Computer, Internet and online terms can seem like a foreign language to people who haven't been online. Here are some terms you may come across as you begin to explore the online world.

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Browser
A software program that allows you to interact with, navigate or "browse" the Internet.
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Bulletin Boards
Public areas where you can post a message or comment for everyone else to read.Anyone can then post a reply for you and everyone else to read. Some services have restricted bulletin boards for limited audiences.
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CD-ROM
A special disk looking and acting much like a music CD. It can contain multi-media such as sound, video, graphics and text.
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Chat
A function that lets a group of people "talk" by typing messages to each other at the same time. This means everyone else in the group sees your message as soon as you send it.
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Copyright
Legal protection for such forms of expression as literary, musical, software and other original works. Items not eligible by their nature include ideas, facts, titles, names, short phrases and blank forms. The vast majority of content on online services and the Internet is likely to be protected by copyright.
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Cyberspace
A term used to refer to the digital world of online services and the Internet. Sometimes called the "digital highway" or the "information highway."
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Downloading
The process by which information is acquired by your computer from another computer (such as an online service's main computer). (See also uploading.)
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Electronic Mail
Commonly referred to as e-mail, this lets you send messages from your computer through the online service or the Internet to one or more other computers, known as "addresses." Addressees receive your messages in a private electronic "mailbox."
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Freeware
Software intended by its authors to be freely distributed to the person downloading it. Freeware almost always has conditions for its use attached to it.
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Home Page
The main or first "page" of material that appears on your screen when you arrive at the Internet "home" of a company, institution or individual after entering a specific Internet address, such as http://www.whitehouse.gov.
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Internet
A network of computer networks around the world. No central authority governs its use.
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Modem
A device that lets your computer "talk" to another computer with your telephone. It stands for MOdulator/DEModulator.
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Newsgroups
Topic groupings for articles and information posted by readers of that group.
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Online
Being connected to one or more other computers, usually at a distant site, so that text, graphics, sound and other information can be sent back and forth very quickly.

Today, being "online" usually means using a telephone line and a modem to connect to services. Broadband cable and DSL are also emerging in internet use these days.

"I'm going online" is now a way of saying "I'm connecting to the world out there through my computer."
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Parental Controls
Special features or software applications that empower adults to control the online activities of children. Most parental controls screen online content for certain key words, phrases or names and then block or restrict access to that content. Many controls have a password security scheme to prevent them from being disabled. Several also offer online monitoring and logging capabilities.

The online world has so much to offer children--education, entertainment and interaction with young people around the world. Traveling in cyberspace, children can find a pen pal, get help with their homework, discover a hobby, become computer savvy and expand their horizons. And that's only the beginning.

But even though children will find a warm welcome online, it's important to remember that cyberspace is a worldwide public place where strangers can meet. Some content is intended solely for mature users. Parents should sit down with their children and explore the online world together before they turn children loose on their own. They may want to apply the same rules they would use in any situation where kids could meet people they don't know.
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Protecting Privacy
When you travel online, you often leave a digital "footprint" wherever you go. This is especially true if you shop online or engage in other activities, like chat sessions and newsgroups, where information such as your e-mail address can be obtained and used to promote products and services. You should understand your online privacy rights so that you can make informed decisions about when you may want to provide information about yourself.
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Password
A secret word or series of letters and numbers that must be used to gain access to an online service or modify certain software (such as parental controls). Just like a Personal Identification Number (PIN) at a cash machine, passwords should always be kept secret and never revealed online to anyone under any circumstances. You should change your password often.
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Public Domain
When applied to a computer program or other electronic material (such as digital photos, sounds, etc.), it means the material may be freely used and copied without compensation to anyone. It's the opposite of copyrighted material, where the author retains control over how his or her work is used.
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Server
A computer at the heart of a computer network. Many businesses and institutions rely on servers to interconnect and coordinate the flow of information among computers in individual classrooms or offices. These same servers may act as a gateway to the Internet as well.
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Shareware
Copyrighted electronic material usually distributed on a "try it before you buy it" basis, often through downloading. If you decide to keep the material, you are obliged to send a fee (typically modest) to the copyright holder. Shareware usually takes the form of computer programs but may also include other computer resources such as fonts (typefaces) and sounds.
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Software
Instructions for computers written as programs and other supporting information.
Software can include functions such as word processing or content such as encyclopedias, games and more.
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Uploading
The process by which information is sent from your computer--e.g., digital photos, sounds, documents, etc.--to another computer (such as the online service's computer).
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URL ADDRESS: This term means (URL) Uniform Resource Locator definition
Think of a URL as an address that can lead you to any file on any machine anywhere in the world. Unlike the common postal address, however, these are written backwards. Actually backwards makes more sense. My postal address is listed as NAME, STREET, CITY (or Town), then USA. But if you want to deliver a letter to me shouldn't you first go to the USA, then the city, then street address, then to my NAME? The URL is written in that more logical order.

