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Questions and Answers
Who is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer?
Which device was the first general-purpose electronic computer?
Who suggested using the binary system to Charles Babbage in 1840?
Which of the following was the first stored program computer?
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What was the main limitation of Blaise Pascal's invention, the Pascaline?
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Who wrote programs for the Analytical Engine?
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Which computer system made home computing practicable in collaboration with Steve Jobs?
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Who is credited with inventing the first printing calculator?
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Which computer system was known as 'Almost as Good As Macintosh'?
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Which electro-mechanical computer is also known as the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator?
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Study Notes
History of Computers
- The Abacus, a mechanical device for performing basic arithmetic operations, was invented in Babylonia in 500 BC.
- Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline, a mechanical device for addition and subtraction, in 1642, but it was too expensive.
- Konrad Zuse created the first programmable computer, the Z1, in Germany from 1936 to 1937, using punch tape.
- The Colossus, developed by Alan Turing in 1943, was the first electronic computer, but not programmable.
- The ENIAC, developed by John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly in 1946, was the first electronic general-purpose computer.
Early Computing Devices
- The Stepped Reckoner, invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672, could add, subtract, multiply, and divide automatically.
- The Jacquard Loom, invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1801, was a mechanical loom controlled by punched cards.
- Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine, an automatic calculator, in 1822 and 1834, and the Analytical Engine, the first mechanical computer, in 1840.
Development of Programming
- Augusta Ada Byron suggested to Babbage the use of the binary system in 1840.
- The first commercial computer, EDVAC, was developed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.
- The first stored-program computer, using memory to store programs and data, was developed by Von Neumann in 1952.
Modern Computing
- The first computer for business, IBM 704, was developed in 1957-1959, with the Fortran language.
- The first component per chip, Fortron, was developed in 1958-1962.
- The Apple I, developed by Steve Wozniak in 1976-1977, and Apple II, made home computing practicable.
- The first MS-DOS computer, developed in 1981, and the first portable computer, developed in 1984.
Other Notable Computing Developments
- The first printing calculator, developed by Herman Hollerith in 1880, was used for tabulating.
- The Harvard Mark 1, developed by Howard H. Aiken in 1943, was the first electro-mechanical computer.
- The first mass-produced, commercially available computer, the Macintosh, was developed in 1984.
- The first version of the Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, was released in 1989.
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Description
Test your knowledge of the history of computers from mechanical devices like the abacus to the first programmable machine. Learn about the inventions of key figures like Blaise Pascal and Konrad Zuse.
