History of computers is an engaging subject to study. If we start searching for the roots and origin of computers and how they evolved, we have to go to our distant past. Our search would start from the Babylonian mathematician who developed algorithms to solve the numerical problems. This was achieved around two thousand years before Christ was born. Then in 200 AD the Saun pan-computing tray was used in China and the soroban-computing tray was used in Japan.
A study of history of computers tells that in 1617 AD, Scottish inventor John Napier used bones to illustrate division by using subtraction and multiplication by using addition. In 1622 William Oughtred was engaged in developing the slide rule and in couple of years later Wilhelm Schickard invented the first multi function calculator clock. In 1642 Blaise Pascal discovered the first numerical calculating machine in Paris. The discovery of electricity in the year1780by Benjamin Franklin was very significant.
As we delve into the history of computers we see Charles Babbage in 1822 designed a Difference Engine in order to calculate logarithms. Unfortunately, the machine was however never built. In 1854, Irishman George Boole published The Mathematical Analysis of Logic by using the binary system, which is now known as Boolean algebra.
History of computers achieved a new dimension when Nikola Tesla, who was a Yugoslavian and worked for the great Thomas Edison, discovered electrical logic circuits now known as gates or switches. Another significant change occurred in 1924 when the Computing Tabulating Recording Company changed its name to International Business Machines. In 1938, the Hewlett-Packard Co. was formed to make electronic equipments. The year 1940 is marked for the first color TV broadcast.
In 1947 the Association for Computing Machinery was formed. In 1948, IBM introduced the 604 electronic calculators. In the same year there was a landmark change in history of computers when IBM made the Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (SSEC), which was a computer with 12,000 tubes. In 1951 the first Joint Computer Conference was held. In 1953 IBM introduced its first stored program computer, the 701. In 1958 the first electronic computers were built by Japan. These were the NEC-1101 and -1102. Under John McCarthy, in the year 1958 the LISP is developed on the IBM 704 at MIT.
In the year 1962 IBM markets the 1311 using the removable disks. History of computers reveals IBM's U.S. based annual revenues through computer products reaches near about $1 billion. In1965, IBM shipped the first System 360, which was the first third generation, computer. In 1972, Intel introduced the 8008, which was an 8 bit microprocessor. In the same year however, the Prime Computer was founded. In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh, which was followed by a portable Macintosh in 1989.
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