COMPUTER DEVELOPMENT
HISTORIC TIMELINE

 

2400 BC


Abacus:
the first known calculator, the abacus, was invented in Babylonia
 

500 BC


Panini:
the Indian Mathematician introduces the forerunner to modern formal language theory
 

 

300 BC


Pingala:
invents the binary number system
 

Apple
Computers
Timeline

87 BC


Antikythera Mechanism:
Built in Rhodes to track movement of the stars
 

60 AD


Heron of Alexandria:
invents machines which are able to follow a series of instructions
 

724


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:
invents a system of moveable rods (Napier's Rods) based on logarithms which were able to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots
 

Computer
Development
Timeline

1622


William Oughtred:
develops the slide rule (it was circular in shape)
 

1623


Calculating Clock:
  is invented by Wilhelm Schickard
 

 

1642


Blaise Pascal:
invents the the "Pascaline", a mechanical adding machine
 

1671


Gottfried Leibniz:
becomes known as one of the founding fathers of calculus
 

1801


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
 

Super
Computer
Timeline

1822


Charles Babbage:
designs his first mechanical computer
 

1834


Analytical Engine:
The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage
 

 

1835


Morse code:
is invented by Samuel Morse
 


 

1848


Boolean algebra:
is devised by George Boole
 

 

1853


Tabulating Machine:
is invented by Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard
 

Internet
Timeline

1869


William Stanley Jevons:
designs a practical logic machine
 

1878


Ramon Verea:
invents a fast calculator with an internal multiplication table
 

 

1880


Alexander Graham Bell:
invents the telephone called the Photophone
 



1884


Comptometer:
The Comptometer which is operated by pressing keys is developed by Dorr E. Felt
 

 

1890


Herman Hollerith:
invents a counting machine which has  increment mechanical counters
 

Intel
Chipset
Timeline

1895


Guglielmo Marconi:
develops radio signals
 

1896


Tabulating Machine Company:
  is formed by Herman Hollerith which later becomes IBM
 

 

1898


Nikola Tesla:
invents the remote control
 



1906


Lee De Forest:
devises the first electronic tube
 

 

1911


IBM:
IBM is formed on June 15, 1911
 

Computing
Gadget
Timeline

1923


Philo Farnsworth:
devises the first fuly electronic television
 

1924


John Logie Baird:
  invents the Electro Mechanical television system


Walther Bothe:
develops the logic gate

 

1930


Vannevar Bush:
develops a partly electronic Difference Engine (the precursor to the digital computer)
 



1931


Kurt Godel:
  publishes a paper on the use of a universal formal language
 

 

1937


Alan Turing:
develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine
 

 

1938


Konrad Zuse
:  creates the Z1 Computer a binary digital computer using punch tape
 

Data
Storage
Timeline

1939


George Stibitz:
develops the Complex Number Calculator - a foundation for digital computers


Hewlett Packard:
  William Hewlett and David Packard start their computer company

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 code-breaking machine Colossus



1944


Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper:
design the MARK series of computers at Harvard University
 

 

1945


ENIAC:
John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)


Computer Bug:
the term computer ‘bug’ is first used by Grace Hopper

Internet
Development
Timeline

1946


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:
invents the transistor at Bell Labs

Douglas Engelbart: theorises on interactive computing with keyboard and screen display instead of on punchcards

 

1948


Andrew Donald Booth:
invents magnetic drum memory


Frederic Calland Williams  & Tom Kilburn:
develop the SSEM "Small Scale Experimental Machine" digital CRT storage which was soon nicknamed the "Baby"



1949


Claude Shannon:
builds the first machine that plays chess


Howard Aiken:
develops the Harvard-MARK III

 

1950


Hideo Yamachito:
creates the  first electronic computer in Japan

Alan Turing: publishes his paper - Computing Machinery and Intelligence which helps create the Turing Test
 

Mac
Virus
Timeline

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) is 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:
develop the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language
 

