The history of computers began with early counting devices like the abacus and progressed through mechanical calculating machines invented in the 1600s. Major milestones included Charles Babbage's analytical engine design in 1833, Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine for the 1890 census, and the first programmable electronic digital computer, ENIAC, created in the 1940s. The stored program concept was developed in 1945, allowing programs to be stored in the computer's memory. The first commercially available computer, UNIVAC I, was released in 1951, marking the start of modern computing.

1. History of Computer
1000 BC - Chinese used the Abacus(Counting Device)
1642 Pascal - Invented a mechanical adding machine to add long columns of figures. The
machine only performed addition
1694 Liebnitz - Invented a mechanical calculating machine. It would perform addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, and calculate square roots.
1801 Jacquard - Invented a punched card machine used to operate weaving looms
1822 Charles Babbage - Built the "Difference Engine". This machine could compute mathematical tables.
The government gave his a grant to continue work on it, but he lost interest in it when he was unable to
find parts for it and abandoned his research.
1833 Babbage - Designed the "Analytical Engine" that would be capable of addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division. This machine would have a memory unit, an arithmetic unit, a
punched card unit and external storage devices. This machine was also ahead of its time and parts
couldn't be found for it either. Because of this machine, Babbage is known as the "Father of the
Computer".
1834 Lady Lovelace - Babbage's business partner and is said to have been the "First Programmer"
because she wrote mathematics problems for Babbages machines.
1880 Herman Hollerith -Developed a device to code data and sort cards for the 1890 census.
1896 Tabulating Machine Company - Organized by Hollerith
1914 Hollerith retired - Thomas Watson became President of the Tabulating Machine Company
1924 IBM - Name of Tabulating Machine Company is changed to International
Business Machines Corp. (IBM) after merging with 2 other companies.
1937-38 Dr. John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry -Built the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC) This was the
first electronic digital computer.
1940 Aiken - Developed the Mark I - Considered the first automatic calculator
Mid 40's Mauchly and Eckert - Invented the ENIAC (Electronic and Numerical Integrator and
Calculator). This was the first large-scale electronic digital computer.
1945 Dr. Jon VonNeumann - Fathered the idea of the "stored program". This was that the program
directing the actions of the computer should be within the computer itself and not wired into the side of
the computer.
1949 Wilkes - Invented the EDSAC(Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer) This was the
first stored program computer.
1951 EDVAC - (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) This machine also
incorporated VonNeumann's concept. This is the first non-scientific computer.

2. 1951 Mauchly & Eckert -Built the UNIVAC I(Universal Automatic Computer). This was the first
commercially available computer.
1954 TRADIC - First transistorized computer
1965 –PDP-8 - Mini-computers were introduced
1969 Dr. Ted Hoff - Developed the microprocessor
1976 Apple - Apple 1 computer developed & Apple Computer, Inc. organized
1979 - Microsoft- Bill Gates' Microsoft offers operating systems to IBM and compatibles
1981 - IBM PC introduced
1983 - Lotus 123 introduced
1987 - 80386 chip developed
1989 - 80486 chip developed
1993 - Pentium chip developed
1997 - Pentium II chip developed
1999 - Pentium III chip developed
2000 - Pentium 4 chip introduced
2002 - Pentium 4 chip revamped
2006 - Core 2 Duo processor introduced (Nintendo Wii introduced)
2007 - Apple introduces iPhone (Core 2 Quad processor introduced)
2008 - Bill Gates Retires
2009 - All TV stations must broadcast in digital (Core processor family enhanced )
When we speak of the evolution of computers, we speak in terms of generations. Each
generation has different characteristics and these are listed below:
Second Generation 1958 - 1964
 Used transistors
 Smaller
 Less expensive
 Generated less heat
 Magnetic core replaced magnetic drum
 Supported auxiliary storage devices
 Used high level languages
 Speeds in millions of a second
 Average storage capacity 32000 or 32K
First Generation 1951 - 1958
 Used vacuum tubes
 Large in size
 Required much air conditioning
 Relatively slow
 Used magnetic drum as storage media
 Used machine language (only
language the computer understands)
 Speeds in thousands of a second
 Average storage capacity - 4000 bytes.
Third Generation 1964 - 1970
 Used integrated circuits
 Integration of hardware and
software(more devices and programs)
 Handled multi operation at a time
 Speeds in billions and trillions of a
second
Fourth Generation 1970 -1974
 Used large scale integrated circuits(LSI)
which packed many circuits onto one
chip
 Communication linkage capabilities
(terminals, phones)
 Used TV like display screen for console
(CRT, VDT)