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Steam driven machine
Charles Babbage creates a steam-driven calculating machine, it could compute tables of numbers. But more than a century later, the first computer was actually built. -
Punch card system
Herman Hollerith creates a punch card system able to calculate, it took 3 years for him to build. -
Attempt on the first computer
J.V. Atanasoff, a professor attemps to build the first computer without gears, cams, belts or shafts. -
Computer able to store memory
J.V. Atanasoff and his student, Clifford Berry, creates a computer that can solve 29 equations At the same time. This is the computer able to store information on its main memory. -
The creation of ENIAC
John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert build the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). Called the grandfather of computers, it is a 20 foot by 40 foot computer and has 18,000 vacuum tubes. -
COBOL
Grace Hopper creates the first computer language, which is known as COBOL. Inventor Thomas Johnson Watson, Jr conceives the IBM 701 EDPM to help the United STates 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. -
Modern computer
Douglas Engelbart shows a prototype of the modern computer, with a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI). -
DRAM
Intel creates the first Dynamic Access Memory (DRAM) chip. -
Floppy disc
Alan Shugart leads a team of IBM engineers who invent the Floppy disc 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 5100
The IBM 5100 becomes the first commercially available portable computer. -
Apple 1
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. -
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. -
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. -
VisiCalc
Accountants rejoice at the introduction of VisiCalc, the first computerized spreadsheet program. -
World Star
Word processing becomes a reality as MicroPro International releases WordStar. -
Windows
Microsoft announces Windows, its response to Apple’s GUI. Commodore unveils the Amiga 1000, which features advanced audio and video capabilities. -
First .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. -
Wi-Fi
The term Wi-Fi becomes part of the computing language and users begin connecting to the Internet without wires. -
Smartphones
The iPhone brings many computer functions to the smartphone.
