| Year |
Event |
| 1940 |
The first
handheld two-way radio called the "Handy Talkie" is
created by Motorola for the
U.S. Army Signal Control. |
| 1941 |
German
Konrad Zuse finishes the Z3, a fully operational calculating
machine. |
| 1943 |
ENIAC
(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the first
general-purpose electronic digital calculator begins to be
constructed. This computer by most is considered to be the first
electronic computer. |
| 1943 |
Dan Noble
with Motorola designs a "Walkie
Talkie" the first portable FM two-way radio that a backpack
version that weighed 35 pounds. |
| 1944 |
The
relay-based Harvard-IBM MARK I a large programmable-controlled
calculating machine provides vital calculations for the U.S. Navy.
Grace Hopper becomes its programmer. |
|
1945 |
The
Von Neumann Architecture
is introduced in John von Neumann's report of the
EDVAC. |
| 1945 |
The term
bug as computer bug was termed by Grace Hopper when
programming the MARK II. |
| 1946 |
F.C.
Williams applies for a patent on his cathode-ray tube (CRT)
storing device, an original form of random-access memory (RAM). |
| 1946 |
ENIAC
computer completed. |
| 1946 |
Robert Metcalfe
is born. |
| 1947 |
John
Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley invent the first
transistor at the Bell Laboratories. |
| 1947 |
F.C.
Williams memory system is now in working order. |
| 1947 |
ISO
is founded. |
| 1948 |
IBM builds the SSEC (Selective
Sequence Electronic Calculator). The computer contains 12,000
tubes. |
| 1948 |
Andreew Donald Booth creates magnetic
drum memory, which is two inches long and two inches wide and
capable of holding 10 bits per inch. |
| 1948 |
The 604 multiplying punch, based upon
the vacuum tube technology, is produced by IBM. |
| 1948 |
The television begins to divert radio
audiences. |
| 1949 |
Claude Shannon builds the first
machine that plays chess at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. |
| 1949 |
The Harvard-MARK III, the first of the
MARK machines to use an internally stored program and indirect
addressing, goes into operations again under the direction of
Howard Aiken. |
|
1949 |
The first computer company,
Electronic Controls Company is founded by J. Presper Eckert and
John Mauchly, the same individuals who helped create the
ENIAC computer. |
|
1949 |
The
EDSAC performs its first calculation on May 6, 1949. |
| 1949 |
The small-scale electronic machine (SSEM)
is fully operational at Manchester University. |
| 1949 |
The Australian computer CSIRAC
is first ran. |
| 1950 |
The first electronic computer is
created in Japan by Hideo Yamachito. |
| 1950 |
The enhanced Z4 is installed by Konrad
Suse |
| 1950 |
Steve
Wozniak is born August 11, 1950. |
| 1950 |
Alan
Turing publishes his paper Computing
Machinery and Intelligence in October. This paper helps
create the Turing Test. |
| 1950 |
The NICAD
battery begins its commercial use. |
| 1951 |
The first business computer, the Lyons
Electronic Office (LEO) is completed by T. Raymond Thompson, John
Simmons and their team at Lyons Co. |
| 1951 |
The first commercial computer, the
"First Ferranti MARK I" is now functional at Manchester
University. |
| 1951 |
The first ISO
is published with the title, "Standard reference temperature for industrial length measurement." |
| 1951 |
UNIVAC
I was introduced. |
|
1951 |
The
EDVAC begins performing basic tasks. |
| 1951 |
Dan
Bricklin is born. |
| 1952 |
Fairly reliable working magnetic drum
memories for use in computers begin to be sold by Andrew Donald
Booth and his father. |
| 1952 |
RIAA is
established. |
|
1952 |
Alexander Sandy Douglas created the
first graphical computer game of Tic-Tac-Toe on a
EDSAC known as "OXO." |
| 1953 |
IBM
introduces the first IBM computer, the
701. |
| 1953 |
A magnetic memory smaller and faster
than existing vacuum tube memories is built at MIT. |
| 1953 |
Paul
Allen is born January 21, 1953. |
| 1953 |
The IBM
701 becomes available to the scientific community. A total of 19
are produced and sold. |
| 1954 |
IBM
produces and markets the IBM 650. More than 1,800 of these
computers are sold in an eight-year span |
| 1954 |
Larry
Wall is born. |
| 1954 |
Alan
Turing passes away June 7, 1954. |
| 1954 |
The first version of FORTRAN (formula
translator) is published by IBM. |
| 1954 |
CERN
is established on September 29, 1954. |
| 1955 |
Steve
Jobs is born February 24, 1955 |
|
1955 |
John McCarthy coins the term
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in
1955 at Dartmouth University. |
| 1955 |
Dartmouth Colleges John McCarthy
coins the term "artificial intelligence." |
| 1955 |
Tim
Bernes-Lee is born June 8, 1955. |
| 1955 |
William
(Bill) H. Gates is born October 28, 1955. |
| 1955 |
IBM
introduces the first IBM 702. |
| 1955 |
Bell Labs introduces its first
transistor computer. Transistors are faster, smaller and create
less heat than traditional vacuum tubs, making these computers
more reliable and efficient. |
| 1955 |
The ENIAC is turned off for the last
time. Its estimated to have done more arithmetic than the
entire human race had done prior to 1945. |
| 1956 |
On September 13, 1956 the IBM
305 RAMAC is the first computer to be shipped with a
hard disk
drive that contained 50 24-inch platters and was capable of
storing 5 million characters and weighed a ton. |
| 1957 |
IBM
announces it will no longer be using vacuum
tubes and releases its first computer that had 2000 transistors. |
| 1957 |
Fairchild Semiconductor is founded
by Andy Grove, Eugene Kleiner, Gordon
Moore, Jerry Sanders, Robert Noyce. |
| 1957 |
Digital
Equipment Corporation is founded by Kenneth Olsen. The company
will later become a major network computer manufacturer. |
| 1957 |
Russia launches the first artificial
satellite, named Sputnik on October 4, 1957. |
|
1957 |
In response to
Sputnik the United States creates the new agency
ARPA. |
| 1957 |
Casio
is established. |
| 1958 |
The National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics is renamed to National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). |
|
1958 |
NEC builds
its first computer the NEAC 1101. |
|
1958 |
William Higinbotham created the
first video game called: Tennis for Two. |
| 1958 |
The programming language FORTRAN
II is created. Later FORTRAN III is created but never released to
the public. |
| 1958 |
President Eisenhowers Christmas
address is the first voice transmission from a satellite. |
| 1958 |
The first integrated
chip is first developed by Robert Noyce of Fairchild
Semiconductor and Jack Kilby of Texas
Instruments. The first microchip was demonstrated on
September 12, 1958. |
| 1959 |
Hitachi
is founded. |
| 1959 |
The Harvard-MARK I is turned off for
the last time. |
|
1959 |
The Luna 2 becomes the first human
made object to land on the moon on September 14, 1959. |
|
1959 |
Leonard Kleinrock
starts to developing
packetization. |
| 1959 |
Motorola
produces the two-way, fully transistorized mobile radio. |
| 1959 |
Panasonic
is founded. |
