19th
Century |
1880: |
French
physicist Jacques-Arsene d'Arsonval develops the famous D'Arsonval galvanometer. |
1882: |
Another
French physicist, Marcel Deprez, proved that electric energy can be sent
further distances if the voltage is increased. |
1885: |
American
William Stanley made improvements to the transformer by replacing iron
wires with rings and plates. |
1890: |
Herman
Hollerith of Washington, D. C. developed a census system with punched cards. |
1896: |
Hollerith
founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which later became IBM. His charter
was based on the his punched-card system. |
1897: |
Karl
Braun of Germany invented the cathode ray (CRT) tube. |
20th
Century |
1901: |
Hollerith
developed the first keyboard for punching cards. |
1912: |
Lee
DeForest developed the audion amplifier.. |
1918: |
J.
Abraham and E. Bloch invented a calculator based on binary numbers 0s and
1s. |
1919: |
William
H. Eccles and F. W. Jordan developed the concepts of "flip-flop" circuits,
the predecessor to a component used in computers during the 1940s. |
1927: |
The
analog computer was invented at MIT. |
1931: |
Truman
Gray invented the photoelectric integraph, a machine that solved mathematical
problems by turning them into light beams. |
1936: |
Konrad
Zuse developed the first digital computer. |
1937: |
Georges
Stibitz invented the first binary circuit that worked on Boolean algebra. |
1938: |
Zuse
built the first working computer that used binary code. |
1939: |
Bell
Labs developed a computer that can be operated via a terminal. |
1941: |
First
computer program ran successfully for the first time. |
1943: |
First
computer using vacuum tubes, logic circuits, and memory solved linear equations. |
1943: |
Vacuum
tubes became the replacement for electromechanical relays for computers. |
1945: |
The
first "bug" was detected by Grace Hopper when he found that an actual bug
interfered the with execution of a computer program. |
1946: |
The
ENIAC computer was developed secretly by John Mauchly and John Eckert.
The device outperformed any vacuum tube systems developed by Zuse. |
1948: |
The
transistor was invented by Bell Laboratories. |
1949: |
EDSAC
(Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) was introduced. The 3000-vacuum
tube system would be six times faster than previous machines. |
1950: |
SAGE
(Semi Automatic Ground Environment) was developed by the US Air Force.
It collected data from radar stations. |
1952: |
IBM
introduced the 701 Defense Calculator. |
1953: |
IBM
mass produced the model 650, a derivative of the model 701. |
1954: |
Texas
Instruments developed the first silicon transistor, which replaced the
germanium-based versions. |
1954: |
The
first UNIVAC entered the commercial computer market. |
1956: |
Univac
delivered the first transitorized computers. |
1958: |
Texas
Instruments and Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation separately invented
the integrated circuit. |
1959: |
A
slew of transistorized computers entered the marketplace, namely the IBM
7090, 1401, 1620 and National Cash Register's 304. |
1961: |
IBM
developed the model 7030 for the Los Alamos Laboratories. |
1964: |
IBM
introduced its model 360. |
1965: |
Digital
Equipment Corporation introduced the first minicomputer. It became the
first low-cost machine on the market, priced at only $18,000. |
1968: |
DEC
introduced the model CDC 7600 supercomputer. |
1969: |
Automated
teller machines--popularly called 'ATMs'--debut. |
1969: |
The
US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency or ARPANET
was developed. The system, a predecessor to today's Internet, was developed
to withstand nuclear attack. |
1970: |
RCA
invented a new process for manufacturing cheaper circuits--a prerequisite
to personal computers. |
1971: |
Texas
Instruments introduced the first pocket calculator called the Pocketronic. |
1972: |
Intel
developed the first 8-bit central processor unit (CPU) chip, the 8008. |
1974: |
A
protocol called "Transmission Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol" was
developed on the ARPANET project. |
1974: |
Hewlett
Packard introduced the first programmable pocket calculator. |
1976: |
Cray-1
supercomputer debut. |
1978: |
DEC
introduced its VAX machine, capable of running large programs. VAX computers
became a standard in the scientific community. |
1978: |
Intel
introduced the 8086 CPU. |
1979: |
Motorola
rolled out the 68000 chip, which became the norm for Macintosh computers. |
1980: |
IBM
introduced the model 5120 microcomputer, designed specifically for businesses. |
1981: |
IBM
introduced the Personal Computer, popularly called the 'PC'. |
1981: |
Osborne
rolled out an all in one system--monitor, disk drives, CPU, and keyboard
in a box. It could be carried like a suitcase. |
1982: |
The
first IBM clone was rolled out by Columbia Data Products. |
1981: |
Compaq
followed suit with its own IBM clone. |
1983: |
The
IBM model XT debut using the 8088 chip. |
1983: |
IBM
introduced its 'PC Jr.', a scaled-down version of the model XT. |
1984: |
Apple
introduced the Macintosh, a graphic user interface system that uses icons
and a mouse. The machine was based from the Lisa, a more expensive model
introduced earlier. |
1985: |
Intel
rolled out its 80386 CPU. |
1987: |
IBM
introduced its model System/2. |
1990: |
Intel
rolled out the 486 CPU. |
1992: |
The
Internet and the World Wide Web gain popularity with the use of the Mosaic
web browser, developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications
at the Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. |
1993: |
The
200-MHz Pentium CPU was introduced in June, offering a 20% faster clock
speed boost over its 166-MHz predecessor. |
1994: |
Netscape
Communications introduced its web browser. It differed from Mosaic that
it downloaded text first, then images. |
1993: |
The
200-MHz Pentium CPU was introduced in June, offering a 20% faster clock
speed boost over its 166-MHz predecessor. |
1996: |
The
number of web sites hit the 100,000 mark. |
1997: |
Microsoft
Office 97 debut with internet interfaces. |
1998: |
Windows
98 debuts. Meanwhile, Linux shows a substantial, but minor market presence. |