A URL starts by naming the protocol that is to be used. (A protocol is simply "a standard procedure for regulating data transmission between computers.") On the Web there are several such standard procedures. The one you'll encounter most frequently is HTTP or the protocol that tells computers the procedure for transporting hypertext documents.

Let's look at the URL that got you into this site in the first place. The site was described by a hypertext document at this URL address: http://FreeWareRocks.com  You'll notice that these server names frequently end with ".edu" (education) ".com" (commercial), ".mil" for military or ".org" for organization.  Names from other countries frequently end with a couple of letters that designate the country.

URLs on the Web don't have to use the HTTP protocol. Some other URLs you might encounter are:

“ftp (file transfer protocol)
“news (for Usenet news groups)
“telnet (for telnet)
"mailto" (to send email to a specific address)

But most of the time on the Web you will be encountering HTTP. These are also called "absolute" URLs.

A URL does not always have to be written with the complete address. When you are working in a particular server you can use a "relative" or "partial" URL. We'll use the term "relative" in this course. Its’ meaning is simple: it's the path to one document as it relates (is relative to) another, whereas an "absolute" URL can stand alone, since it gives the complete path.

You can even use a relative URL to move from one location in a single file or document to another within that same file or document - or another location within another document.
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World Wide Web
A way of linking text and graphics over the Internet. It refers to a Computer Network consisting of a collection of internet sites that offer text and graphics and sound and animation resources through the hypertext transfer protocol
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A TIMELINE:
The (Brief But Breathtaking) History of the Internet

==============================================================

Note:

The term “Backbone(s)” refers to computer network(s) that connects other computer networks.

The term “Hosts” refers to a computer that provides client stations with access to files and printers as shared resources to a computer network.

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1957

The USSR launches Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite. In response, the United States forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish US lead in science and technology applicable to the military.

– Backbones: None
– Hosts: None

---

1962

RAND Paul Baran, of the RAND Corporation (a government agency), was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force to do a study on how it could maintain its command and control over its missiles and bombers, after a nuclear attack.

This was to be a military research network that could survive a nuclear strike, decentralized so that if any locations (cities) in the U.S. were attacked, the military could still have control of nuclear arms for a counter-attack.

Baran's finished document described several ways to accomplish this. His final proposal was a packet switched network.

"Packet switching is the breaking down of data into datagrams or packets that are labeled to indicate the origin and the destination of the information and the forwarding of these packets from one computer to another computer until the information arrives at its final destination computer.

This was crucial to the realization of a computer network. If packets are lost at any given point, the message can be resent by the originator."

– Backbones: None
– Hosts: None

---

1968

ARPA awarded the ARPANET contract to BBN. BBN had selected a Honeywell minicomputer as the base on which they would build the switch.

The physical network was constructed in 1969, linking four nodes:
University of California at Los Angeles, SRI (in Stanford), University of California at Santa Barbara, and University of Utah. The network was wired together via 50 Kbps circuits.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET
– Hosts: 4

---

1972

The first e-mail program was created by Ray Tomlinson of BBN.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was renamed The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (or DARPA)

ARPANET was currently using the Network Control Protocol or NCP to transfer data. This allowed communications between hosts running on the same network.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET
– Hosts: 23

---

1973

Development began on the protocol later to be called TCP/IP, it was developed by a group headed by Vinton Cerf from Stanford and Bob Kahn from DARPA. This new protocol was to allow diverse computer networks to interconnect and communicate with each other.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET
– Hosts: 23+

---

1974

First Use of term Internet by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in paper on Transmission Control Protocol.


– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET
– Hosts: 23+

---

1976

Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe develops Ethernet, which allowed coaxial cable to move data extremely fast. This was a crucial component to the development of LANs.

The packet satellite project went into practical use. SATNET, Atlantic packet Satellite network, was born.

This network linked the United States with Europe. Surprisingly, it used INTELSAT satellites that were owned by a consortium of countries and not exclusively the United States government.

UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy) developed at AT&T Bell Labs and distributed with UNIX one year later.

The Department of Defense began to experiment with the TCP/IP protocol and soon decided to require it for use on ARPANET.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 111+

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1979

USENET (the decentralized news group network) was created by Steve Bellovin, a graduate student at University of North Carolina, and programmers Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis. It was based on UUCP.

The Creation of BITNET, by IBM, "Because its Time Network", introduced the "store and forward" network. It was used for email and listservs.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 111+

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1981

National Science Foundation created backbone called CSNET 56 Kbps network for institutions without access to ARPANET. Vinton Cerf proposed a plan for an inter-network connection between CSNET and the ARPANET.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, 56Kbps CSNET, plus satellite and radio connections - – Hosts: 213

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1983

Internet Activities Board (IAB) was created in 1983.

On January 1st, every machine connected to ARPANET had to use TCP/IP. TCP/IP became the core Internet protocol and replaced NCP entirely.

The University of Wisconsin created Domain Name System (DNS). This allowed packets to be directed to a domain name, which would be translated by the server database into the corresponding IP number.

This made it much easier for people to access other servers, because they no longer had to remember numbers.


– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, 56Kbps CSNET, plus satellite and radio connections - – Hosts: 562

---

1984

The ARPANET was divided into two networks: MILNET and ARPANET.

MILNET was to serve the needs of the military and ARPANET to support the advanced research component, Department of Defense continued to support both networks.

Upgrade to CSNET was contracted to MCI. New circuits would be T1 lines, 1.5 Mbps which is twenty-five times faster than the old 56 Kbps lines.

IBM would provide advanced routers and Merit would manage the network. New network was to be called NSFNET (National Science Foundation Network), and old lines were to remain called CSNET.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, 56Kbps CSNET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 1024

---

1985

The National Science Foundation began deploying its new T1 lines, which would be finished by 1988.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, 56Kbps CSNET, 1.544Mbps (T1) NSFNET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 1961

---

1986

The Internet Engineering Task Force or IETF was created to serve as a forum for technical coordination by contractors for DARPA working on ARPANET, US Defense Data Network (DDN), and the Internet core gateway system.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, 56Kbps CSNET, 1.544Mbps (T1) NSFNET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 2308

---

1987

BITNET and CSNET merged to form the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN), another work of the National Science Foundation.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, 56Kbps CSNET, 1.544Mbps (T1) NSFNET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 28,174

---

 1988

Soon after the completion of the T1 NSFNET backbone, traffic increased so quickly that plans immediately began on upgrading the network again.

– Backbones: 50Kbps ARPANET, 56Kbps CSNET, 1.544Mbps (T1) NSFNET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 56,000

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1990

(Updated 8/2001) Merit, IBM and MCI formed a not for profit corporation called ANS, Advanced Network & Services, which was to conduct research into high speed networking.

It soon came up with the concept of the T3, a 45 Mbps line. NSF quickly adopted the new network and by the end of 1991 all of its sites were connected by this new backbone.

While the T3 lines were being constructed, the Department of Defense disbanded the ARPANET and it was replaced by the NSFNET backbone. The original 50Kbs lines of ARPANET were taken out of service.

Tim Berners-Lee and CERN in Geneva implement a hypertext system to provide efficient information access to the members of the international high-energy physics community.

– Backbones: 56Kbps CSNET, 1.544Mbps (T1) NSFNET, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 313,000

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1991

CSNET (which consisted of 56Kbps lines) was discontinued having fulfilled its important early role in the provision of academic networking service.

