Generations of Computers Quiz

The first generation of computers, between the 1940s and 1950s, were based on vacuum tubes. Notable examples are ENIAC, UNIVAC, IBM 650, and IBM 701.
The second generation of computers, between the 1950s and 1960s, used transistors. Examples include IBM 1401, IBM 7090 and 7094, and UNIVAC 1107.
The third generation of computers, from the 1960s to the 1970s, utilized integrated circuits. Some significant machines from this era are IBM 360, IBM 370, PDP-11, and UNIVAC 1108.
The fourth generation of computers, starting in the 1970s and continuing till present, are based on microprocessors. Popular devices include IBM PC, STAR 1000, APPLE II, and Apple Macintosh.
The fifth generation of computers, encompassing the present and future, emphasizes Artificial Intelligence (AI). Common examples include desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

A vacuum tube is an electronic device controlling electron flow in a vacuum.
A transistor is an electronic component acting as an amplifier or switch.
An integrated circuit (IC) is a miniaturized electronic circuit printed on a chip, typically made of silicon, containing various circuit elements like transistors, diodes, and resistors.
A microprocessor is an electronic component residing on an integrated circuit that houses a computer's central processing unit (CPU) and associated circuits.
The central processing unit (CPU) is often referred to as the brain or engine of a computer, where the majority of processing and operations take place (CPU is part of a microprocessor).
Magnetic drums are cylinders coated with magnetic material used to store data and programs.
Magnetic cores utilize arrays of small rings of magnetized material, known as cores, to store information.
Machine language is a low-level programming language consisting of binary digits (ones and zeros) that can be understood and read by the computer.
Memory is a physical device used to store data, information, and programs within a computer.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science focusing on simulating and creating intelligent machines or replicating intelligent behavior in computers (they think, learn, work, and react like humans).

Petroglyphs are signs or simple figures carved in rock.
Ideographs are symbols representing ideas and concepts.
Cuneiform was the first true written language and the first real information system.
Sumerians utilized a stylus and wet clay for writing.
Egyptians used papyrus plants for writing (2600 BC).
Chinese developed paper from rags (100 AD).

Mesopotamia's religious leaders preserved the earliest books.
Egyptians kept scrolls.
Greeks (600 BC) introduced the method of folding sheets of papyrus vertically into leaves and binding them together.

Egyptian numerical system used vertical lines (|) for numbers 1-9, U or O for 10, coiled rope for 100, and lotus blossom for 1000.
Hindus (100-200 AD) developed a 9-digit numbering system.
The concept of zero was introduced by Hindus around 875 AD.

The abacus was the first recorded calculator and adding machine, invented in Babylonia and popularized in China.
Johann Guttenberg introduced the movable metal-type printing process in 1450.
John Napier invented LOGS (Logarithm) which allows multiplication and division to be reduced to addition and subtraction.
Arabian Lattice is a special version of multiplication tables laid out on a set of four-sided wooden rods.
Wilhelm Shickard invented the first mechanical calculator, capable of handling six digits and carrying across columns.
William Oughtred invented the slide rule.
Blaise Pascal created the Pascaline, a calculator made of clock gears and levers for addition and subtraction.
Gottfried Leibniz invented the Stepped Reckoner.
Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed the automatic loom controlled by punch cards.
Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar introduced the Arithmometer, the first mass-produced calculator.
Charles Babbage invented the difference engine and analytical engine, earning him the title of "Father of Modern Computer".
Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace Byron is recognized as the first computer programmer.

Alessandro Volta invented the Voltaic Battery, the first electric battery, known as the voltaic pile.

Samuel F.B Morse conceived and developed his version of an electromagnetic telegraph.
Alexander Graham Bell created the first working telephone.
Guglielmo Marconi discovered that electrical waves can travel through space and have effects far from their origin, leading to the development of radio.
George Boole developed Boolean Algebra, a binary algebra system.