 

1955


Bell Labs: introduces its first transistor computer

 

 

1956


Optical fibre is invented by  Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss

11 Years
Of
Gadgets

 

1957

 

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 Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce



1959

 

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

 

Web
Technology
Timeline

1961

 

Unimate: General Motors puts the first industrial robot, Unimate, to work in a New Jersey factory

 

1962

 

The first computer game:  the Spacewar Computer Game is created 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"

 

Influential
Technology
Timeline

1967

 

Floppy Disk: IBM creates the first floppy disk

 

1969

 

Seymour Cray: develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer


Gary Starkweather:
invents the laser printer whilst working with Xerox

ARPANET:  The U.S. Department of Defence sets up the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) with the intention of creating a computer network that can withstand any type of disaster. It becomes the first building block for what the internet is has become today

 

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: is invented by  Ray Tomlinson


Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ):
is developed by  James Fergason

Pocket calculator: is invented by Sharp Corporation

Floppy Disk: is created 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.

US Computer
History
Timeline

1973

 

Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs: 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: The Altair 8800 is developed by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) and the first personal home computer is released on 23 Jan, 1975


Microsoft Corporation:
is founded April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800



1976

 

Apple: Apple Computers is founded by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs on 1 Apr 1976 (April Fools Day)

 

 

1977

 

Apple Computer’s Apple II, the first personal computer with colour graphics, is demonstrated


MODEM:
Ward Christensen writes the programme "MODEM" allowing two microcomputers to exchange files with each other over a phone line

Video
Game
Timeline

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: the WordPerfect Corporation introduces WordPerfect 1.0 a word processing program


Commodore 64:
  becomes the best-selling computer of all time.

SMTP: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is introduced for the first time

 

1983

 

More than 10 million computers are in use in the United States


Domain Name System (DNS):
is 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.

Microsoft Windows: is 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

Social
Media
Timeline

1984

 

Apple Macintosh: Apple introduces the Macintosh with mouse and window interface on 24 Jan, 1984


Cyberspace:
William Gibson coins the word cyberspace when he publishes Neuromancer

Dell Computer is founded in Austin Texas on 3 May, 1984

 

1985

 

Paul Brainard introduces Pagemaker for the Macintosh creating the desktop publishing field

Nintendo: The Nintendo Entertainment System makes its debut.

 

Microsoft Windows 1.0 is introduced on 19 Nov, 1985 and is initially sold for $100.00

 



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.

 

Music
Development
Timeline

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

The World: the first commercial Internet dial-up access provider comes online on 20 Sep, 1990

1991

 

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

 

Microsoft releases Windows 3.0 on 20 Sep, 1990

 

 

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
is created in April, 1994.

 

1995

 

Java is introduced


Amazon
: Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos on 20 Sep, 1995

EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar on 20 Sep,1995

Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia on 20 Sep, 1995

Social
Media
Map

1996

 

WebTV: s introduced for the first time

 

The DVD Video format is  first introduced by Toshiba in Japan in November, 1996
 

 

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

Apple Power Book G3 is released on 20 Sep, 1998



2001

 

Xbox: Bill Gates introduces the Xbox on 7 Jan, 2001

 

Windows XP: is launched on 20 Sep, 2001

 

 

2002

 

Approximately 1 billion PCs have been sold


PayPal
is acquired by eBay

 

2003

 

iTunes is launched on 9 Jan, 2003

 

Skype is launched on 20 Aug, 2003

 

Computer
Language
Timeline

2004

 

Facebook is first launched on 20 Sep, 2004

 

Firefox 1.0 is released on 9 Nov, 2004

 

Blizzard's World of Warcraft game, the most popular and successful MMORPG is released 23 Nov, 2004

 

2005

 

The blu-ray is first announced and introduced on 4 Jan, 2006.

