History of Technology

Network

Selected landmarks in

The History of Computing

A contribution to the Institution's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2021
from the IET History of Technology Network

This is one of a series of timelines which focus on a selection of engineering and technology
landmarks which have occurred during the lifetime of the Institution since its foundation in
1871.
Comments regarding any errors in, or significant additions to, this timeline should be sent to the
History of Technology Network Manager Anne Locker by Email to [email protected]

Etymology
The term ‘computer’ was originally used to define somebody who carried out calculations.
For example, in 1660 Samuel Pepys, the British navy administrator and famous diarist, wrote
of ….’spending a morning computing the 30 ships' pay’. In 1731 the Edinburgh Weekly
Journal advised young married women to know their husbands' income and be so good a
Computer as to keep within it."
It was common for companies and government departments to advertise jobs for people to
work as "computers" - right up to the time when the word was also used for early electronic
devices, and in some cases until the 1970s.
Source: BBC News Blogs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-
35428300#:~:text=%22Computer%22%20comes%20from%20the%20Latin,to%20think%20
and%20to%20prune.&text=In%2016

Date Event
For a selection of computing events prior to 1871 see footnote

1871 IET FOUNDED AS SOCIETY OF TELEGRAPH ENGINEERS

1873 William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) develops Tide Predictor, a mechanical

analogue device and harmonic analyser, based on the work of his brother,
James Thomson, on differential analysers.
The Tide Predictor was designed to analyse graphical records of daily changes in
atmospheric temperature and pressure. It was brought into use by the Meteorological
Office in 1878 and is part of the collections of the Science Museum, London.
The Tide Predictor is considered one of the earliest differential analysers, an analogue
computer designed to solve a class of mathematical functions called differential equations,
although the term "differential analyser" was not used until the early 1930s.
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 2

Date Event
1873 QWERTY keyboard layout devised by Christopher Latham Sholes and
sold to Remington for their early typewriters.

1875 Anna Winlock became a "computer" for the Harvard Observatory in 1875.
Women were hired as "computers", especially for astronomy calculations
and classification, from the mid-1800s and many went on to make
contributions to astronomy in their own right.
Prominent examples of female "computers" who made contributions to
astronomy include Maria Mitchell, discoverer of comet 1847 VI later
known as "Miss Mitchell’s Comet" and professor of astronomy at Vassar
College from 1865 onwards and Annie Jump Cannon, creator of the
Harvard Classification Scheme, the first serious attempt to organise and
classify stars based on their temperatures and spectral types, and a
suffragist.

1880 to 1889

1887 Comptometer – the first successful key driven calculating machine

introduced by Dorr E Felt in the USA. The Comptometer was made from
1887 until the 1970s, when it was largely replaced by electronic
calculators.

1889 Punched card technology adopted by Herman Hollerith see footnote

1890 Hollerith design a tabulating machine for the 1890 U.S census

1896 Herman Hollerith establishes the Tabulating Machine Company, renamed

the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924, one of
the leading data processing companies from the late nineteenth century
onwards.

1898 A.A. Michelson and S.W. Stroud developed a "new" harmonic analyser,
usually referred to as Michelson's Harmonic Analyzer. This analogue
computing device was capable of analysing harmonic series.

1930 to 1939

1930 Harold Locke Hazen and Vannevar Bush developed the first widely used
practical general-purpose differential analyser at MIT, possibly building on
the work of Lord Kelvin's Tide Predictor.
In 1931, Bush introduced the term "differential analyzer" [US spelling] to
describe this type of analogue computing device which was used to solve
differential equations.
Their differential analyser is considered the precursor to the digital
computer and could solve a number of mathematical problems.
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 3

Date Event
1935 The Manchester Differential Analyser was an analogue computer
designed and used by Douglas Hartree at the University of Manchester to
solve a class of mathematical functions called differential equations.
The machine was built by the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company
and completed in 1935 for the Physics Department at Manchester
University.
The machine was based on an American design by Hazen and Bush,
powered by electric motors, and uses mechanical components to model
mathematical relationships. The central device is a disc-and-wheel device
integrator which performs mathematical integration.

1936 Alan Turing published his seminal paper "On Computable Numbers, with
an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem" and outlined the 'Universal
Computing Machine' (now a 'Universal Turing machine'), a simple abstract
computational machine intended to help investigate the extent and
limitations of what can be computed.
These abstract machines are considered to be one of the foundational
models of computability and theoretical computer science.