A key feature of CREN is that its operational costs are fully met through dues paid by its member organizations.

The NSF established a new network, named NREN, the National Research and Education Network. The purpose of this network is to conduct high speed networking research.

It was not to be used as a commercial network, nor was it to be used to send a lot of the data that the Internet now transfers.

– Backbones: Partial 45Mbps (T3) NSFNET, a few private backbones, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 617,000

---

 1992

Internet Society is chartered.

World-Wide Web released by CERN.

NSFNET backbone upgraded to T3 (44.736Mbps)

– Backbones: 45Mbps (T3) NSFNET, private interconnected backbones consisting mainly of 56Kbps, 1.544Mbps, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 1,136,000

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 1993

InterNIC created by NSF to provide specific Internet services: directory and database services (by AT&T), registration services (by Network Solutions Inc.), and information services (by General Atomics/CERFnet).

Marc Andreessen and NCSA and the University of Illinois develop a graphical user interface to the WWW, called "Mosaic for X".

– Backbones: 45Mbps (T3) NSFNET, private interconnected backbones consisting mainly of 56Kbps, 1.544Mbps, and 45Mpbs lines, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 2,056,000

---

 1994

No major changes were made to the physical network.

The most significant thing that happened was the growth. Many new networks were added to the NSF backbone. Hundreds of thousands of new hosts were added to the INTERNET during this time period.

Pizza Hut offers pizza ordering on its Web page.

First Virtual, the first cyber bank, opens.

ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode, 145Mbps) backbone is installed on NSFNET.

– Backbones: 145Mbps (ATM) NSFNET, private interconnected backbones consisting mainly of 56Kbps, 1.544Mbps, and 45Mpbs lines, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 3,864,000

---

 1995

The National Science Foundation announced that as of April 30, 1995 it would no longer allow direct access to the NSF backbone.

The National Science Foundation contracted with four companies that would be providers of access to the NSF backbone (Merit). These companies would then sell connections to groups, organizations, and companies.

$50 annual fee is imposed on domains, excluding .edu and .gov domains which are still funded by the National Science Foundation.

– Backbones: 145Mbps (ATM) NSFNET (now private), private interconnected backbones consisting mainly of 56Kbps, 1.544Mbps, 45Mpbs, 155Mpbs lines in construction, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: 6,642,000

---

1996 --------------- ]*|Present Day|*

Most Internet traffic is carried by backbones of independent ISPs, including MCI, AT&T, Sprint, UUnet, BBN planet, ANS, and more.

Currently the Internet Society, the group that controls the INTERNET, is trying to figure out new TCP/IP to be able to have billions of addresses, rather than the limited system of today.

The problem that has arisen is that it is not known how both the old and the new addressing systems will be able to work at the same time during a transition period.

– Backbones: 145Mbps (ATM) NSFNET (now private), private interconnected backbones consisting mainly of 56Kbps, 1.544Mbps, 45Mpbs, and 155Mpbs lines, plus satellite and radio connections
– Hosts: over 15,000,000, and growing rapidly

 

=0110 0001 1101+ - + - + - [ The Computer Timeline ] - + - + - + 0100 1100 0011 01=

300s

• The abacus is developed.

1488

• The moveable-type printing press is invented by Johann Gutenberg.

1492

• Francis Pellos of Nice makes an important "point" in his day by inventing the "decimal point."

c. 1600

• Thomas Harriot invents the symbols used in algebra.
He also drew the first maps of the moon and discovered sunspots.

1600

• Dr. William Gilbert discovers static electricity, and coins the term in De Magnete.

1614

• John Napier invents logarithms.

1622

• William Oughtred invents the slide rule.

1623

• Wilhelm Schickard makes his "Calculating Clock."

1644-5

• Blaise Pascal a young French mathematician develops the Pascaline, a simple mechanical device for the addition of numbers. Hailed a total genius by all inquiring minds of his time.

• It consists of several toothed wheels arranged side by side, each marked from 0 to 9 at equal intervals around its perimeter.

