Read about starting of Computer. How computer was invented and its history
it can be important for bank clerk po exam, cwe exam, ibps and other competition exam.

Increasing need for numerical calculations, storage of data and information etc. with minimum
of mental and manual efforts led to invention of computers.




• ABACUS, used for calculations, was the earliest devise that qualifies as a computer widely
used 6000 years ago. The ABACUS was built using the idea of place values.






 • Napier also invented a set of rods which were carved from bones and used for
multiplication. These were called Napier Bones.



• John Napier developed Logarithm, a tabular system of numbers through which many
arithmetical calculations were simplified, in 1617.

• Slide Rule, based on the principle of logarithm, a calculating device was invented by
William in 1620.

• Blaise Pascal, a Frenchman, invented a mechanical unit in 1642 that could add and
subtract, using a set of toothed wheels. This ‘calculator’ was the first digital machine.

• Pascal’s machine was further improved by a German mathematician Gottfried that could
add, subtract, multiply, divide and extract roots.

• In 1822, Charles Babbage built the ‘Difference Engine’. This could do only one kind of
calculations.
• In 1833, Charles Babbage designed and worked on Analytical Engine. It was a general
purpose computer designed to solve almost any type of problem. It contained most of the
elements we find in modern digital computer systems. Hence, Charles Babbage is
considered as Father of modern computer.
• Joseph Jacquard invented punch cards in 1801. Punch card had holes punched in it. These
were used by him to produce weaving pattern on the cloths.

• In 1880, Dr.Herman Hollerith used punched cards for data processing by building a
tabulating machine that could punch holes in cards and read them as well. This machine
worked on electricity and had mechanical parts and could handle 50 to 75 cards per
minute. The system was very slow and card jams and data destruction were common
problems. Punching machine, Verifying machine, Interpreter, Sorter, Collators, Tabulator
were some of the machines used in this system.

• In 1944, Howard Alken built MARK1, the first digital computer, at Harvard University. It
lacked speed but had the ability to continuously perform complex arithmetic functions
without frequent human intervention. It was partly electronic and partly mechanical
machine.

• In 1936, Alan Turing from Cambridge University submitted his brilliant logical analysis on
‘artificial intelligence’. His contribution on the development of electronic computers
remains the single biggest contribution ever made to the science.

• In 1930, Germans developed a mechanical machine called as ‘ENIGMA’ for coding military
messages.

• In 1939, Britain initiated to build machines that could decipher Enigma’s codes. The world’s
first giant computer using values was built called the ‘Colossus’.

• In 1942, USA started to develop an electronic computer. In 1946, it could put to operation
‘ENIAC’ (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator), made in University of
Pennsylvania. John Mauchly and J.Presper Eckert were the two people involved in its
development. This computer was made of 18,000 vacuum tubes. ENIAC could process the
data at great speeds (though not comparable to today’s computers).

• UNIVAC‐1 was the first business oriented computer developed in 1952 used by US Bureau
of Census.

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