The word "computer" was first used

The word "computer" was first recorded as being used in 1613 and was originally was used to describe a human
who performed calculations or computations. The definition of a computer remained the same until the end of
the 19th century when people began to realize machines never get tired and can perform calculations much
faster and more accurately than any team of human computers ever could.
Later, in 1837 Charles Babbage proposed the first general mechanical computer, the Analytical Engine. The Analytical
Engine contained an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), basic flow control, and integrated memory and is the first general-
purpose computer concept. Unfortunately, because of funding issues this computer was also never built while Charles
Babbage's was alive. In 1910, Henry Babbage, Charles Babbage's youngest son was able to complete a portion of this
machine and was able to perform basic calculations.
First programmable computer
The Z1, originally created by Germany's Konrad Zuse in his parents' living room in 1936 to 1938 and is considered
to be the first electro-mechanical binary programmable (modern) computer and really the first functional
computer.
First concepts of what we consider a modern computer
The Turing machine was first proposed by Alan Turing in 1936 and became the foundation for theories about
computing and computers. The machine was a device that printed symbols on paper tape in a manner that
emulated a person following a series of logical instructions. Without these fundamentals, we wouldn't have the
computers we use today.
The first electric programmable computer
The Colossus was the first electric programmable computer and was developed by Tommy Flowers and first
demonstrated in December 1943. The Colossus was created to help the British code breakers read encrypted
German messages.
The first digital computer
Short for Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the ABC started being developed by Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and
graduate student Cliff Berry in 1937 and continued to be developed until 1942 at the Iowa State College (now
Iowa State University). The ABC was an electrical computer that used vacuum tubes for digital computation
including binary math and Boolean logic and had no CPU. On October 19, 1973, the US Federal Judge Earl R.
Larson signed his decision that the ENIAC patent by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly was invalid and named
Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer.
The ENIAC was invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania and began
construction in 1943 and was not completed until 1946. It occupied about 1,800 square feet and used about
18,000 vacuum tubes, weighing almost 50 tons. Although the Judge ruled that the ABC computer was the first
digital computer, many still consider the ENIAC to be the first digital computer because it was fully functional.
The first stored program computer
The early British computer known as the EDSAC is considered to be the first stored program electronic
computer. The computer performed its first calculation on May 6, 1949 and was the computer that ran the first
graphical computer game, nicknamed "Baby".
The first computer company
The first computer company was the Electronic Controls Company and was founded in 1949 by J. Presper Eckert
and John Mauchly, the same individuals who helped create the ENIAC computer. The company was later
renamed to EMCC or Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and released a series of mainframe computers
under the UNIVAC name.
First stored program computer
First delivered to the United States Government in 1950, the UNIVAC 1101 or ERA 1101 is considered to be the
first computer that was capable of storing and running a program from memory.
First commercial computer
In 1942, Konrad Zuse begin working on the Z4, which later became the first commercial computer after being
sold to Eduard Stiefel, a mathematician of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich on July 12, 1950.
The first PC (IBM compatible) computer
On April 7, 1953 IBM publicly introduced the 701, its first electric computer and first mass produced computer.
Later IBM introduced its first personal computer called the IBM PC in 1981. The computer was code named and
still sometimes referred to as the Acorn and had a 8088 processor, 16 KB of memory, which was expandable to
256 and utilized MS-DOS.
The first computer with RAM
MIT introduces the Whirlwind machine on March 8, 1955, a revolutionary computer that was the first digital
computer with magnetic core RAM and real-time graphics.
The first transistor computer
The TX-O (Transistorized Experimental computer) is the first transistorized computer to be demonstrated at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956.
The first minicomputer
In 1960, Digital Equipment Corporation released its first of many PDP computers, the PDP-1.
The first mass-market and desktop computer
In 1968, Hewlett Packard began marketing the first mass-marketed PC and the first desktop computer, the HP
9100A.
The first workstation
Although it was never sold, the first workstation is considered to be the Xerox Alto, introduced in 1974. The
computer was revolutionary for its time and included a fully functional computer, display, and mouse. The
computer operated like many computers today utilizing windows, menus and icons as an interface to its
operating system.
The first microprocessor
Intel introduces the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004 on November 15, 1971.
The first personal computer
In 1975, Ed Roberts coined the term "personal computer" when he introduced the Altair 8800. Although the
first personal computer is considered by many to be the KENBAK-1, which was first introduced for $750 in 1971.