• The important innovation is an automatic 'tens-carrying' operation: when a wheel completes a revolution, it is turned past the 9 to 0 and automatically pulls the adjacent wheel on its left, forward one tenth of a revolution, thus adding, or 'carrying'.

(Pascal is also a respected philosopher and the inventor of the bus.)

1660

• Otto von Gürcke builds first "electric machine."

1674

• Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz designs his "Stepped Reckoner", a machine similar to Pascal's, with the added features of multiplication and division, which is constructed by a man named Olivier, of Paris.

• (Leibniz is also a respected philosopher and the co-inventor of calculus.)

 

1752
• Benjamin Franklin captures lightning (first to do this "on purpose!: - lol).

1786

• J. H. Mueller, of the Hessian army, conceives the idea of what came to be called a "difference engine."

• That's a special-purpose calculator for tabulating values of a polynomial. Mueller's attempt to raise funds fails and the project is forgotten.

1790

• Galvani discovers electric current, and uses it on (of all things) frogs' legs!

1800

• Alessandro Volta invents the battery.

1801

• Joseph-Marie Jacquard develops the punch card system which programs and thereby automates the weaving of patterns on looms.

1809

• Sir Humphry Davey invents electric arc lamp.

1820

• Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar of France - makes his "Arithmometer", the first mass-produced calculator.
• It does multiplication using the same general approach as Leibniz's calculator; with assistance from the user it can also do division.

• It is also the most reliable calculator yet. Machines of this general design, large enough to occupy most of a desktop, continue to be sold for about 90 years.

1822-23

• Charles Babbage begins his government-funded project to build the first of his machines, the "Difference Engine", to mechanize solutions to general algebra problems.

• The importance of his work is recognized by Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter who, gifted in mathematics, devises a form of binary arithmetic which uses only the digits 1 and 0.

1825

• The first "railway" is opened for public use.

1826

• Photography is FIRST invented by Benoit Fourneyron. (say CHEESE!)

1830

• Thomas Davenport of Vermont invents the electric motor -- calls it a toy.

1831

• Michael Faraday "produces" electricity with the first generator.

1832-34

• Babbage conceives, and begins to design, his "Analytical Engine".
• Could (possibly) be considered a the first "programmable" calculator, very close to the basic idea and conceptualization of a computer.
• The machine could do an addition in 3 seconds and a multiplication or division in 2-4 minutes.

1837

Telegraph, Samuel F. B. Morse. "Dot - Dot - Dot - Dot!"

1868

• Christopher Latham Sholes (Milwaukee) invents the first typewriter.

1872

• One of the first large-scale analog "computers" is developed by Lord Kelvin to predict the height of tides in English harbors.

1876

• Telephone is invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

1877

• Gramaphone is invented by Thomas Edison.

1881

• Charles S. Tainter invents the dictaphone.

1886

• Dorr E. Felt of Chicago makes his "Comptometer".
• This is the first calculator with keys.

1887

• E. J. Marey invents the Motion Picture Camera.

• Eastman patents the first box camera, moving photography from the hands of professionals to the general public.

1890

Herman Hollerith of MIT, designs a punch card tabulating machine which is used effectively in the US census of this year.

• The cards are read electrically.

1891

• Thomas Edison develops the Motion Picture Projector.
• 1896 Guglielmo Marconi develops the Radio Telegraph.
• 1899 Val Demar Poulsen develops the Magnetic Recorder.

 

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1900

• Rene Graphen develops the Photocopying Machine.

1901

• Reginald A. Fessenden develops the Radio Telephone.

1906

• Henry Babbage, Charles's son, with the help of the firm of R. W. Munro, completes his father's Analytical Engine, just to show that it would have worked.

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1913

• Thomas Edison invents Talking Motion Pictures.

1919

W. H. Eccles and F. W. Jordan publish the first flip-flop circuit design.

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1923

V. K. Zworykin invents Television.

1924

Computing-Tabulating-Recording becomes International Business Machines.

1925

J. P. Maxfield develops the All-electric Phonograph.

1st public demonstration of television.

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1933

• IBM introduces the FIRST "commercially available" electric typewriter.

