Computer History 1960 - 1980

Year	Event
1960	IBMs 1400 series machines, aimed at the business market begin to be distributed.
1960	The Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) programming language is invented.
1960	Psychologist Frank Rosenblatt creates the Mark I Perception, which has an "eye" that can learn to identify its ABCs.
1960	RS-232 is introduced by EIA.
1960	IFIP is founded.
1960	Digital introduces the PDP-1.
1961	Hewlett-Packard stock is accepted by the New York Stock Exchange for national and international trading.
1961	Leonard Kleinrock publishes his first paper entitled "Information Flow in Large Communication Nets" is published May 31, 1961.
1961	General Motors puts the first industrial robot the 4,000 pound Unimate to work in a New Jersey factory.
1961	Accredited Standards Committee is founded, this committee later becomes the INCITS.
1961	P.Z. Ingerman develops a thunk.
1961	ECMA is established.
1961	The programming language FORTRAN IV is created.
1962	Steve Russell creates "SpaceWar!" and releases it in February 1962. This game is considered the first game intended for computers.
1962	Leonard Kleinrock releases his paper talking about packetization.
1962	Paul Baran suggests transmission of data using fixed size message blocks.
1962	J.C.R. Licklider becomes the first Director of IPTO and gives his vision of a galactic network.
1962	The NASA rocket, the Mariner II, is equipped with a Motorola transmitter on it strip to Venus.
1962	Sharp is founded.
1963	IEEE is founded.
1963	The term hypertext is coined by Ted Nelson.
1963	The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is developed to standardize data exchange among computers.
1964	Dartmouth Universitys John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz develop Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Language (BASIC).
1964	Baran publishes reports "On Distributed Communications."
1964	The TRANSIT system becomes operational on U.S. Polaris submarines. This system later becomes known as GPS.
1964	On April 7, 1964 IBM introduces its System/360, the first of its computers to use interchangeable software and peripheral equipment.
1964	Leonard Kleinrock publishes his first book on packet nets entitled Communication Nets: Stochastic Message Flow and Design.
1964	The first computerized encyclopedia is invented at the Systems Development Corporation.
1965	Ted Nelson coins the term "hypertext," which refers to text that is not necessarily linear.
1965	Hypermedia is coined by Ted Nelson.
1965	Donald Davies coins the word "Packet."
1965	Engineers at TRW Corporation develop a Generalized Information Retrieval Language and System which later develops to the Pick Database Management System used today on Unix and Windows systems.
1965	Texas Instruments develops the transistor-transistor logic (TTL).
1965	Lawrence G. Roberts with MIT performs the first long distant dial-up connection between a TX-2 computer n Massachusetts and a Q-32 in California.
1965	Gordon Moore makes an observation that later becomes widely known as Moore's Law.
1966	MITs Joseph Weizenbaum writes a program called Eliza, that makes the computer act as a psychotherapist.
1966	Lawrence G. Roberts and Tom Marill publish a paper about their earlier success at connecting over dial-up.
1966	Stephen Gray establishes the first personal computer club, the Amateur Computer Society.
1966	Robert Taylor joins ARPA and brings Larry Roberts there to develop ARPANET.
1966	The programming language BCPL is created.
1967	IBM creates the first floppy disk.
1967	Donald Davies creates 1-node NPL packet net.
1967	Wes Clark suggests use of a minicomputer for network packet switch.
1967	The LOGO programming language is developed and is later known as "turtle graphics," a simplified interface useful for teaching children computers.
1967	Donald Davies creates 1-node NPL packet net.
1967	Ralph Baer creates "Chase", the first video game that was capable of being played on a television.
1967	HES is developed at the Brown University.
1967	Nokia is formed.
1967	GPS becomes available for commercial use.
1967	ISACA is established.
1968	Intel Corporation is founded by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore.
1968	The first Network Working Group (NWG) meeting is held.
1968	Larry Roberts publishes ARPANET program plan on June 3, 1968.
1968	First RFP for a network goes out.
1968	UCLA is selected to be the first node on the Internet as we know it today and serve as the Network Msmnt Center.
1968	The movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" is released.
1968	SHRDLU is created.
1968	Seiko markets a miniature printer for use with calculators.
1968	Sony invents Trinitron.
1968	Doug Englebart publicly demonstrates Hypertext on the NLS on December 9, 1968.
1969	Control Data Corporation led by Seymour Cray, release the CDC 7600, considered by most to be the first supercomputer.
