Michelle Michalenko September 26, 2004 Microprocessor Homework #1
YEAR	ITEM	DESCRIPTION
3000 BC	Abacus	Developed in Babylonia, it was an instrument for performing calculations by sliding counters along rods or in grooves. This instrument helped mathematician develops algorithms to resolve complex numerical problems.
1622	Slide Rule	William Oughtred developed a device for making numerical computations and readings, the results of which may be read easily and quickly after performing simple mechanical manipulations
1642	Calculator	Blaise Pascal built the first numerical calculating machine in Paris
1822	Difference Engine	Charles Babbage designs a Difference Engine to calculate logarithms, but the machine is never built.
1833	Analytical Engine	Charles Babbage is credited with the design of the first computer
1854	Boolean Algebra	George Boole publishes The Mathematical Analysis of Logic using the binary system now known as Boolean algebra. This is the base language of the modern day computers
1890	Tabulating Machine	Herman Hollerith developed a device which could automatically read census information which had been punched onto card the introduction of punched cards was a step toward automated computation
Late 1930’s	Harvard Mark I	Howard Aiken, in collaboration with engineers at IBM, undertook construction of a large automatic digital computer based on standard IBM electromechanical parts. Aiken's machine handled 23-decimal-place numbers (words) and could perform all four arithmetic operations; moreover, it had special built-in programs, or subroutines, to handle logarithms and trigonometric functions.
1936	Turing Machine	Alan Turing wrote a paper entitled On Computable Numbers in which he described a hypothetical device that presaged programmable computers. The Turing machine was designed to perform logical operations and could read, write, or erase symbols written on squares of an infinite paper tape.
1941	Binary Representation	Konrad Zusereleased the first programmable computer designed to solve complex engineering equations. The machine, called the Z3, was controlled by perforated strips of discarded movie film. It was also the first machine to work on the binary system,
1945	The John von Newman Machine	Mathematician John von Neumann contributed a new understanding of how practical fast computers should be organized and built; these ideas, often referred to as the stored-program technique, became fundamental for future generations of high-speed digital computers and were universally adopted. Specifically storing data and programs in the same unit.
1946	ENIAC	John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania developed what was generally acknowledged to be the first successful high-speed electronic digital computer (EDC).
late 1940s	EDVAC	The program for the computer was stored inside the computer. Memory was to be provided through the use of mercury delay lines. The idea being that given a tube of mercury, an electronic pulse could be bounced back and forth to be retrieved at will--another two state device for storing 0s and 1s.
1947	Transistor	William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain of Bell Labs invented a solid-state electronic device that is used to control the flow of electricity in electronic equipment. The transistor was fated to oust the days of vacuum tubes in computers
1958	Integrated Circuit	Jack St. Clair Kilby of Texas Instruments manufactured the first integrated circuit or chip. A chip is really a collection of tiny transistors which are connected together when the transistor is manufactured.
1971	Microprocessor (Altiar)	Intel invented the microprocessor. This was a specialized integrated circuit which was able to process four bits of data at a time.
1964	Creation of Microsoft	Bill Gates and Paul Allen created a program, BASIC, that ran on the Altair. They went to Intel and pitched the BASIC program. BASIC was designed to provide an interactive, easy method for upcoming computer scientists to program computers. This was the formation of the company Microsoft.
1977	The creation of Apple	A veritable explosion of personal computers occurred, starting with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak exhibiting the first Apple II at the First West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. Programs and data could be stored on an everyday audio- cassette recorder.
1977	TRS-80	The TRS-80 was a home computer manufactured by Tandy Radio Shack. Also one of the first personalized computers.
1989	The World Wide Web	The Web was developed at CERN in Switzerland as a new form of communicating text and graphics across the Internet making use of the hypertext markup language (HTML) as a way to describe the attributes of the text and the placement of graphics, sounds, or even movie clips.
1990	Servers	Server programs are available for many types of computers and operating systems, such as Apache for UNIX (and other operating systems), Microsoft Information Interchange Server (IIS) for Windows/NT, and WebStar for the Macintosh.