• Edwin H. Armstrong develops FM Radio - "Play 'dat funky music, Armstrong!"

1936

• Robert A. Watson-Watt develops Radar.

• Benjamin Burack builds the first electric logic machine.

• In his thesis, Claude Shannon demonstrates the relationship between electrical circuitry and symbolic logic.

1937

Alan M. Turing, of Cambridge University, England, publishes a paper on "computable numbers" which introduces the theoretical simplified computer known today as a Turing machine.

1938

• Claude E. Shannon publishes an IMPORTANT and INNOVATIVE paper on the implementation of symbolic logic using relays.

1939

John V. Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry, of Iowa State College complete a prototype 16-bit adder. This is the first machine to calculate using vacuum tubes.

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1940s

First electronic computers in US, UK, and Germany

1941

Working with limited backing from the German Aeronautical Research Institute, Zuse completes the "V3", the first operational programmable calculator.

Zuse is a friend of Wernher von Braun

1943

Howard H. Aiken and his team at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. funded by IBM, complete the "ASCC Mark I" ("Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator Mark I").

The machine is 51 feet long, 8 feet high, weighs 5 tons, and incorporates 750,000 parts. It is the first binary computer built in the U.S. that is operated by electricity.

Max Newman, Wynn-Williams, and their team at the secret English Government Code and Cypher School, complete the "Heath Robinson".

This is a specialized machine for cipher-breaking. (Heath Robinson was a British cartoonist known for his Rube-Goldberg-style contraptions.)

1945

John von Neumann drafts a report describing a stored-program computer, and gives rise to the term "von Neumann computer".

1945

• John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert and their team at the University of Pennsylvania, complete a secret project for the US Army's Ballistics Research Lab: The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator).

It weighs (an incredible) 30 tons, is 18 feet high and 80 feet long, covers about 1000 square feet of floor, and consumes 130 or 140 kilowatts of electricity. Containing 17,468 vacuum tubes and over 500,000 soldered connections, it costs $487,000.

While it could perform five thousand additions in one second, the circuitry in ENIAC could now be contained on a panel the size of a playing card.

• Today’s desktop stores millions times more info and is 50,000 times faster.

• The ENIAC's clock speed is 100 kHz. (should have been called Touche Turtal-iac! (g)

• Write Dec 23, 1945 down! - Two days before Christmas the transistor is perfected.

1946

• Zuse invents Plankalkul, the first programming language, while hiding out in Bavaria.

• The ENIAC is revealed to the public. Not to be confused with George Jetsons "Brainiac!" - lol

• A panel of lights is added to help show reporters how fast the machine is and what it is doing; and apparently Hollywood takes note.

1947

The magnetic drum memory is independently invented by several people, and the first examples are constructed.

1948

Newman, Freddie C. Williams, and their team at Manchester University, complete a prototype machine, the "Manchester Mark I".

• This is the first machine that everyone (in the geek hip world at that time) would call a computer, because it's the first with a true stored-program capability.

• THE "First" commonly refered to as a COMPUTER!"

• First tape recorder is sold

1949

A HUMEROUSLY "out of date and time" quote from Popular Mechanics:

“Where a computer like the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1 1/2 tons.”

Jay W. Forrester and his team at MIT construct the "Whirlwind" for the US Navy's Office of Research and Inventions.

• The Whirlwind is the first computer designed for real-time work; it can do 500,000 additions or 50,000 multiplications per second.

• This allows the machine to be used for air traffic control. - "Boss... Da Plane - Da Plane!"

Forrester conceives the idea of magnetic core memory as it is to become commonly used, with a grid of wires used to address the cores.

---

1950

Alan Turing "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"

1951

U.S. Census Bureau takes delivery of the first UNIVACS originally developed by Eckert and Mauchly.

An Wang establishes Wang Laboratories

Ferranti Ltd. completes the first commercial computer. It has 256 40-bit words of main memory and 16K words of drum. An eventual total of 8 of these machines are sold.

Grace Murray Hopper, of Remington Rand, invents the modern concept of the compiler.

