|
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 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.
|