The computer relied on a series of switches for inputting data and output data by turning on and off a series of
lights.
The Micral is considered the be the first commercial non-assembly computer. The computer used the Intel 8008
processor and sold for $1,750 in 1973.
The first laptop or portable computer
The IBM 5100 is the first portable computer, which was released on September 1975. The computer weighed
55 pounds and had a five inch CRT display, tape drive, 1.9MHz PALM processor, and 64KB of RAM. In the picture
is an ad of the IBM 5100 taken from a November 1975 issue of Scientific America.
The first truly portable computer or laptop is considered to be the Osborne I, which was released on April 1981
and developed by Adam Osborne. The Osborne I weighed 24.5 pounds, had a 5-inch display, 64 KB of memory,
two 5 1/4" floppy drives, ran the CP/M 2.2 operating system, included a modem, and cost US$179.
The IBM PC Division (PCD) later released the IBM portable in 1984, it's first portable computer that weighed in
at 30 pounds. Later in 1986, IBM PCD announced it's first laptop computer, the PC Convertible, weighing 12
pounds. Finally, in 1994, IBM introduced the IBM ThinkPad 775CD, the first notebook with an integrated CD-
ROM.
he first Apple computer
Steve Wozniak designed the first Apple, known as the Apple I, in 1976.
The first PC clone
The Compaq Portable is considered to be the first PC clone and was release in March 1983 by Compaq. The
Compaq Portable was 100% compatible with IBM computers and was capable of running any software
developed for IBM computers.
See the below other major computer companies first for other IBM compatible computers
The first multimedia computer
In 1992, Tandy Radio Shack becomes one of the first companies to release a computer based on the MPC
standard with its introduction of the M2500 XL/2 and M4020 SX computers.
Other major computer company firsts
Below is a listing of some of the major computers companies first computers.
Compaq - In March 1983, Compaq released its first computer and the first 100% IBM compatible computer the
"Compaq Portable."
Dell - In 1985, Dell introduced its first computer, the "Turbo PC."
Hewlett Packard - In 1966, Hewlett Packard released its first general computer, the "HP-2115."
NEC - In 1958, NEC builds its first computer the "NEAC 1101."
Toshiba - In 1954, Toshiba introduces its first computer, the "TAC" digital computer.



First mechanical computer or automatic computing engine concept
In 1822, Charles Babbage conceptualized and began developing the Difference Engine, considered to be the first
automatic computing engine that was capable of computing several sets of numbers and making hard copies of
the results. Unfortunately, because of funding he was never able to complete a full-scale functional version of
this machine. In June of 1991, the London Science Museum completed the Difference Engine No 2 for the
bicentennial year of Babbage's birth and later completed the printing mechanism in 2000.

Although there are other earlier examples of computer games, most consider the first true computer game or digital game
to be "Spacewar!". This game was programmed by Steve Russell and first released in February 1962. The game ran on the
DEC PDP-1 computer, and consisted of two spaceships that maneuvered around a star that pulled at the ships with its
gravity. The objective of the game was to avoid colliding with the star while trying to shoot the other ship with missiles.
Frederick Brooks
Software engineer and computer scientist known for managing the development of IBM's System/360.
Helmut Schreyer
German inventor, electrical engineer, and computer scientist known for his work on the Z3. Worked on detection
technology for unexploded ordinances, on the accelerometer for the V-2-rocket and on technology to convert the radar
signal into an audio signal which the pilot of a fighter aircraft might recognize.
J. Presper Eckert
American electrical engineer and computer pioneer.
Invented the first general-purpose electronic digital computer (ENIAC) along with John Mauchly.
Presented the first course in computing topics (the Moore School Lectures)
Founded the first commercial computer company (the EckertMauchly Computer Corporation)
Designed the first commercial computer in the U.S., the UNIVAC, which incorporated Eckert's invention
of the mercury delay line memory.
John William Mauchly
American physicist who, along with J. Presper Eckert, designed ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic digital
computer, as well as EDVAC, BINAC and UNIVAC I, the first commercial computer made in the United States.
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer,
inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer
His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal
Widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented
person ever to have lived
Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait and The Last Supper the
most reproduced religious painting of all time
Nikola Tesla
Inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer.
Best known for developing the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system.
Tesla's patents and theoretical work also formed the basis of wireless communication and the radio.
Developed the first radio controled (RC) device (a RC boat).