1952

The EDVAC is finally completed. It has 4000 tubes, 10,000 crystal diodes, and 1024 44-bit words of ultrasonic memory. Its clock speed is 1 MHz.

1953

Minsky and McCarthy get summer jobs at Bell Labs

1955

• An Wang is issued Patent Number 2,708,722, including 34 claims for the magnetic memory core. A memorable moment for computer history fans!

Shockley Semiconductor is founded in Palo Alto.

John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley share the Nobel Prize in physics for the transistor.

1956

Rockefeller funds Minsky and McCarthy's AI conference at Dartmouth

CIA funds GAT machine-translation project.

Newell, Shaw, and Simon develop Logic Theorist.

1957

• USSR launches Sputnik, the first earth satellite.

Newell, Shaw, and Simon develop General Problem Solver.

• FORTRAN, the first popular programming language, hits the streets.

1958

McCarthy creates first LISP.

1959

• Minsky and McCarthy establish MIT AI Lab.

Frank Rosenblatt introduces Perceptrons.

• COBOL, a programming language for business use, and LISP, the first string processing language, come out. (Bigtime GEEKSTER Innovation!)

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1960s

Edward Djikstra suggests that software and data should be created in standard, structured forms, so that people could build on each others' work.

Algol 60, a European programming language and ancestor of many others, including Pascal, is released.

1962

• First industrial robots.

1963-64

• Doug Englebart invents the computer mouse, first called the X-Y Position Indicator. THE FIRST MOUSE!

1964

Bobrow's "Student" solves math word-problems.

John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz of Dartmouth College develop the first BASIC programming language. PL1 comes out out the same year.

• Wang introduces the LOCI (logarithmic calculating instrument), a desktop calculator at the bargain price of $6700, much less than the cost of a mainframe. In six months, Wang sells about twenty units.

Sabre database system, brought online. It solves the American Airlines' problem of coordinating information about hundreds of flight reservations across the continent every day.

• Philips makes public the compact cassette.

1966

Weizenbaum and Colby create ELIZA.

• Hewlett-Packard enters the computer market with the HP2116A real-time computer. It is designed to crunch data acquired from electronic test and measurement instruments.

Get This - It has 8K of memory and costs $30,000! (and we complain that our 100-200 GM computers do not fire up in less than 30 seconds!

• Hewlett-Packard announces their HP 9100 series calculator with CRT displays selling for an astonishing - by today's standards - $5000 each!

Intel is founded and begins marketing a semiconductor chip that holds 2,000 bits of memory.

Wang is the first to buy this chip, using it in their business oriented calculators called the 600 series.

Late 1960s

IBM sells over 30,000 mainframe computers based on the 360 family which uses core memory.

1967

Greenblatt's MacHack defeats Hubert Deyfus at chess.

• IBM builds the first floppy disk - You Copy?

1969

• Kubrick's "2001" introduces (fictional) AI to mass audience.

Intel announces a 1 KB RAM chip, which has a significantly larger capacity than any previously produced memory chip

Unix operating system, characterised by multitasking (also called time-sharing), virtual memory, multi-user design and security, designed by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie at AT&T Bell Laboratories, USA

• ARPANET (future Internet) links first two computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute.

Dr. Leonard Kleinrock, a UCLA-based pioneer of Internet technology and his assistant Charley Kline manage to send successfully, after solving an initial problem with an inadequate memory buffer, a command "login" to a Stanford machine set-up and tuned by Bill Duvall. First email!

• (UCLA, UCSB, University of Utah and SRI are the four original members of Arpanet.)

---

1970s

• Commodore, a Canadian electronics company, moves from Toronto to Silicon Valley and begins selling calculators assembled around a Texas Instruments chip.

1970

Doug Englebart patents his X-Y Position Indicator mouse.

• Nicklaus Wirth comes out with Pascal. An incredible advance!

1971

The price of the Wang Model 300 series calculator drops to $600. Wang introduces the 1200 Word Processing System.

Stephen Wozniak and Bill Fernandez build their "Cream Soda computer.”

Bowmar Instruments Corporation introduces the LSI-based (large scale integration) four function (+, -, *, /) pocket calculator with LED at an initial price of $250.

