Who invented the computer?
87084
Charles Babbage is credited as the inventor of the first computer due to the invention of his difference engine machine in 1840.
678360
John Henry Google.  He and Al Gore invented the internet and then he went on to invent search engines and toasters.
234270
Originally, the term "computer" referred to a person who performed numerical calculations under the direction of a mathematician, possibly with the aid of a variety of mechanical calculating devices such as the abacus onward. Examples of early calculating devices, the first ancestors of the computer, included the abacus and the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek device for calculating the movements of planets, dating from about 87 BCE. The end of the Middle Ages saw a reinvigoration of European mathematics and engineering, and Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of European engineers to construct a mechanical calculator\n\nCharles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable computer as early as 1837, but due to a combination of the limits of the technology of the time, limited finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with his design, the device was never actually constructed in his lifetime. A number of technologies that would later prove useful in computing, such as the punch card and the vacuum tube had appeared by the end of the 19th century, and large-scale automated data processing using punch cards was performed by tabulating machines designed by Hermann Hollerith.\n\nDuring the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated, special-purpose analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. These became increasingly rare after the development of the programmable digital computer.\n\nA succession of steadily more powerful and flexible computing devices were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, gradually adding the key features of modern computers, such as the use of digital electronics (invented by Claude Shannon in 1937) and more flexible programmability. Defining one point along this road as "the first computer" is exceedingly difficult. Notable achievements include the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, a special-purpose machine that used valve-driven (vacuum tube) computation, binary numbers, and regenerative memory; the secret British Colossus computer (1944), which had limited programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of valves could be made reliable and reprogrammed electronically; the American ENIAC (1946) — which was one of the first general purpose machine, but still used the decimal system and incorporated an inflexible architecture that meant reprogramming it essentially required it to be rewired and Konrad Zuse's Z machines, with the electromechanical Z3 (1941) being the first working machine featuring automatic binary arithmetic and feasible programability.\n\nThe team who developed ENIAC, recognizing its flaws, came up with a far more flexible and elegant design, which has become known as the stored program architecture, which is the basis from which virtually all modern computers were derived. A number of projects to develop computers based on the stored program architecture commenced in the late 1940s; the first of these were completed in Britain. The first to be up and running was the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, but the EDSAC was perhaps the first practical version.\n\n \nThe Apple II, an early personal computerValve-driven computer designs were in use throughout the 1950s, but were eventually replaced with transistor-based computers, which were smaller, faster, cheaper, and much more reliable, thus allowing them to be commercially produced, in the 1960s. By the 1970s, the adoption of integrated circuit technology had enabled computers to be produced at a low enough cost to allow individuals to own a personal computer of the type familiar today.
133274
How exactly do you discover a computer? I was under the impression that all computers were built by human beings. I would really like to discover computers as well.
126294
http://www.computerhope.com/history/index.htm\n\nThis explains all about computers
519846
History of computing\n\n    Main article: History of computing\n\nENIAC — a milestone in computing history\nEnlarge\nENIAC — a milestone in computing history\n\nOriginally, the term "computer" referred to a person who performed numerical calculations, often with the aid of a mechanical calculating device. Examples of early calculating devices, the first ancestors of the computer, included the abacus and the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek device for calculating the movements of planets, dating from about 87 BC.[1] The end of the Middle Ages saw a reinvigoration of European mathematics and engineering, and Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of European engineers to construct a mechanical calculator.[2] The abacus has been noted as being an early computer, as it was like a calculator in the past. Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable computer as early as 1820, but due to a combination of the limits of the technology of the time, limited finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with his design, the device was never actually constructed in his lifetime. A number of technologies that would later prove useful in computing, such as the punch card and the vacuum tube had appeared by the end of the 19th century, and large-scale automated data processing using punch cards was performed by tabulating machines designed by Hermann Hollerith.\n\nDuring the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated, special-purpose analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. These became increasingly rare after the development of the programmable digital computer.\n\nA succession of steadily more powerful and flexible computing devices were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, gradually adding the key features of modern computers, such as the use of digital electronics (largely invented by Claude Shannon in 1937)[3] and more flexible programmability. Defining one point along this road as "the first digital electronic computer" is exceedingly difficult. Notable achievements include the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (1937), a special-purpose machine that used valve-driven (vacuum tube) computation, binary numbers, and regenerative memory; the secret British Colossus computer (1944), which had limited programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of valves could be made reliable and reprogrammed electronically; the Harvard Mark I, a large-scale electromechanical computer with limited programmability (1944); the decimal-based American ENIAC (1946) — which was the first general purpose electronic computer, but originally had an inflexible architecture that meant reprogramming it essentially required it to be rewired; and Konrad Zuse's Z machines, with the electromechanical Z3 (1941) being the first working machine featuring automatic binary arithmetic and feasible programmability.\n\nThe team who developed ENIAC, recognizing its flaws, came up with a far more flexible and elegant design, which has become known as the Von Neumann architecture (or "stored program architecture"), named for one of its principle designers. This stored program architecture became the basis for virtually all modern computers. A number of projects to develop computers based on the stored program architecture commenced in the mid to late-1940s; the first of these were completed in Britain. The first to be up and running was the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, but the EDSAC was perhaps the first practical version that was developed.\nThe Apple II, an early personal computer\nEnlarge\nThe Apple II, an early personal computer\n\nValve (tube) driven computer designs were in use throughout the 1950s, but were eventually replaced with transistor-based computers, which were smaller, faster, cheaper, and much more reliable, thus allowing
649108
Charles Babbage helped us along in several ways.  As a pioneer in the path to computers he helped us with an adding machine that was quite miraculous.  His difference engine was used to help compute mathematical tables which were used in multiple places.  His efforts were essential to the path to the modern digital computer.\n\nMore directly, stores used to use mechanical adding machines to ring up groceries or hardware when I was a child.  The were crude compared to what we have today, but they did help a cashier effectively add a customer's order up.