1939 Hewlett Packard (HP) company formed

1940 to 1949

1941 German civil engineer Konrad Zuse introduced the Z3, the first
programmable fully automatic digital computer and a design Zuse had
been working on since 1935. In the midst of the Second World War, the
machine was not considered essential to the German war effort and so
was never brought into use. It was destroyed by the Allied bombardment
of Berlin in December 1943 but a fully functioning replica built in 1961 is
on display in the Deutsches Museum, Munich.

1942 Atanasoff-Berry (ABC) digital non programmable computing machine

devised

1943 The first Colossus computer was delivered to Bletchley Park by Tommy
Flowers of Post Office Research. Colossus, equipped with thermionic
valves, was used to find the wheel settings of the enemy Lorenz
teleprinters thereby assisting in breaking high-grade German military
communications, revealing longer-term military strategy and planning.
Colossus is considered the first operational semi-programmable,
electronic, digital computer and was a single-purpose rather than general-
purpose computer. However, Colossus computers were kept secret and
later almost entirely destroyed due to their key role in British codebreaking
by GCHQ during and after the Second World War.
Many Colossus computers at Bletchley Park were operated by women
from the Women's Royal Naval Service.
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 4

Date Event
1944 In the UK the Telecoms Research Establishment proposed that a cathode
Ray Tube (CRT) could be used a computer memory device

ASCC (Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator), later referred to as

the Harvard Mark I, was unveiled by IBM. It was based on an original
concept for automated calculations proposed by Howard Aitken, a
physicist at Harvard University. One of the early programmers of the
Harvard Mark I in 1944 and 1945 was Grace Hopper, a pioneer in
computer programming.

1945 ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) : a device for

calculating ballistic trajectory used by USA military

1946 ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) proposed by Turing

Fredrick C. Williams demonstrated the storage of a single binary digit (bit)

on a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screen at the Telecommunications
Research Establishment in October 1946.

1948 Manchester University’s ‘Baby’ the SSEM (Small Scale Experimental

Machine) using a CRT to provide storage as a Random Access Memory
(RAM). The designers were Professor Freddie Williams, Tom Kilburn, and
Geoff Tootill at the University of Manchester. 'Baby' was the first
experimental stored-program computer and ran its first program on 21
June 1948.

1949 EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) at Cambridge

University. world’s first stored program computer with fully integrated
Input/Output. Also had sub-routine libraries - forerunners of ‘Operating
Systems’

Manchester University build Mark 1 based on the SSEM ‘Baby’.

In USA EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)

created as ENIAC successor with digital operation and stored
programmes

1950 to 1959

1950 In USA ERA (Engineering Research Associates) make first use of a

Magnetic Drum for data storage

1951 Lyons & Co developed the Lyons Electronic Office, to be used for stock
control and ordering, statistics and payroll. Better known as LEO I and
based on the Cambridge EDSAC design, this was the world’s first
automated office computer system, transforming office work and kick-
starting the British computer industry.
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 5

Date Event
1951 The Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC) introduced a tape
unit recorder developed for data storage and first used with the UNIVAC
1. This was the first practical time magnetic recording tape was used for
computing memory.

Ferranti Mark 1 becomes the first commercially available computer

1952 To avoid the entering data in binary machine code, US Navy officer Grace
Hopper develops a technique for entering data in words into the UNIVAC
1. Titled a ‘compiler’ it represents the first concept of a high level
language.

Mary Coombs became the first female commercial computer programmer

in Britain, working on the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) computer,
developed by Lyons & Co., best known for its high street teashops.

Magnetic recording tape available for memory See 1951 above

1953 Manchester University demonstrates prototype transistorised computer

Magnetic Core memory matrix developed first used as part of Whirlwind

computer project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a US
Navy real-time flight simulator.

1956 IBM introduced the first commercial magnetic disc memory, based on the
work of Reynold Johnson and the Research & Development (R&D) team
at IBM in the mid-1950s. The five-foot tall Model 350 disk storage unit
weighed one ton and was part of the IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Access
Method of Accounting and Control) system. It was leased out by IBM for
about $750 a month.