1969	AT&T Bell Laboratories develop Unix.
1969	Steve Crocker releases RFC #1 on April 7, 1979 introducing the Host-to-Host and talking about the IMP software.
1969	Linus Torvalds is born.
1969	Gary Starkweather, while working with Xerox invents the laser printer.
1969	UCLA puts out a press release introducing the public to the Internet on July 3, 1969.
1969	On August 29, 1969 the first network switch and the first piece of network equipment (called "IMP", which is short for Interface Message Processor) is sent to UCLA.
1969	On September 2, 1969 the first data moves from UCLA host to the IMP switch.
1969	CompuServe, the first commercial online service, is established.
1969	AMD is founded.
1970	Western Digital is founded.
1970	Steve Crocker and UCLA team releases NCP.
1970	Intel announces the 1103, a new memory chip containing more than 1,000 bits of information. This chip is classified as random-access memory (RAM).
1970	The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) is established to perform basic computing and electronic research.
1970	The forth programming language is created by Charles H. Moore.
1970	The first ATM is demonstrated and used in Georgia.
1970	U.S. Department of Defense develops ada a computer programming language capable of designing missile guidance systems.
1970	Intel introduces the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
1970	The Sealed Lead Acid battery begins being used for commercial use.
1970	Jack Kilby is awarded the National Medal of Science.
1970	Centronics introduces the first dot matrix printer.
1970	Douglas Englebart gets a patent for the first computer mouse on November 17, 1970.
1971	The first 8" floppy diskette drive was introduced
1971	The first laser printer is developed at Xerox PARC.
1971	FTP is first purposed.
1971	IBM introduces its first speech recognition program capable of recognizing about 5,000 words.
1971	Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney create the first arcade game called "Computer Space."
1971	SMC is founded.
1971	Schadt and Helfrich develop twisted nematic.
1971	Niklaus Wirth invents the Pascal programming language.
1971	Intel develops the the first processor, the 4004
	First edition of Unix released 11/03/1971. The first edition of the "Unix PROGRAMMER'S MANUAL [by] K. Thompson [and] D. M. Ritchie." It includes over 60 commands like: b (compile B program); boot (reboot system); cat (concatenate files); chdir (change working directory); chmod (change access mode); chown (change owner); cp (copy file); ls (list directory contents); mv (move or rename file); roff (run off text); wc (get word count); who (who is one the system). The main thing missing was pipes.
1972	The first video game console called the Odyssey is released by Magnavox.
1972	ARPA is renamed to DARPA.
1972	The programming language FORTRAN 66 is created.
1972	Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs invents the C programming language.
1972	Edsger Dijkstra is awarded the ACM Turning Award.
1972	The compact disc is invented in the United States.
1972	Cray Research Inc. is founded.
1972	Ray Tomlinson introduces network e-mail, the first messaging system to send messages across a network to other users.
1972	Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game on November 29, 1972.
1972	First public demo of ARPANET.
1972	Whetstone is first released in November 1972.
1972	Norm Abramson' Alohanet connected to ARPANET: packet radio nets.
1973	Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn design TCP during 1973 and later publish it with the help of Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine in December of 1974 in RFC 675.
1973	ARPA deploys SATNET the first international connection.
1973	Robert Metcalfe creates the Ethernet at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).
1973	The first VoIP call is made.
1973	IBM introduces its 3660 Supermarket System, which uses a laser to read grocery prices.
1973	Interactive laser discs make their debut.
1973	The ICCP is founded.
1973	Dr. Martin Cooper makes the first cell phone call at Motorola.
1974	Intels improved microprocessor chip, the 8080 becomes a standard in the microcomputing industry.
1974	The first Toshiba floppy disk drive is introduced.
1974	The IBM MVS operating system is introduced.
1974	IBM develops SEQUEL, which today is known as SQL today.
1974	IBM introduces SNA.
1974	Charles Simonyi coins the term WYSIWYG.
1975	MITS ships one of the first PCs, the Altair 8800 with one kilobyte (KB) of memory. The computer is ordered as a mail-order kit for $397.00.
