Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board -
Apple 2
Jobs and Wozniak incorporate Apple and show the Apple II at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It offers color graphics and incorporates an audio cassette drive for storage -
TRS-80
Radio Shack's initial production run of the TRS-80 was just 3,000. It sold like crazy. For the first time, non-geeks could write programs and make a computer do what they wished. -
Mark 8
A number of personal computers hit the market, including Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair, IBM 5100, RadioShack’s TRS-80—affectionately known as the “Trash 80,” and the Commodore PET -
VisiCalc
Accountants rejoice at the introduction of VisiCalc, the first computerized spreadsheet program. -
WordStar
Word processing becomes a reality as MicroPro International releases WordStar. -
Acorn
The first IBM personal computer, code named “Acorn,” is introduced. It uses Microsoft’s MS-DOS operating system. It has an Intel chip, two floppy disks and an optional color monitor. Sears & Roebuck and Computerland sell the machines, marking the first time a computer is available through outside distributors. It also popularizes the term PC -
Apple Lisa
Apple’s Lisa is the first personal computer with a GUI. It also features a drop-down menu and icons. It flops but eventually evolves into the Macintosh. -
First Dot-Com
The first dot-com domain name is registered on March 15, years before the World Wide Web would mark the formal beginning of Internet history. The Symbolics Computer Company, a small Massachussets computer manufacturer, registers Symbolics.com. More than two years later, only 100 dot-coms had been registered -
Windows
Microsoft announces Windows, its response to Apple’s GUI. Commodore unveils the Amiga 1000, which features advanced audio and video capabilities. -
Deskpro
Compaq brings the Deskpro 386 to market. It’s 32-bit architecture provides as speed comparable to mainframes. -
CERN
Tim Berners-Lee, a researcher at CERN, the high-energy physics laboratory in Geneva, develops HyperText Markup Language (HTML), giving rise to the World Wide Web. -
Graphics and Music
The Pentium microprocessor advances the use of graphics and music on PCs.
