When was First Computer Invented in the World: A Brief Timeline

First Computer in the World Overview

Computer history began with basic designs in the early 19th century and progressed to revolutionize the world over the 20th century. The world's first modern computer made its public appearance 75 years ago. Prehistoric humans invented the earliest counting instrument. They counted using sticks, stones, and bones. More computer devices were produced over time as the human intellect and technology advanced.

What exactly is a Computer?

A computer is an electrical machine that gathers data, stores it, processes it based on user instructions, and then provides the output. A computer is a programmable electrical device that automatically executes arithmetic and logical operations using a set of instructions supplied by the user.

When was the term "computer" first used?

Richard Braithwaite used the word "computer" for the first time in his book The Young Man's Gleanings in 1613. Until the 19th century, when the industrial revolution developed machines, the definition of a computer was the same. The primary function of these devices was to calculate.

When was the first computer invented?

Because of the numerous categories of computers, there is no simple solution to this issue. The first mechanical computer, built by Charles Babbage in 1822, is not what most people think of as a computer today. As a result, this website lists each of the computer firsts, beginning with the Difference Engine and moving on to the computers we use today.

Also read more about- Who Invented Computer and When was Computer Invented.

First Computer in the World

The Antikythera mechanism (200 BC - 70 BC) was the earliest mechanical computer. Charles Babbage created the first computer in 1822, but it was not constructed until 1991. Alan Turing is credited with inventing computer science. The ENIAC (1945) was the first electronic general-purpose digital computer, and it took up a whole room. TheMicral N was the first "personal computer" in the world (1973). It was a commercial failure. The Epson HX-20 (1981) was the world's first laptop; however, it would not be recognized today. In 1984, the first Mac was introduced.

First Mechanical Computer

Charles Babbage conceived and built the first automated computing machine, the Difference Engine, in 1822. It was capable of calculating several sets of numbers and producing tangible copies of the findings. Ada Lovelace assisted Charles Babbage in developing the Difference Engine. Babbage is regarded as the programmer of the first computer in the world, and he also created notes and sketches regarding the Difference Engine. In June 1991, the London Science Museum finished Difference Engine No. 2. The London Science Museum later finished the printing mechanism.

First Programmable Computer

In his parents' living room between mid-1936 and 1938, German Konrad Zuse designed the Z1. It was considered the first electromechanical binary programmable computer and the first truly working modern computer.

Also read more about the- Top Computer Courses in India.

First Modern Computer

Alan Turing proposed the Turing machine in 1936, which established the foundation for computing and computers. The Turing computer could produce symbols in a way that mimicked a human following a series of logical commands.

First Programmable Electric Computer

Tommy Flowers created the first electric programmable computer, known as Colossus, which was displayed for the first time in 1943. It was created to assist British codebreakers in decoding encrypted German transmissions.

First Digital Computer

John Vincent Atanasoff and doctoral student Cliff Berry began developing the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) in 1937. Despite the fact that the ABC computer was still in development at Iowa State College in 1937, it was later continued at Iowa State University until 1942. It had no CPU, so it couldn't program. The ENIAC was invented by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania in 1943, and it was still in development when it was finished in 1946. Many people believe that the ENIAC was the first completely working digital computer. However, the judge concluded that the first digital computer was an ABC computer.

Also Read: BCS Course.

First Computer Company

The Electronic Controls Company was formed in 1949 by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, who also worked on the ENIAC computer. The business was eventually renamed EMCC, or Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, and manufactured a series of mainframe computers under the UNIVAC brand.

First Stored-Program Computer

The SSEM (Small-Scale Experimental Machine), often known as the Manchester Baby or "Baby," debuted in 1948. Frederic Williams designed it, and Tom Kilburn (his protégé) constructed it at the University of Manchester in England with the help of Geoff Tootill. 

First Commercial Computer

Konrad Zuse created the first commercial computer, the Z4, in 1942. It was sold to a mathematician at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich on July 12, 1950. (Eduard Stiefel).

First Computer with RAM

MIT debuted the Whirlwind machine, the first digital computer with real-time graphics and magnetic core RAM, on March 8, 1955. It was a game-changing computer. TX-0 (Transistorized Experimental Computer) was designed in 1956 and shown at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the first transistorized computer. Digital Equipment Corporation also introduced the PDP-1 in 1960. It was the world's first minicomputer.

First Personal Computer

When Ed Roberts unveiled the Altair 8800 in 1975, he coined the phrase "personal computer." Despite this, many people believe the KENBAK-1, which was introduced in 1971 for $750, to be the first personal computer. The computer processed input data and output data by using a set of switches to turn on and off a series of lights.

First Portable Computer

The first portable computer, the IBM 5100, was unveiled in September 1975 with a 1.9 MHz PALM processor, a five-inch CRT display, a tape drive, 64 KB of RAM, and a weight of 55 pounds. Later that year, in 1984, IBM PCD (PC Division) produced the IBM Portable, which weighed 30 pounds and was the first portable computer. The IBM PCD launched the PC Convertible computer in 1986, which was their first laptop computer, weighing 12 pounds.

Also read more about- Cloud Computing and Difference Between Invention and Discovery.

List of 10 Oldest Computers in the World

The following table shows the list of the top 10 oldest computers in the world:

First Computer in the World for Significant Companies

The following are some of the main computer firms' early computers-

1. Compaq: The "Compaq Portable," Compaq's first computer and the first 100% IBM-compatible computer, was introduced in March 1983.
2. Dell: Dell released their first computer, the "Turbo PC," in 1985.
3. Hewlett Packard: In 1966, Hewlett Packard introduced the "HP-2115," the first general-purpose computer.
4. NEC: NEC creates its first computer, the "NEAC 1101," in 1958.
5. Toshiba: Toshiba introduces its first computer, the "TAC" digital computer, in 1954.

Future of Computers

There is ongoing research being conducted to create computers out of several potential new forms of technology, such as optical computers, DNA computers, brain computers, and quantum computers. Most computers are ubiquitous in that they can calculate any computable function and are only restricted by their memory capacity and running speed. However, various computer architectures might provide substantially varied performance for certain challenges; for example, quantum computers have the ability to swiftly defeat several existing encryption techniques (through quantum factoring).