Computer & Calculator Design / Architecture Timeline Outline

The Soroban
(Circa 1600)

Napier's Bones & the Lightning Calculator
(1617)

The Circular Form of Slide Rule
(1632)

The Pascaline
(1642)

The Mathematical Organ
(1668)

More Affordable and Easier to Use than the Pascaline
(1671)

First Book on a Calculating Machine Published in English
(1672)

Leibnitz Invents the Stepped Drum Gear Calculator
(1673 – 1710)

Leibniz on Binary Arithmetic
(March 15, 1679 – 1705)

First Description of the Stepped-Drum Calculator
(1710)

Mathematical Tables Calculated by Hairdressers Unemployed after the French Revolution
(1793 – 1801)

The Jacquard Loom Uses Punched Cards to Store Patterns
(1803)

The First Commercially Produced Mechanical Calculator
(1820)

Babbage Begins Construction of his Difference Engine
(1822)

Describing the Logic and Operation of Machinery by Means of Notation
(1826)

The Beginning of Operations Research
(1832)

Probably the Earliest to Use Punched Cards for Information Processing and Storage
(September 1832)

The Analytical Engine
(1834)

Solution of Differential Equations Using a Mechanical Device
(1836)

Poe Writes Maelzel's Chess Player
(April 1836)

The Most Famous Image in the Early History of Computing
(1839)

Funding Cut Off for the Difference Engine No. 1
(1842)

The First Published Computer Programs
(1842)

The First Working Difference Engine
(1843)

The First Automatically Made Numerical Table Printed by the First Printing Calculator
(1849)

The Second Scheutz Difference Engine
(1853)

Invention of Calculators Using a True Variable-Toothed Gear
(Circa 1875)

The Earliest Exhibition Exclusively of Scientific Instruments
(1876)

Invention of the Integraph
(1878)

The Comptometer
(1887)

The Most Complete Work on Babbage's Computers
(1889)

The Burroughs Dependable Key-Driven Printing Adding Machine
(1892)

The Millionaire Calculator
(1893)

The First Systematic Classification of Calculating Machines
(1894)

A New Version of Babbage's Analytical Engine, Lost
(1908)

Summarizing the State of the Computer Industry Prior to World War I
(July 24 – July 27, 1914)

The Differential Analyzer
(1930)

Zuse Begins Working on Computers
(1934)

The First Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator
(September 1935)

Zuse's Z1: The First Freely Programmable Binary-Based Calculating Machine
(April 11, 1936)

An Experimental Electromechanical Cryptanalysis Machine Capable of Binary Multiplication
(1937)

The First Electromechanical Computer Built in America
(November 1937)

Aiken Drafts a Proposal for the Harvard Mark 1
(November 1937)

Atanasoff Plans the ABC Machine
(Circa December 1937)

Zuse Completes the Z1
(1938)

The "Earliest" Electronic Digital Computer
(1939)

Construction of the Harvard Mark I Begins
(1939)

Zuse Completes the Z2
(1939)

The First Electromechanical Computer for Routine Use
(April 1939)

"10,000 Operations per Second"
(October 15, 1939)

The First Process-Controlled Computer
(1940)

Complex Number Calculator
(January 8, 1940)

The Rapid Arithmetical Machine Project
(March 7, 1940)

Design and Principles of the ABC Machine
(August 1940)

Mauchly Meets Atanasoff
(December 1940)

An Improved Bombe
(Circa December 1940)

Converting Zuse's Logical Designs into Switching Circuits
(1941)

Zuse's Z3: The First Turing-Complete Electromechanical Computer
(May 12, 1941)

Eckert and Mauchly Begin their Collaboration
(Circa June 1941)

Atanasoff Abandons Work on his ABC Machine
(1942)

The Z4
(1942)

Containing 2000 Vacuum Tubes and Weighing 100,000 Pounds
(1942)

High Speed Vacuum Tube Devices for Calculating
(August 1942)

The First Complete Machine to Perform Arithmetic Electronically
(1943)

Project Whirlwind Begins
(1943)

The First Computing Journal
(1943)

The Harvard Mark 1 is Operational
(January 1943)

The Proposal to Build the ENIAC
(April 8, 1943)

Promoting the Rumor that the ENIAC is a "White Elephant"
(May 31, 1943)

Possibly the First Computer to Run Programs in the U.S.
(September 1943)

Computer Prototype Damaged and Lost
(November 11, 1943)

Electronic Memory
(January 29, 1944)

Aiken's Harvard Mark 1 is Operational
(May 1944)

The ENIAC is Partly Operational
(July 1944)

John von Neumann Visits the ENIAC in Development
(September 1944)

Authorship of the ENIAC Design
(September 27, 1944)

