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integrated circuits
Computers in today's age are based on what that make them much faster than earlier computers?
millions to billions of times
How much more powerful are modern computers versus early computers?
1613
When was the first known use of the word "computer"?
The Yong Mans Gleanings
In which book, was the term "computer" first used?
Richard Braithwait
Who was the author of the book, The Yong Mans Gleanings?
19th century
From the end of what century, did the word "computer" take its well known meaning of today?
a form of tally stick
The earliest device to help count was what?
(clay spheres, cones, etc.)
Calculi during the Fertile Crescent refers to what?
arithmetic tasks
What was the abacus first used for?
2400 BC
When was the Roman abacus first used?
Babylonia
Where was the Roman abacus first used?
a checkered cloth
In medieval Europe was was placed on a table to help count money?
sums of money
A checkered cloth on a table was used in medieval Europe to help count what?
The Antikythera mechanism
What is thought to be the first mechanical analog computer?
1901
When was the Antikythera mechanism discovered?
Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera
Where was the Antikythera mechanism found in 1901?
Kythera and Crete
Where is the Greek Island of Antikythera located between?
Derek J. de Solla Price.
The Antikythera mechanism was thought to be the first computer according to whom?
Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī
Who invented the planisphere?
Hipparchus
Who is thought to have invented the astrolabe in history?
the planisphere and dioptra
The astrolabe was a combination of what two devices in history?
1235
The first astrolabe with gear-wheels was invented when?
Persia
The first astrolabe with a mechanical calendar was invented where?
16th century
The sector, a calculating instrument, was invented during what century?
1620–1630
When was the slide rule first invented?
doing multiplication and division.
What is the slide rule used for?
Aviation
What industry are slide rules still used today?
a Swiss watchmaker
What was the profession of Pierre Jaquet-Droz?
In the 1770s
When did Pierre Jaquet-Droz build a mechanical doll that could hold a pen?
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire
Where is the doll Pierre Jaquet-Droz built today?
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Where is the Musee d-Art et d'Histoire located?
1872
When was the tide-predicting machine invented by Sir William Thomson invented?
Sir William Thomson
Who invented the first tide-predicting machine in 1872?
system of pulleys and wires
What did Sir William Thomson's tide-predicting machine use to function?
wheel-and-disc
What type of mechanisms did the differential analyzer use?
Lord Kelvin
In 1876 who lobbied for the construction of the differential analyzers?
1920s
During what decade were mechanical differential analyzers developed?
Vannevar Bush
In the 1920s, who was the person who developed mechanical differential analyzers?
Charles Babbage
Who invented the concept of a programmable computer?
Charles Babbage
Who is considered the "father of the computer"?
early 19th century
During what century was the first mechanical computer invented by Charles Babbage?
1833
What year did Charles Babbage find out that An Analytical Engine was possible?
Henry Babbage
Who was Charles Babbage's son?
Henry Babbage
Who created a simple version of the analytical engine's computing unit?
1888
When was the mill created by Henry Babbage?
1906
When was a demonstration by Henry Babbage of the mill given?
Sir William Thomson
Who invented the first analog computer in the form of a tide-predicting machine?
1872
When was the first analog computer in the form of a tide-predicting machine created?
James Thomson
Who created the idea of the differential analyzer in 1876?
Lord Kelvin
James Thomson was the brother of what famous figure?
MIT
Where was the differential analyzer built by H.L. Hazen?
1927
The differential analyzer by H.L. Hazen and Vannevar Bush was first being built in what year?
H. W. Nieman
The torque amplifiers of the differential analyzer were created by whom?
50s
By what decade were analog computing devices rendered obsolete?
education (control systems) and aircraft (slide rule).
Analog computers remain in use in what industries?
Alan Turing
Who wrote the paper "On Computable Numbers"?
1936
When did Alan Turing write the paper, "On Computable Numbers"?
Kurt Gödel
Who did Turing revise the results on the limits of proof and computation in 1931?
Universal Turing machine
A Universal Machine is known as what today?
the United States Navy
What part of the US military developed an electromechanical analog computer to use on a submarine?
1938
When did the US Navy invent an electromechanical computer to use on a submarine?
trigonometry
What type of math did the Torpedo Data computer use to fire a torpedo at a moving target?
Konrad Zuse
Who created the relay computer, the Z2?
1939
When did Konrad Zuse invent the Z2?
The Z2
What is one of the first electromechanical relay computers?
German
Konrad Zuse was an engineer with what nationality?
1941
When did Konrad Zuse create the Z3 computer?
the Z3
What was the first automatic, digital, programmable computer created by Konrad Zuse?
2000
How many relays did the Z3 contain?
about 5–10 Hz
What did the Z3 operate for a clock frequency?
64
How many words of memory could be stored with the Z3?
Post Office Research Station
Where did the engineer Tommy Flowers work at during the 1930s?
London
In what city did Tommy Flowers work in the 1930s?
1942
The Atanasoff-Berry computer was invented in what year?
about 300
How many vacuum tubes did the Atanasoff-Berry computer use?
Iowa State University
At what school did John Vincent Atansoff and Clifford E. Berry work?
Flowers
Who built the first Colossus in 1943?
18 January 1944
When was the Colossus sent to Bletchley Park?
, the British
Who achieved success at cracking secret German military communications during World War II?
Bletchley Park
Where did the British crack secret German military communications during World War II?
Colossus
What was the first electronic digital programmable computer in the world?
1500 thermionic valves (tubes)
How many vacuum tubes did the Colossus Mark I contain?
2400
How many tubes did Colossus Mark II contain?
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
The US-buils ENIAC stands for what?
ENIAC
What was the first electronic programmable computer built in the United States?
5000
How many times could it add or subtract a second?
ENIAC
What was the limit of its high speed memory?
John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert
ENIAC was constructed by whom?
University of Pennsylvania
Where did John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert build the ENIAC?
1945
When was ENIAC fully operational?
Alan Turing
The basis for the stored-program computer was written by whom?
1936
When did Alan Turing write his paper about the basis for the stored-program computer?
1945
When did Alan Turing join the National Physical Laboratory?
1945.
The first outline for the report on the EDVAC was released by John von Neumann when?
University of Pennsylvania
Where did John von Neumann circulate the first draft of a report on the EDVAC?
Baby
What was the nickname of the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine?
The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine
What was the first stored-program computer in the world?
Victoria University of Manchester
Where was the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine built?
Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill
Who built the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine?
21 June 1948
When did the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine run its first program?