1975	A flight simulator demo is first shown.
1975	Paul Allen and Bill Gates write the first computer language program for personal computers, which is a form of BASIC designed for the Altair. Gates later drops out of Harvard and founds Microsoft with Allen.
1975	Xerox exits the computer market on July 21, 1975.
1975	The Byte Shop, one of the first computer stores, open in California.
1975	EPSON enters the US market.
1976	Steve Wozniak designs the first Apple, the Apple I computer in 1976, later Wozniak and Steve Jobs co-found Apple Computers.
1976	The first 5.25-inch floppy disk is invented.
1976	Microsoft introduces an improved version of BASIC.
1976	The first convention of computer hobbyist clubs is held in New Jersey.
1976	The term meme is first defined in the book The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
1976	The first Public Key Cryptography known as the Deffie-Hellman is developed by Whitfield Deffie and Martin Hellman.
1976	The Intel 8086 is introduced.
1976	Matrox is founded.
1976	DES is approved as a federal standard in November 1976.
1977	Ward Christansen develops a popular modem transfer modem called Xmodem.
1977	Apple Computer becomes Incorporated January 4, 1977
1977	Apple Computer Inc., Radio Shack, and Commodore all introduce mass-market computers.
1977	Apple Computers Apple II, the first personal computer with color graphics is demonstrated.
1977	ARCNET the first commercially network is developed
1977	Zoom Telephonics is founded.
1977	Commodore announces that the PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) will be a self-contained unit, with a CPU, RAM, ROM, keyboard, monitor and tape recorder all for $495.00
1977	Microsoft sells the license for BASIC to Radio Shack and Apple and introduces the program in Japan.
1977	BSD is introduced.
1978	Dan Bricklin creates VisiCalc.
1978	TCP splits into TCP/IP driven by Danny Cohen, David Reed, and John Shoch to support real-time traffic. This allows the creation of UDP.
1978	Epson introduces the TX-80, which becomes the first successful dot matrix printer for personal computers.
1978	OSI is developed by ISO.
1978	Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle create the first MUD.
1978	The first spam e-mail was sent by Gary Thuerk in 1978 an employee at Digital who was advertising the new DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T on ARPAnet.
1978	Microsoft introduces a new version of COBOL.
1978	The 5.25-inch floppy disk becomes an industry standard.
1978	In June of 1978 Apple introduces Apple DOS 3.1, the first operating system for the Apple computers.
1978	Ward Christensen and Randy Seuss have the first major microcomputer bulletin board up and running in Chicago.
1978	ETA is founded.
1978	John Shoch and Jon Hupp at Xerox PARC develop the first worm.
1979	Robert Williams of Michigan became the first human to be killed by a robot at the Ford Motors company on January 25, 1979. Resulting in a $10 million dollar lawsuit.
1979	Software Arts Incorporated VisiCalc becomes the first electronic spreadsheet and business program for PCs.
1979	Epson releases the MX-80 which soon becomes an industry standard for dot matrix printers.
1979	SCO is founded.
1979	Bit 3 is founded.
1979	Texas Instruments enters the computer market with the TI 99/4 personal computer that sells for $1,500.
1979	Hayes markets its first modem which becomes the industry standard for modems.
1979	Atari introduces a coin-operated version of Asteroids.
1979	More than half a million computers are in use in the United States.
1979	3COM is founded by Robert Metcalfe.
1979	Oracle introduces the first commercial version of SQL.
1979	The programming language DoD-1 is officially changed to Ada.
1979	The Motorola 68000 is released and is later chosen as the processor for the Apple Macintosh.
1979	The Intel 8088 is released.
1979	Phoenix is founded.
1979	VMS is introduced.
1979	Usenet is first started
1979	Bit 3 is established.
1979	Seagate is founded.
1979	Saitek is founded
1979	Oracle is founded.
1979	Novell Data System is established as an operating system devloper. Later in 1983 the company becomes the Novell company.

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