The U.S. Army Funds Development of the EDVAC
(October 1944)

Zuse's Z4
(1945)

The ENIAC is Operational
(Circa May 1945)

The First Theoretical Description of a Stored-Program Computer
(June 30, 1945)

Turing's ACE
(Circa October 1945)

From Analog to Digital
(Circa November 1945)

The First Confidential Report on the Completed ENIAC
(November 30, 1945)

The Moore School Lectures Take Place
(1946)

Among the Earliest Published Examples of Computer Programs
(1946)

Automatic Computing Engine (ACE)
(1946)

Von Neumann Begins the Princeton IAS Computer Project
(March 1946)

Bigelow joins von Neumann and Goldstine
(June 1946)

Ideas to be Incorporated into the Princeton IAS Design
(June 28, 1946)

Max Newman Founds the Computer Laboratory at Manchester
(July 1946)

A Single Erasable High-Speed Memory
(July 15, 1946)

A Soroban Beats an Electric Calculator
(November 12, 1946)

The ENIAC Becomes an Elementary Stored-Program Computer
(1947)

EDVAC is Declassified
(1947)

Couffignal Decides against Building a Stored-Program Computer
(1947)

Design of the Whirlwind I Begins
(1947)

The Most Advanced Small Mechanical Calculator
(1947)

The ENIAC is Moved from the Moore School to the Aberdeen Proving Ground
(January – August 1947)

"Practical Versions of the Universal Machine"
(February 20, 1947)

Von Neumann's First Draft Bars Patenting the ENIAC
(April 8, 1947)

The von Neumann Architecture
(Circa June 1947)

Eckert & Mauchly Apply for a Patent on the Stored-Program Computer
(June 26, 1947)

Northrop Places the Contract for the BINAC
(October 1947)

Patenting the Mercury Acoustic Delay-Line Electronic Memory
(October 31, 1947)

The First Brochure Advertising an Electronic Computer
(Circa November 1947)

First Assemblage of Digital Electronics Replaceable as a Unit
(1948)

The First Magnetic Drum Memory
(1948)

The First Computer that Could Modify a Stored Program
(January 1948)

The First Operational Stored-Program Computer Runs its First Program
(June 21, 1948)

"Intelligent Machinery"
(July – August 1948)

Innovations in the BINAC
(September 9, 1948)

The First Popular Book on Electronic Computers
(1949)

The First Software to Allow a Computer to be Operated by a Keyboard
(1949)

Automated Detection and Interception System
(1949)

First Program Run on the First Stored-Program Electronic Computer in the U.S.
(February 1949)

The First Easily Used Fully Functional Stored-Program Computer to Run a Program
(May 6, 1949)

The First Stored-Program Computer in Australia
(November 1949)

The First Textbook on How to Build an Electronic Computer
(1950)

Whirlwind is in Limited Operation
(1950)

The First Supercomputer
(1950 – 1954)

Simon, the First Personal Computer
(November 1950)

The First Russian Stored-Program Computer
(November 6, 1950 – 1951)

IBM's First Electronic Computer, the 701
(1951)

Calculating Machines and Human Thought
(January 8 – January 13, 1951)

Ferranti Mark I
(February 1951)

The First Graphical Display for a Computer
(April 20, 1951)

Maurice Wilkes Introduces Microprogamming
(July 9 – July 12, 1951)

Once Finally Operational, the EDVAC is Obsolete
(1952)

Vaccuum Tubes Especially Designed for Digital Circuits
(1952)

Magnetic Core Memory Replaces Electrostatic Memory on the Whirlwind
(1952)

The First Trackball
(1952)

The IAS Machine is Fully Operational
(June 10, 1952)

The First Electronic Computer in Germany
(September 1952)

IBM Produces an "Electronic Data Processing Machine"
(December 1952)

IBM Installs its First Stored Program Electronic Computer, the 701, but They Don't Call it a Computer
(March 27, 1953)

The Deuce
(1954)

First Computer to Incorporate Indexing & Floating Point Arithmetic
(1954)

The First Light Pen
(1954)

The First Silicon Transistor
(May 10, 1954)

The First Solid State Computer
(1955)

Magnetic Core Storage Units
(1955)

The ENIAC is Retired
(1955)

The First Full-Scale Programmable Japanese Computer
(October 1955)

First Japanese Stored-Program Computer
(March 1956)

First Japanese Conference on Electronic Computers
(November 1956)

IBM Phases Out Vacuum Tubes
(1957)

Control Unit Based on Microprogramming
(1957)

Physically the Largest Computers Ever Built
(1957)

So-Called Second Generation of Computers
(1957)

The First Significant Computer Music Composition
(1957)