MIT researchers led by Doug Ross begin experimenting with direct

keyboard input to computers and later that year attached an electric
typewriter to the MIT Whirlwind computer for direct keyboard input. This
replaced the then standard modes of inputting programmes such as
punched cards or paper tape.

1957 Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, former members of William Shockley's
team at Bell Labs leave to establish Fairchild Semiconductors in Silicon
Valley, California, as a subsidiary of Fairchild cameras.

FORTRAN (Formula Translation) compiled programme published

US President Eisenhower establishes ARPA ( Advanced Research

Projects Agency). A network of US research establishments whose
objective was to accelerate the US technology development programme.

1958 Ferranti Pegasus 2 computer produced

Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 6

Date Event
1958 Dina St Johnston (née Vaughan) founded Vaughan Programming
Services (VPS), the first independent software production company in the
UK.

1959 COBOL (common business orientated language) compiled programme

published

1960 to 1969

1960 Algol 60 (algorithmic language 1960) developed and becomes the basis
of many programming trees

DEC (Digital equipment Corporation) releases their first mini- computer:

PDP-1

1962 In the USA Licklider outlines a vision for a global network of computers
which would allow data and programmes to be accessible from any site.
Many of the concepts he envisaged appear in the modern Internet.

1963 ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) published

1964 Metal Oxide Silicon (MOS) Random Access Memory launched;

BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming

language launched

In UK the Data Modem 1A becomes available operating at 200Bit/sec

1965 Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore establish INTEL (Integrated Electronics)
in Silicon Valley, California USA

Gordon Moore predicts a doubling of components per chip every 2 years

(later the prediction was adjusted to a doubling transistors per chip every
2years) : it became known worldwide as Moore’s Law

1966 Dynamic RAM (DRAM) launched;

A team of three engineers at Texas Instruments - Jack Kilby, Jerry

Merryman, and James Van Tassel - began developing a prototype hand-
held pocket calculator using integrated circuits (IC) and powered by a
battery that would be capable of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division but could still fit in the palm of a hand. In 1967, they introduced
the Cal-Tech prototype calculator but commercial hand-held calculators
would not be available until the early 1970s.

1967 Plans for a network interconnecting ARPA sites (the ARPANET) are
published. A wide area packet switched network using mini-computers
equipped with IMPs (Interface Message Processors) to interface with the
physical transmission network. IMPs are forerunners of routers
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 7

Date Event
1968 Richard Morley at Bedford Associates designs the first Programmable
Logic Controller (PLC) the MODICON 084 for industrial production
control. For more information on the evolution of the PLC see the Control
and Automation timeline.

1969 ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) a packet

switched network is established (see 1967) It uses a Network Control
Program (NCP) which is replaced by TCP in 1983

AMD (Advance Micro Devices) formed by ex-Fairchild employees

The RS 232 C standard is defined for the interface between computers

and modems or other serial devices

1970 to 1979

1970 UNIX operating system originally conceived in the mid-1960s is published

– originally spelling used by its developers was UNICS (Uniplexed
Information and Computing Services)

The PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) chip created

1971 The INTEL company produce the first MICROPROCESSOR – the 4004
.It is a 4 bit device having an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), a control
unit, registers, a bus system and a clock effectively being a computer on a
single chip

LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) printers

are launched

1972 C programming language finalised by Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson:

derived from assembly language and closely associated with the UNIX
development

Texas Instruments introduced the first commercially available handheld

pocket calculator, the TI 2500 "Datamath", based on the earlier work and
Cal-Tech prototype of Jack Kilby, Jerry Merryman, and James Van
Tassel.

1973 Robert Metcalfe at Xerox PARC defines a packet switched network for
Local Area Networks (LAN) later name changed to ETHERNET

Graphical User Interface (GUI) developed by Xerox Palo Alto

Hard Drives and floppy discs introduced by IBM

1974 The architecture of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) which will allow
different computer networks to interoperate is published in the USA by
Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn. TCP will be split into two parts in 1988 –a
slimmed down TCP part and a routing part IP (Internet Protocol) see 1978
TCP/IP will become a vital enabler for the public Internet
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 8

Date Event
INTEL 8080 2MHz 8 bit microprocessor introduced
1974

1975 Microsoft founded

1976 The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) publishes a

recommended standard for Packet Switched Networks termed X25 aimed
primarily at wide area networks. Alongside this a recommendation for
interconnecting links – X75 – is published.