822572
most likely Al Gore since according to him, he invented the internet :-)
10169
The first computer program ever was a set of instructions punched into cards. \n\nThis kind of programming was used by Charles Babbage on his difference engines. The first reported program was written, or rather punched, by Babbages co-worker Ada Lovelace.\n\nThe first computers in the modern sense were constructed more than a century later by Konrad Zuse. They received their instructions by manually entering the first couple of bytes to initialize the processor and determine which hard-wired operations to perform.\n\nThese instructions were very basic boolean arithmetics - comparison of values, etc.
217300
ABACUS - the first computing device ever known to humans\n\n1943 AD to 1946 AD The first general-purpose electronic computer -- ENIAC\n\n1944 AD to 1952 AD The first stored program computer -- EDVAC\n\n1936 Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer First freely programmable computer. \n1942 John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry \nABC Computer Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as ABC. \n1944 Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper \nHarvard Mark I Computer The Harvard Mark 1 computer. \n1946 John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly \nENIAC 1 Computer 20,000 vacuum tubes later... \n\n\n\nSee the source for more info
198875
Charles Babbage (December 26 1791 – October 18 1871) was an English mathematician, analytical philosopher and (proto-) computer scientist who originated the idea of a programmable computer. Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. In 1991, working from Babbage's original plans, a Difference Engine was completed, and functioned perfectly. It was built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, indicating that Babbage's machine would have worked. \n\n\nLife\n\n\nCharles was born in London on December 26, 1791, probably at 44 Crosby Row, Walworth Road, London. Charles' father, Benjamin Babbage was a banking partner of the Praeds who owned the Bitton Estate in Teignmouth. His mother was Betsy Plumleigh Babbage. In 1808 the Babbage family moved into the old Rowdens house in East Teignmouth, and Charles' father became a warden of the nearby St. Michael?s Church. \n\n\nEducation\n\n\nHis father's money allowed Charles to receive instruction from several schools and tutors during the course of his elementary education. Around age eight he was sent to a country school to recover from a life-threatening fever. His parents ordered that his "brain was not to be taxed too much" and Babbage felt that "this great idleness may have led to some of my childish reasonings." He was sent to King Edward VI Grammar School in Totnes, South Devon, a thriving comprehensive school still extant today, but his health forced him back to private tutors for a time. He then joined a 30-student academy under Reverend Stephen Freeman. The academy had a well-stocked library that prompted Charles' love of mathematics. He studied with two more private tutors after leaving the academy. Of the first, a clergyman near Cambridge, Charles said, "I fear I did not derive from it all the advantages that I might have done." The second was an Oxford tutor from whom Charles learned enough of the Classics to be accepted to Cambridge. \n\nCharles arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge in October 1810. He had read extensively in Leibniz, Lagrange, Simpson, and Lacroix and was seriously disappointed in the mathematical instruction available at Cambridge. In response, he, John Herschel, George Peacock, and several other friends formed the Analytical Society. \n\nIn 1812 Charles transferred to Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was the top mathematician at Peterhouse, but failed to graduate with honors. He instead received an honorary degree without examination in 1814. \n\n\nMarriage\n\n\nOn July 25, 1814, he married Georgiana Whitmore at St. Michael's Church in Teignmouth, Devon. Charles' father did not approve of the marriage. The couple lived happily at 5 Devonshire Street, Portland Place, London. They had eight children, but only three lived to adulthood. Charles' father, his wife Georgiana Babbage, and one son died in 1827. \n\n\nChildren\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBenjamin Herschel Babbage (born 6 August 1815)\nCharles Whitmore Babbage (born 22 January 1817)\nGeogiana Whitmore Babbage (born 17 July 1818)\nEdward Stewart Babbage (born 15 December 1819)\nFrancis Moore Babbage (born 1 June 1821)\nDugald Bromheald Babbage (born 13 March 1823)\nHenry Prevost Babbage (born 16 September 1824)\nAlexander Forbes Babbage (born 1827)\n\n\n\nDesign of computers\n\n\nIn recognition of the high error rate in the calculation of mathematical tables, Babbage sought to find a method by which they could be calculated mechanically, removing human sources of error. This idea may have come to him as early as 1812. Three different factors seem to have influenced him: a dislike of untidiness; his experience working on logarithmic tables; and existing work on calculating machines carried out by Wilhelm Schickard, Blaise Pascal and Gottfried Leibniz. He first discussed the principles of a calculating engine in a letter to Sir Humphrey Davy in 1822. \n\nPart of Babbage's Difference engine, assembled after his d