First Commercial Electronic Computer Produced in Germany
(1958)

The First Transistorized Supercomputer
(1958)

The IBM 1401, a Relatively Inexpensive Computer
(1958)

A Computer Occupying a Half Acre of Floor Space
(1958)

The Burroughs Atlas Guidance Computer
(July 19, 1958)

The TX-2 Computer for the Study of Human-Computer Interaction
(1959)

ARPA Increases Funding for Research on Computing
(1960)

The First Commercially Available General Purpose Computer with Transistor Logic
(1960)

Coining the Term "Computer Science"
(1961)

The Linc, Perhaps the First Mini-Computer
(May 1961 – 1962)

The First Integrated Circuit Computer
(October 19, 1961)

Origins of the IBM System/360
(December 28, 1961)

The First Commercially Produced Mini-Computer
(1963)

The First Commercial Computers to Use Integrated Circuits
(1964)

The ENIAC Patent
(February 4, 1964)

The IBM System/360 Family
(April 7, 1964)

One of the Earliest Tablet Computers and the First Reference to Electronic Ink
(August 1964)

The First Production Model Minicomputer
(1965)

Early Home Computer?
(1965)

The First Hand-Held Electronic Calculator
(1967 – June 25, 1974)

Invention of the Computer Mouse
(June 27, 1967)

Hypertext, Text Editing, Windows, Email and a Mouse
(December 8, 1968)

The Datapoint 2200: Precursor of the Personal Computer and the Microprocessor
(1969 – 1971)

PDP-11
(1970)

Xerox PARC is Founded
(1970)

System/370 Using Semiconductor Memory
(June 30, 1970)

The First General Patent on the Microprocessor
(December 1970)

The First Microprocessor
(1971)

Computer Structures
(1971)

The First Handheld Scientific Calculator
(1972)

Conceptually, the First Personal Computer System
(1973)

The First Computer Employing RISC
(1974)

Virtual Machines
(1974)

The First Magnetic Card-Programmable Handheld Calculator
(1974)

The First Microprocessor for the First Personal Computer
(March 1974)

The First Personal Computer Offered for Sale
(January 1975)

The Apple I is Released
(July 1976)

The First Personal Computer Sold as a Fully Assembled Product
(1977)

Inaugurating the Concept of Office Automation
(1977)

The 8086 Microprocessor
(1978)

Intel 8088
(July 1, 1979)

The Xerox Star: The "Office of the Future"
(1981)

The First Commercially Successful "Portable" Computer
(April 1981)

IBM Introduces the IBM 5150- The IBM PC
(August 12, 1981)

The First "Clamshell" Laptop?
(1982)

Sun Microsystems Announces its First Workstation
(February 24, 1982)

The First IBM PC Compatible Computer
(June 1982)

The First Cheap Home Computer
(August 1982)

The First Scanner?
(November 1982)

The "Trash" 80: The First Notebook Computer?
(1983)

The First Commercially Available IBM PC Compatible ROM Bios
(1983 – May 1984)

On of the First Commercially Available Touchscreen Computers
(November 1983)

The Greatest PC Keyboard of All Time?
(1984)

Apple Introduces the "Mac"
(January 24, 1984)

The First Hand-Held Graphing Calculator
(October 1985)

The First Commercially Available Tablet Computer
(September 1989)

Scalable Parallel Systems
(1993)

The First Tablet Computer with Wireless Connectivity
(April 1993 – July 1994)

Supercomputer ASCI Blue-Pacific SST
(October 28, 1998)

IBM's Blue Gene
(December 1999)

The ASCI White Supercomputer
(June 29, 2000)

Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 and its Printer are Finally Constructed
(2002)

Supercomputer Project Columbia
(October 27, 2004)

280.6 Trillion Operations per Second
(October 28, 2005)

On the Origins of the ENIAC
(February 14, 2006)

Publishing Patent Filings on the Web
(September 26, 2006)

Apple Introduces the iPhone
(June 29, 2007)

The Thinnest Notebook Computer
(January 15, 2008)

The First Computer to Go Petascale
(May 25, 2008)

1.75 Petaflops Achieved
(November 2009)

Introduction of Apple's iPad
(January 27, 2010)

An Apple 1 Computer Sells for $210,000
(November 23, 2010)

The Smartphone Becomes the CPU of the Laptop
(January 2011)

Koomey’s Law of Electrical Efficiency in Computing
(March 2011)

Toward Cognitive Computing Systems
(August 18, 2011)

Steve Jobs Dies
(October 5, 2011)

The First Computer to Top 10 Petaflops
(November 2011)

Windows 8, With Touch Screen Features, is Released
(October 26, 2012)

Memcomputing Outlined
(November 19, 2012)