Computer History Timeline
The entire history of digital computers spans only a little more than a hundred years, and yet computers now touch almost every part of our daily lives. What breakthroughs have made such rapid advances in technology possible? Who are the inventors that pushed the limits of computer science? Exactly what year was the first truly modern digital computer built? All of those questions will be answered here.
In this section of Velocity Guide, we detail the full history of the computer, including the important dates, the people involved, and the major advances in technology. Our full computer history timeline begins with the inventions that made computers possible and points towards where the technology may yet evolve. There are many topics covered here, so you might want to check our brief history of the computer page for a shorter overview of the evolution of modern computers.
From the right side of the page, you can see the progress of technology that led to the invention of the first digital computers, starting with the Binary Code. Although others might begin a history of computers with the Abacus (around 3,000 B.C.), this history will deal with how modern computers came into existance - and that started when Gottfried Leibniz finally published a written work detailing a system for displaying all numbers and letters using only 1's and 0's.
Who Really Invented The First Computer?
One of the most common questions that arises in discussing the history of computers is which computer was actually the first one invented, and who invented it? Although the question might seem to have one simple answer, the story of which computer is first is a little more interesting than that. There are four candidates to be considered as the first modern digital computers, and these are:
- The ENIAC Computer, built by Presper Eckert & John Mauchly
- The Atanasoff-Berry Computer, built by John Atanasoff
- The Colossus Computer, built by Alan Turing
- The Z3 (or Zuse3), built by Konrad Zuse
For the longest time, the ENIAC was recognized as the first modern computer. The truth is the ENIAC was simply the only one anyone knew about. An earlier computer, the Atanasoff-Berry, had been built a couple of years earlier, but was abandoned when the U.S. entered WWII. Another machine constructed prior to the ENIAC was the Colossus, in Britain, but the existance of this code-breaking computer was kept secret for many years after the war by the British. Finally, on the other side of the war, Konrad Zuse had built a working computer in Germany in 1941, but allied bombing destroyed it in 1943. The dates of when these machines were built is not in dispute, but some debate continues regarding which of these actually could be classified as modern digital computers.
Additional Resources On Computer History
For further research on the topic of computer history, try Computer Hope. This site gives a very detailed listing of just about every major event that occured in the development of computers. They don't have very long descriptions of each, but they've done a good job of noting all the big advances and major personalities involved. It's a good place to get an overview of a particular time period or the history of a specific subject, such the history of Microsoft Windows or major computer companies.
Another place to checkout is the Computer History Museum. This is an all-around great site for detailed information and further research on almost any topic related to computer history. Most of the images in our computer history timeline showing early computers and their inventors have been provided by this site. In addition to visiting the website, you might consider stopping by the museum, located in Moutain View, CA, if you are ever in the San Jose / San Francisco areas.
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