Apple Computers Inc founded.

CP/M op systems launched

A 3.125MHz version of the 8080, the B version launched by Intel

1977 First exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States in
January 1977, the Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) was
one of the first consumer-level microcomputers to be launched and
revolutionised home and personal computing.
The PET was popular in schools throughout UK, US, and Canada due to
its simple keyboard and all-in-one design.

In the UK Post Office Telecommunications establishes a national Packet

Switched Network

1978 Acorn Computers Ltd formed in Cambridge UK

TCP is split into two protocols. A slimmed down TCP would manage data
flow control and error correction while a separate Internet Protocol (IP)
would deal with the routing of packets across the networks

1980 to 1989

1980 Microsoft wins a contract with IBM to create Operating Systems

Tim Berners- Lee working at CERN develops an application namd

‘Enquire’ : forerunner of the World Wide Web

The IBM 801 a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) started in 1975
is completed. Although not widely adopted for some years the RISC
approach, broadly conforming to Alan Turing’s 1946 ACE concepts,
optimises the instruction sets for processors thereby reducing the number
of commands and operations per clock cycle.

1981 Microsoft develops MS-DOS (Microsoft Disc Operating System) a

command line programme but with no graphical interface

Acorn BBC micro, Sinclair ZX 81 & IBM personal computers launched

3.5 inch floppy discs become generally available

Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 9

Date Event
1982 Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64 personal computers launched

CRAY X-MP computer launched

1983 Apple launches the LISA (Local Integrated Software Architecture)

personal computer using a Graphical User Interface (GUI). and a mouse .
It used the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, had a clock speed of 5MHz
and 1MHz of RAM

Microsoft introduces WINDOWS a graphical interface version of MS-DOS

ARPANET changes from its original Network Control Program (see 1969 )
to TCP working. It also splits into 2 parts one for military and one for
civilian use. The civilian part will go on to form the public Internet.

2 button Mouse. becomes generally available

Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet programme becomes available

1984 Apple launches the Apple Mackintosh 128K

HP 110 Laptop launched

Toshiba Flash memory launched

Philips launch CD-ROM

1985 Universal Quantum Computing concept is proposed by David Deutsch, a

physicist at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University UK

C++ object orientated programme launched

1986 Apple Mackintosh Plus, Acorn BBC Master and Ninetendo NES launched

1987 A RISC microprocessor is developed by ARM

Commodore Amiga 500 and 2000

Mackintosh II released

Windows 2.0 released

1988 A specification for ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is published

in the USA. ADSL adds a wideband channel above the voice band for
data download and a narrower bandwidth channel for data upload. It
becomes a means of enabling operators to provide broadband computing
capacity to customers over existing copper telephone lines
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 10

Date Event
1989 Tim Berners-Lee at CERN (in French – Conseil European pour la
Recherche Nuclear) writes a paper titled ‘Information Management: a
proposal’ for information exchanges between CERN sites. It will
eventually form the basis of the public World Wide Web. (WWW)
Apple Macintosh SE/30 and Macintosh portable launched

1990 to 1999

1990 Tim Berners-Lee defines how HTML, URL and HTTP should be used on
the World Wide Web

Commodore Amiga 3000 released

IBM RS/6000 launched

Military section of ARPANET is decommissioned.

1991 Linux – a free operating system, developed by Finnish student Linus

Torvalds, is released .

CERN releases the World Wide Web for public use over the internet

1992 Internet freed of US Government control

Windows 3.1 released

JPEG (Joint Picture Expert Group) standard finalised

Sun Disc, a solid state disc (SSD) is developed

1993 Intel Pentium microprocessor available

MOSAIC web browser developed

1994 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) founded by Tim Berners-Lee

Shore proposes an algorithm to enable Quantum Computer operation

1995 Windows 95 released

Sun Microsystems launches JAVA 1.0 a programme which alters the way
applications, and information can be retrieved, displayed and used over
the internet.