The first person to take an X-Ray photograph.
Tesla became reclusive towards the end of his life, living alone in a New York City hotel room and only
appearing occasionally to make unusual statements to the press.
Thomas (Tommy) Harold Flowers
English Engineer who during World War II designed Colossus, the world's first Programmable Electronic computer, to help
solve Encrypted German messages.
1350 B.C. Chinese use the first decimal.
1500 Leonardo da Vinci invents the mechanical calculator.


1613
The word "computer" was first recorded as being used in 1613 and was originally used to describe a
person who performed calculations or computations. The definition of a computer remained the same
until the end of the 19th century when it began referring to a machine that performed calculations.
Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier
French mathematician and physicist best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series and their
applications to problems of heat transfer and vibrations
The Fourier transform and Fourier's Law are also named in his honor.
Fourier is also generally credited with the discovery of the greenhouse effect.
Charles Xavier Thomas
French inventor and entrepreneur best known for designing, manufacturing, and patenting the first
commercially successful mechanical calculator, the Arithmometer in 1820. The calculator could not only
add but also subtract, multiply, and divide.
By the time of his death in 1870, his manufacturing facility had produced around 1,000 Arithmometers,
making it the first mass produced mechanical calculator in the world.
Although there are other earlier examples of computer games, most consider the first true computer game or digital game
to be "Spacewar!". This game was programmed by Steve Russell and first released in February 1962. The game ran on the
DEC PDP-1 computer, and consisted of two spaceships that maneuvered around a star that pulled at the ships with its
gravity. The objective of the game was to avoid colliding with the star while trying to shoot the other ship with missiles.
George Fairchild
Businessman and investor, best known as the chairman from 1915 to 1924 of the Computing-Tabulating-
Recording Company which later became IBM.
He was also considered one of the pioneers of the time recording industry.
Jagadish Chandra Bose
An Indian physicist, biologist, botanist, archaeologist, as well as an early writer of science fiction.
He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made very significant contributions to
plant science, and laid the foundations of experimental science in the Indian subcontinent.
IEEE named him one of the fathers of radio science.
He is also considered the father of Bengali science fiction.
He was the first person from the Indian subcontinent to receive a US patent, in 1904.
He also invented the crescograph.
John von Neumann
Help create von Neumann architecture, a single-memory stored program architecture still in use today.
Although not described as a computer virus, John von Neumann is the first to describe how a computer
program could reproduce itself.
Helped develop the Monte Carlo method, an algorithm to solve complicated problems to be
approximated using random numbers.
Developed a process of generating pseudorandom numbers.
Helped develop flowcharts.
Created as creating the merge sort algorithm.
Created the field of cellular automata.
George Stibitz
Recognized as one of the fathers of the modern first digital computer.
In 1937 he built a digital machine called the Model K, which was based on relays, flashlight bulbs, and
metal strips cut from tin-cans.
He was the first to demonstrate using a computing machine remotely over a phone line.
Stibitz used a teleType to send commands to the Complex Number Calculator in New York over
telephone lines.
He is also known for his work in the 1930s and 1940s on the realization of Boolean logic digital circuits
using electromechanical relays as the switching element.
Grace Hopper
American computer scientist and United States Navy officer.
One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, and developed the first compiler for a
computer programming language.
Erroneously credited as coining the term: "bug".
Extended the meaning of debug.
Lead the team that invented COBOL.
Part of the team that helped develop the UNIVAC I.
Edmund Berkeley
American computer scientist who co-founded the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in 1947.
Observed and helped build the Mark I and Mark II computers
Konrad Zuse
Developed the Z1, Z3, and Z4 the first programmable (modern) computer, making him the father of the
computer.
Wrote the first algorithmic programming language called 'Plankalkl' in 1946.
One of the first people to create a commercial computer and computer company.
Maurice Wilkes
British computer scientist best known as the builder and designer of the EDSAC, the first computer with
an internally stored program.
Developed the concept of microprogramming from the realization that the Central Processing Unit of a
computer could be controlled by a miniature, highly specialised computer program in high-speed ROM.
First implemented in the EDSAC 2.
Credited with the idea of symbolic labels, macros, and subroutine libraries. These are fundamental
developments that made programming much easier and paved the way for high-level programming
languages.
Jeffrey Chu
Pioneer computer Engineer who was a core member of the engineering team that designed the first American Electronic
computer, the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)