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The first known counting devices or tools were Tally Sticks from about 35,000 BC. The Abacus was then invented by the Babylonians in 2400 BC.
In 1837, Charles Babbage, a British professor of mathematics described his idea for the Analytical Engine, the first stored-program mechanical computer. The Analytical Engine was designed to be powered by a steam engine and was to use Punched Cards, which was used to program mechanical looms at the time.
What made the Analytical Engine unique was that it was designed to be programmed. It was because of this and the fact that it would be more than 100 years that any similar devices would be constructed, Charles Babbage, would be considered by many as the "father of computing". Because of legal, financial, and political obstacles, the Analytical Machine would never be completed. Charles Babbage was also difficult to work with and alienated the supporters of his work.
In 1939, John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry developed the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) at Iowa State University, which was regarded as the first electronic digital computer. The ABC was built by hand and the design used over 300 Vacuum Tubes and had capacitors fixed in a mechanically rotating drum for memory.
The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), constructed in the US in 1943, is widely regarded as the first functionally useful electronic general-purpose computer. Influenced by the ABC, it was a turning point in the history of computing and was used to perform ballistics trajectory calculations and used 160 kW of power. World War II is known to be the driving force of computing hardware development and one of such use of computers was in communications encryption and decryption.
The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first commercially available, "mass produced" electronic computer manufactured by Remington Rand in the USA and was delivered to the US Census Bureau in June 1951. It used 5,200 vacuum tubes and consumed 125 kW of power. 46 machines were sold at more than $1 million each.
The microprocessor eventually led to the development of the microcomputer, small, low-cost computers that individuals and small businesses could afford. By the 1990s, the microcomputer or Personal Computer (PC) became a common household appliance, and became even more widespread with the advent of the internet.
The history of computers starts out about 2000 years ago, at the birth of the abacus, a wooden rack holding two horizontal wires with beads strung on them. When these beads are moved around, according to programming rules memorized by the user, all regular arithmetic problems can be done. Another important invention around the same time was the Astrolabe, used for navigation. Blaise Pascal is usually credited for building the first digital computer in 1642. It added numbers entered with dials and was made to help his father, a tax collector. In 1671, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz invented a computer that was built in 1694. It could add, and, after changing some things around, multiply. Leibniz invented a special stepped gear mechanism for introducing the addend digits, and this is still being used. The prototypes made by Pascal and Leibniz were not used in many places, and considered weird until a little more than a century later, when Thomas of Colmar (A.K.A. Charles Xavier Thomas) created the first successful mechanical calculator that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. A lot of improved desktop calculators by many inventors followed, so that by about 1890, the range of improvements included:
Accumulation of partial results, Storage and automatic re-entry of past results (A memory function), Printing of the results
While Thomas of Colmar was developing the desktop calculator, a series of very interesting developments in computers was started in Cambridge, England, by Charles Babbage, a mathematics professor. In 1812, Babbage realized that many long calculations, especially those needed to make mathematical tables, were really a series of predictable actions that were constantly repeated. From this he suspected that it should be possible to do these automatically. He began to design an automatic mechanical calculating machine, which he called a difference engine. By 1822, he had a working model to demonstrate with. With financial help from the British government, Babbage started fabrication of a difference engine in 1823. It was intended to be steam powered and fully automatic, including the printing of the resulting tables, and commanded by a fixed instruction program. The difference engine, although having limited adaptability and applicability, was really a great advance. Babbage continued to work on it for the next 10 years, but in 1833 he lost interest because he thought he had a better idea - the construction of what would now be called a general purpose, fully program-controlled, automatic mechanical digital computer. Babbage called this idea an Analytical Engine. The ideas of this design showed a lot of foresight, although this couldn't be appreciated until a full century later. The plans for this engine required an identical decimal computer operating on numbers of 50 decimal digits (or words) and having a storage capacity (memory) of 1,000 such digits. The built-in operations were supposed to include everything that a modern general - purpose computer would need, even the all important Conditional Control Transfer Capability that would allow commands to be executed in any order, not just the order in which they were programmed. The analytical engine was soon to use punched cards (similar to those used in a Jacquard loom), which would be read into the machine from several different Reading Stations. The machine was supposed to operate automatically, by steam power, and require only one person there. Babbage's computers were never finished. Various reasons are used for his failure. Most used is the lack of precision machining techniques at the time. Another speculation is that Babbage was working on a solution of a problem that few people in 1840 really needed to solve. After Babbage, there was a temporary loss of interest in automatic digital computers. Between 1850 and 1900 great advances were made in mathematical physics, and it came to be known that most observable dynamic phenomena can be identified by differential equations(which meant that most events occurring in nature can be measured or described in one equation or another), so that easy means for their calculation would be helpful. Moreover, from a practical view, the availability of steam power caused manufacturing (boilers), transportation (steam engines and boats), and commerce to prosper and led to a period of a lot of engineering achievements. The designing of railroads, and the making of steamships, textile mills, and bridges required differential calculus
The first "computer" was invented in 1822 by Charles Babbage and it was called "The Difference Engine".
The purpose of the computer was to make maths easier, specifically with conversions from imperial to metric (as the imperial system was being abolished in Europe at this time).
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When was the first Gateway computer invented?
The first computer was invented in Germany in 1936 to 1938. The first Gateway computer was invented in 1991, which is when the company got their start.
What year was the first commercial computer invented?
The first commercial computer was invented in 1964 by Engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto of Olivetti. The device was named Programma 101.
Who invented the first PC?
The first computer was invented by a man named Charles Babbage in 1837.Konrad Zuse made the Z1 computer which was the first freely programmable computer.
Where was the computer invented in?
Z3, an electromechanical programmable computer was invented in Berlin. ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer was invented at the University of Pennsylvania.
When were computer speakers first invented?
Abinawan Puracchidas invented the first speakers in 1991.
When the first computer was invented not a calculating device and who invented it?
first computer was invented by Chals Babeje. It invented in 1938
When was the first Gateway computer invented?
The first computer was invented in Germany in 1936 to 1938. The first Gateway computer was invented in 1991, which is when the company got their start.
Wwwho invented computer?
Charles Babbage invented the first computer.
Who invented the first modern computer during world war 2?
The first computer was invented in 1946
What year was the first commercial computer invented?
The first commercial computer was invented in 1964 by Engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto of Olivetti. The device was named Programma 101.
Where was the first computer modern computer invented?
In USA
Where was the first computer keyboard invented?
The first computer keyboard was invented by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1875. First computer keyboards were adapted from the punch card and teletype equipment.
Who invented the first PC?
The first computer was invented by a man named Charles Babbage in 1837.Konrad Zuse made the Z1 computer which was the first freely programmable computer.
Who invended the first computer?
Charles Babbage invented the first electronic computer
Name of scientist who invented computer?
John Vincent Ansoff, from Bulgaria, invented the first computer.
How was the first hairbrush invented?
It was invented by the slow silly computer.
Where was the computer invented in?
Z3, an electromechanical programmable computer was invented in Berlin. ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer was invented at the University of Pennsylvania.