Microsoft obtains licence for use of MOSAIC web browser and re-brands
it as Internet Explorer

Sony PlayStation available in Europe

Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 11

Date Event
1996 Term ‘CLOUD COMPUTING coined for a technique using a network of
remote servers on the internet to process, manage and store data instead
of doing so on a personal computer or local server

eBay created

1997 INTEL Pentium MMX processor launched:

CD-RW discs introduced

IBM Deep Blue computer beats World Chess champion

1998 Google founded;

Apple i Mac launched;

Windows 98 released

1999 SanDisc, Panasonic and Toshiba develop the secure digital (SD) memory
card,

NAPSTER a file sharing programme released

Wi Fi (IEEE802 ) short range radio local networks specification issued

2000 to 2009

2000 USB v2.0 released

Windows 2000 released;

2001 Apple launches iPad Tablet computer in USA

Windows XP released

2002 Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched – first available public CLOUD

Microsoft launch a Tablet computer

2003 ANDROID Inc a company in the USA commence development of

operating system based on Linux

Athlon launch a 64 bit processor

BLU-RAY discs introduced

2004 FACEBOOK launched;

Google launches Gmail

Firefox 1.0 introduced

Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 12

Date Event
2005 Open Nebula public CLOUD computing platform launched:

ANDROID Inc is bought by Google

You Tube launched

2006 Twitter social media launched

2007 Windows Vista and Office 2007 released

Google forms the Open Handset Alliance: a consortium including

Samsung, Motorola, Intel, Sprint, T-Mobile, Texas Instruments, LG
Electronics to promote ANDROID as an open source operating system

2008 ANDROID operating system released for first use on cellular phones

USB v 3.0 released

2009 Cisco propose EDGE computing to reduce network usage demand

Apple iPad launched in UK

WHATSAPP a messaging and voice calling application is launched

INSTAGRAM, a video and photo sharing platform is launched

2010 to 2019

2010 Microsoft launch AZURE public cloud service:

Windows 2010 released

2011 Apple launches SIRI smart speaker- a voice activated personal assistant

2012 Raspberry Pi released

Quantum Supremacy defined by John Preskill of Caltech

ANDROID becomes the most popular operating system surpassing

Apples iOS

2013 Xbox one and PlayStation 4 released

Microsoft Office 365 announced

2014 Amazon launch Echo smart speaker for Prime customers

2015 NASA demonstrates their D-Wave Quantum Computer

Apple watch launched

Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 13

Date Event
2016 IBM announce Quantum Cloud computing available on their small 5 Quibit
machine

Google launch Google Home smart speaker personal assistant

2018 INTEL at early stage research of silicon-based spin-qubit processors

2019 Google claim’ Quantum Supremacy’ had been achieved with their
quantum computer ‘Sycamore’ solving a problem in 200 seconds which
would take 10,000 years on the fastest alternative traditional computer

2020 ANDROID claimed to be used by 75% of world’s mobile devices

Footnote.

Prior to the formation of the Society of Telegraph Engineers in 1871, French mathematician
Pascal devised in 1642 a mechanical calculating machine. In 1804 French Weaver Joseph
Marie Jacquard patented a technique for automating complex cloth weaving patterns using
pre-programmed punched cards to control his weaving machines. . This technique was later
used for data entry in early computers. In 1821 Charles Babbage designed a Difference
Engine, an ingenious mechanical device to automate essential calculations for navigation
and astronomical tables. A replica Difference Engine is on display at the London Science
Museum. Babbage also designed in 1843 an Analytical Engine, a massive mechanical
device whose architecture closely aligned with a modern electronic computer. Mathematician
Ada, Lady Lovelace, identified the need for programmes for this machine to operate,
essentially establishing the concept of ‘software. Babbage never completed building the
Analytical Engine.

Ada Lovelace’s work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine has led her to be considered
the person who first saw the potential of computing for general programming beyond simple
calculations.

For further information see: -

• Science Museum London computer history website

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/thinking-machines-stories-
history-computing
• Computer History Museum timeline
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/
• Centre for Computing History http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/cgi/computing-
timeline.pl
• Lecture ‘A Brief History of Computing 1948-2015’ by Martyn Thomas Professor of
Information Technology and Computing, Gresham College.
Selected landmarks in the history of Computing - Page 14

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-very-brief-history-of-computing-
1948-2015
• Lecture : Computers :a history, Prof Richard Harvey Gresham College
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/computer-history
• British Computer Society https://www.bcs.org/content-hub/a-brief-history-of-british-
computers-the-first-25-years-1948-1973/
• Timeline of Computer History https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/