History of Computers Created by Mrs. Gile Based on information taken from Computers Made Friendly.

History of Computers

Created by Mrs. Gile

Based on information taken from Computers Made Friendly

1642

19 year old Frenchman named Blaise Pascal invents a machine that can add and subtract. He called the machinge the Pascaline.

1673

• A German by the name of Gottfried Leibniz invents the Leibniz Calculator. This machine could add, subtract, multiply and divide.

1823

• An Englishman; Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine. Because of his contributions, Babbage is known as the Father of Computers.

1890

• Herman Hollerith became the first American to contribute to the invention of comptuers. He invented the Tabulating Machine. He began a company called International Business Machines.

1940

• Vacuum Tubes controlled the flow of electricity in a computer. They got very hot and would burn out. When this happened, the computer stopped working.

1950

• Transistors replaced vacuum tubes. Transistors were much smaller, and were more reliable than vacuum tubes.

1960

• The first integrated circuit was designed. It combines all the electronic parts a computer needs to run in one small place – a chip. It is about the size of your fingernail.

1974

• A microprocessor contains not only electronic circuits but also memory storage for a computer. Today microprocessors are small enough to fit into machines that fit in the palm of your hand.