Evolution of Computers

2400 BC	Abacus, the first known calculator was invented in Babylonia. It was a major step towards the era of computing that was to follow.
500 BC	Panini, an ancient Indian Sanskrit grammarian came up with the predecessor of the modern formal language theory.
300 BC	Pingala invented the binary number system that serves as the foundation of computing systems the world over.
1614	John Napier designed the system of moveable rods, which used algorithms to perform the basic mathematical operations.
1622	William Oughtred invented slide rules.
1822	Charles Babbage devised the first mechanical computer.
1937	John V. Atanasoff devised the first digital electronic computer
1939	Atanasoff and Clifford Berry came up with the ABC prototype.
1941	The electromechanical Z machines by Konrad Zuse proved being an important step in the evolution of computers.
1943	Colossus, which was able to decode German messages, was designed at Bletchley Park in Britain.
1944	Harvard Mark I, a computer with lesser programmability was designed.
1945	John von Neumann described a stored program architecture, for the first time ever. This architecture was the heart of the computer systems developed thereafter. This architecture, which came to be known as the von Neumann architecture is a part of every computer till today.
1946	The Ballistics Research Laboratory of the United States came up with the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC). It was the first general purpose electronic computer; but had an inflexible architecture.
1950	The US National Bureau of Standards came up with the Standards Electronic/Eastern Automatic Computer (SEAC). It was the first computer using diodes for handling logic.
1951	Lynos Electronic Office (LEO), the first business computer was developed by John Simmons and T. Raymond Thompson. UNIVAC I, the first commercial computer was designed in the United States by John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly. EDVAC, the electronic discrete variable automatic computer was introduced.
1955	Bell Labs introduced its first transistor computer. Transistors made computers energy-efficient.
1958	Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was formed. This year also witnessed the making of the first silicon chip by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce.
1968	DEC launched the first mini computer known as PDP-8
1969	The US Department of Defense founded the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). It was established with intent to develop a computer network and is the predecessor of the Internet.
1971	Microcomputers came up with microprocessors and Ted Hoff at Intel, introduced 4-bit 4004.
1972	This year witnessed the creation of 8080 microprocessors by Intel.
1973	A minicomputer that was called Xerox Alto was developed during this year. It was an important milestone in the development of personal computers.
1974	Researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center came up with Alto, which was the first workstation with an inbuilt mouse. It had a fair amount of storage capacity and offered menus and icons. It could also connect to a network.
1975	Altair came up with the first portable computer. The foundation of the present-day relationship between portability and computing was laid way back in 1975! Tandem computers, the first computers with online transaction processing capacities were born during this period.
1979	By 1979, more that half a million computers were in use in the United States. This number crossed 10 million by 1983.
1981	The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) was founded. It was during the same year that the first 32-bit chip was introduced by Hewlett-Packard.
1982	Intel announced the 80286 processor.
1983	In this year, the Time magazine nominated personal computer for the title ‘machine of the year’.
1985	Intel introduced the 80386 processor that consists of a 16MHz processor.
1990	The World Wide Web was born. Tim Berners-Lee, a researcher at CERN, developed HTML. He came up with specifications such as URL and HTTP. He based the World Wide Web on enquiry-based system that used hypertext and enabled people to collaborate over a network. His first web server and browser became available to the public.
Till date	The development of newer versions of computer systems continues.