1084589
computer history timeline up until 1985:\nComputer History \nYear/Enter Computer History \nInventors/Inventions Computer History \nDescription of Event \n1936 Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer First freely programmable computer. \n1942 John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry \nABC Computer Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as ABC. \n1944 Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper \nHarvard Mark I Computer The Harvard Mark 1 computer. \n1946 John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly \nENIAC 1 Computer 20,000 vacuum tubes later... \n1948 Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn \nManchester Baby Computer & The Williams Tube Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the memories. \n1947/48 John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & Wiliam Shockley \nThe Transistor No, a transistor is not a computer, but this invention greatly affected the history of computers.  \n1951 John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly \nUNIVAC Computer First commercial computer & able to pick presidential winners. \n1953 International Business Machines \nIBM 701 EDPM Computer IBM enters into 'The History of Computers'. \n1954 John Backus & IBM  \nFORTRAN Computer Programming Language The first successful high level programming language. \n1955\n(In Use 1959) \n Stanford Research Institute, Bank of America,  and General Electric\nERMA and MICR The first bank industry computer - also MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) for reading checks. \n1958 Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce \nThe Integrated Circuit Otherwise known as 'The Chip' \n1962 Steve Russell & MIT \nSpacewar Computer Game The first computer game invented. \n1964 Douglas Engelbart \nComputer Mouse & Windows Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end. \n1969 ARPAnet The original Internet. \n1970 Intel 1103 Computer Memory The world's first available dynamic RAM chip. \n1971 Faggin, Hoff & Mazor \nIntel 4004 Computer Microprocessor The first microprocessor. \n1971 Alan Shugart &IBM \nThe "Floppy" Disk Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility. \n1973 Robert Metcalfe & Xerox \nThe Ethernet Computer Networking Networking. \n1974/75 Scelbi  & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 Computers The first consumer computers. \n1976/77 Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers More first consumer computers. \n1978 Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston \nVisiCalc Spreadsheet Software Any product that pays for itself in two weeks is a surefire winner. \n1979 Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Barnaby \nWordStar Software Word Processors. \n1981 IBM \nThe IBM PC - Home Computer From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution \n1981 Microsoft \nMS-DOS Computer Operating System From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of the century. \n1983 Apple Lisa Computer The first home computer with a GUI, graphical user interface. \n1984 Apple Macintosh Computer The more affordable home computer with a GUI. \n1985 Microsoft Windows Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple.
1100615
Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable computer as early as 1820, but due to a combination of the limits of the technology of the time, limited finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with his design, the device was never actually constructed in his lifetime. A number of technologies that would later prove useful in computing, such as the punch card and the vacuum tube had appeared by the end of the 19th century, and large-scale automated data processing using punch cards was performed by tabulating machines designed by Hermann Hollerith.
413971
Computer\nCompute + -er\nOne who computes (calculates). The word computer predates modern computers.
453159
Charles Babbage invented the computing machine..\n\nIts was series is research done to get the current form of computers
1128263
Google. They invented it.
263910
Here are some obscure, yet important ones:\nBob Bemer - the father of ASCII\nRear Admiral Grace Hopper - the second programmer on the first computer, the mother of COBOL and also credited with coining the term bug. Remarkable lady.\nGeorge Faddok - database\nMeyers, Constantine and Dijkstra - structured programming