computer history

general computer history

Abacus - when + which civilization created?

made in BC; by (mesopotamian) or unknown

Difference Machine/Engine - when + by who?

1800s (1820); by Charles Babbage

Difference Machine/Engine - what was it?

Machine to aid calculations; They made it, but it didn’t work; modern recreations showed it would’ve worked

Charles Babbage - who was he + what did he do + when?

Mathematician and engineer; known as the father of computers; invented the Difference Machine (construction) in the 1820s.

Lady Augusta Ada Byron - who was she + what did she do + when?

Collaborated with Babbage on the Difference Machine/Engine and is recognized as the first programmer. Made in 1840s.

Z1 - what was it + when?

First computer created by Konrad Zuse in the 1930s; an electronic computer that was not reliable and destroyed in WWII.

ABC Computer - what was it + when?

Developed by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry in the 1940s, it was the first/early (automatic and electronic digital) computer.

Harvard MARK I - what was it + when?

Released in 1940s, it was an Early mainframe computer, used for ballistics calc in WWII (manhattan project for A-Bomb).

Grace Hopper - who was she + what did she do + when?

A computer pioneer in the Navy, she was one of the first programmers on the Harvard Mark I and created the COBOL programming language. This was from 1940s-1960s.

Alan Turing - who was he + what did he do + when?

British mathematician known as the father of modern computer science; created the Turing Test (human v machine / AI) and the British mark I in the 1940s.

ENIAC - what was it + what it stands for + when?

Early mainframe computer that helped w/ calculations + military purposes (ballistic tables), developed in the 1940s, stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.

UNIVAC - what was it + what it stands for + when?

First commercially available computer, developed in the 1950s (post WWII) for business data processing. Stands for Universal Automatic Computer.

Four generations of computer components

1. Vacuum tubes (1940s),

2. Transistors (1950s),

3. Integrated circuits (1960s),

4. Microprocessors / microchip (1970s-now).

Early video games - what was it called + when?

The first video game, "Tennis for Two" was created in 1960s.

Early Internet - when + why?

Developed in the 1960s to prevent data loss during a nuclear attack (DARPANet).

(Early Operating Systems) DOS - what it stands for?

DOS (Disk Operating System) controls hardware and allows software to run, using a disk drive.

(Early Operating Systems) First version of Windows - when?

1980s

(Early Software) First spreadsheet - name + when?

VisiCalc was made in the 1980s.

(Early Software) First word processor - name + when?

WordStar was created in the 1980s.

(Early Software) First version of Office - name + when?

Word1.0 was made in the 1990s.

(Early Personal Computers) Five computer manufacturers from the late 1970s and early 1980s

Notable manufacturers include

1. IBM

2. Apple (1976)

3. Texas Instruments (1981)

4. Atari (1977)

5. Commodore.

(Early Peripherals) First mouse

The first mouse was created in the 1960s by Douglas Engelbart (made of wood).

(Early Peripherals) First keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard was developed by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1867 (typewriters before).

(Early Peripherals) First keyboard

1930s (1867 too??)

(Early Internet Browsers) First internet browser?

WorldWideWeb/Nexus was created by Berners Lee in 1980s / 1990s.

(Early Internet Browsers) First internet explorer?

Internet Explorer was released in 1995 (bundled w/ Windows 95).

(Early storage media/devices) First floppy disk?

The first floppy disk was made by IBM in the 1970s.

(Early storage media/devices) First hard drive?

The first hard drive, IBM Model 350, was developed in 1950s.

(Early storage media/devices) First CD-Rom?

In 1980s, it was made by Sony and Philips (called Yellow Book).

(Early storage media/devices) First DVD?

In the 1990s, the first DVD was released in Japan.

(Early storage media/devices) First flash drive?

Trek 2000 International was invented in Singapore at IBM in the 2000s (it was USB).

William H. Gates, III - who is he + what did he do?

Co-founder of Microsoft with Paul Allen (the funny guy).

Steve Paul Jobs - who is he + what did he do?

Co-founder of Apple and founder of NeXT.