 

YouTube begins on 14 Feb, 2005

 

Xbox360 is released on 20 Feb, 2005

 

eBay acquires Skpe on September 12, 2005

 

 

2006

 

iPhone: the first iPhone is released on 29 Jun, 2006

 

SCE releases Play Station 3 on 11 Nov, 2006

 

Nintendo releases Wii on 19 Nov, 2006

 



2007

 

Windows Vista is released 30 Jan, 2007

 

Netbook: Asus released first Eee PC (netbook) on 16 Oct, 2007

 

 

2008

 

First Android OS and Android Smartphone is released on 21 Oct, 2008

 

 

2009

 

Windows 7 is released on 22 Oct, 2009

 


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2010

 

The iPad is released on 3 Apr, 2010

 

 

2011

 

Microsoft exceeds $1 billion in sales and becomes the first company to do so

 

 

2012

 
Apple introduces the iPhone 5
 

Microsoft Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface is released October 26, 2012

 

Apple introduces the iPad mini October 23, 2012

 

The number of smart phones worldwide reaches 1 billion
 



2013


Apple introduces iOS7 on September 18, 2013

Microsoft releases Windows 8.1 on October 18, 2013

Sony releases the PS4 November 15, 2013

 Apple outsells Windows PCs globally for the first time
 

 

2014


The Nokia deal with Microsoft is completed April 25 making Nokia now Microsoft Mobile in a deal totalling $7.17 billion

Apple introduces the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch on September 9

Microsoft announces on September 30 the next version of Windows, which will be called Windows 10

Android version 5.0 (Lollipop) released November 3
 

 

2015


Apple officially releases the Apple Watch on April 24

Microsoft releases Windows 10 on July 29

Android version 6.0 (Marshmallow) released October 5

Microsoft releases the Surface Book on October 26
 

 

2016


Pokémon GO is released July 6,for Android phones and iPhone

Google releases Android version 7.0 (Nougat) August 22

On September 16, Apple announces the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
 



2017


Microsoft introduced the Surface Pro 2017 (fifth gen) and the Surface Laptop on June 15

Apple introduced the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 plus, with a new edge-to-edge iPhone X with Face ID on September 12

On November 14 Mozilla announced the release of Firefox Quantum

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) begins developing a new "Molecular Informatics" program that uses molecules as computers.
 

 

2018


Google introduces the Google Pay service for all Android and iOS devices on January 8

Apple introduces the Apple HomePod

The European Union GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) law comes into effect on May 25

On June 4, Microsoft announces it would acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion

On October 28 BM announce its plans to acquire Red Hat for approximately $34 billion
 

 

2019


Computed axial lithography, a 3-D printing technology is developed by UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is announced in January

On January 9, Lexar announces the first SD card which can store 1 terabyte

The first folding smartphones are introduced in February by Samsung (Galaxy Fold) and Huawei (Mate X)

Disney+ is  introduced

IBM Q System One, the first commercial quantum computer from IBM, is announced

Google makes cloud gaming mainstream with Stadia

IPv4 internet addresses are exhausted

Google begins drone based deliveries via Google Wing 
 

 

2020


On January 6, Lenovo announced the Yoga 5G, a 5G-capable laptop

On January 14, Windows 7 reached EOL (end-of-life) and Microsoft ceases providing any support or security updates for Windows 7

On January 16, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, joined the "four-comma club," achieving a market valuation over $1 trillion. The other two members of the club at the time were Apple ($1.3 trillion) and Microsoft ($1.2 trillion). The next closest company, Amazon ($930 billion), briefly joined the club in 2018

In early February, the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus causes  significant disruption to the worldwide technology industry. Google announces the temporary closure of all offices in mainland China, and all Apple stores in China are also closed indefinitely. Companies including Qualcomm, Nintendo, and Facebook Oculus announce major losses in production from their factories located in China. The Chinese government reports a 50% decrease in smartphone sales

On February 4, Twitter announces a commitment to detect and label deep-fakes, and other deceptive media, on its social media platform

In May, Giphy is purchased by Facebook