• Intel markets the first microprocessor!
• Its speed is 60,000 'additions' per second.

1972

Ray Tomlinson, author of first email software, chooses @ sign for email addresses.

Dennis Ritchie invents C.

• Bill Gates and Paul Allen form Traf-O-Data (which eventually becomes Microsoft). The EVIL EMPIRE is born - lol

Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs begin selling blue boxes.

• FIRST Electronic mail (delivery!) "Watson - come in here! I need a download!" lol

1973

• Stephen Wozniak joins Hewlett-Packard.

• Radio Electronics publishes an article by Don Lancaster describing a "TV Typewriter.”

• IBM develops the first true sealed hard disk drive. The drive was called the "Winchester" after the rifle of the same name. It used two 30 Mb platters.

1975 - First "personal" computer!

• MITS introduces the first personal computer - Altair in form of a kit, initially to be assembled by a buyer. It was based on Intel's 8-bit 8080 processor and included 256 bytes of memory (expandable to a 12 Kb), a set of toggle switches and an LED panel. Keyboard, screen or storage device could be added using extension cards.

The Apple I....

1976 - A Largely Underrated "Leaps & Bounds" Year in computer innovation...

• Greenblatt creates first LISP machine.

• Queen Elizabeth is first head of state to send email.

• Shugart introduces 5.25" floppy.

• IBM introduces a total information processing system. The system includes diskette storage, magnetic card reader/recorder, and CRT. The print station contains an ink jet printer, automatic paper and envelope feeder, and optional electronic communication.

• Apple Computer opens its first offices in Cupertino and introduces the Apple II. It is the first personal computer with color graphics. It has a 6502 CPU, 4KB RAM, 16KB ROM, keyboard, 8-slot motherboard, game paddles, and built-in BASIC.

• Commodore introduces the PET computer.

• Tandy/Radio Shack announces its first TRS-80 microcomputer.

• Ink-jet printing announced by IBM.

• JVC introduces the VHS format to the video recorders.

1977

• The first digital audio disc prototypes are shown by Mitsubishi, Sony, and Hitachi at the Tokyo Audio fair.

1978

• Apple introduces and begins shipping disk drives for the Apple II and initiates the LISA research and development project.

• BITNET (Because It's Time Network) protocol for electronic mail, listserv servers, file transfer, is established as a cooperative enterprise by the City University of New York and Yale University.

• Xerox releases the 8010 Star and 820 computers.
• IBM announces its Personal Computer.
• DEC announces a line of personal computers.
• HP introduces the HP 9000 technical computer with 32-bit "superchip" technology.

• It is the first "desktop mainframe", as powerful as room-sized computers of the 1960s.

1979

• Kevin MacKenzie invents the emoticon :-)

Usenet news groups.

---

1980

First AAAI conference at Stanford.

Telnet. Remote log-in and long-distance work elecommuting are now possible.

1981

Listserv mailing list software. Online knowledge-groups and virtual seminars are formed.

Osborne introduces first portable computer.

MS-DOS introduced.

1982

• CD disk (12 cm, 74 mins of playing time) and player released by Sony and Philips Europe and Japan. A year later the CD technology is introduced to the USA

1983

• IBM announces the PC jr.

• Apple Computer announces Lisa, the first business computer with a graphical user interface launched by Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, California.

• The computer has 5MHz 68000 CPU, 860KB 5.25" floppy, 12" B&W screen, detached keyboard, and mouse.

1984

Macintosh personal computer, launched by Apple Computer Inc.

• The first computer has 128KB of memory and a 3.5" 400KB floppy disk-drive.

• The OS with astounding graphic interface is bundled with MacWrite (word processor) and MacPaint (free-hand, B&W drawing) software.

• Apple introduces 3.5" floppy.

The domain name system is established.

1985

CD-ROM technology (disk and drive) for computers developed by Sony and Philips

File Transfer Protocol.

1987

• Microsoft ships Windows 1.01.

1988

The 386 chip brings PC speeds into competition with LISP machines.

---

1990

Archie FTP semi-crawler search engine, built by Peter Deutsch of MacGill University.

1991

CD-recordable (CD-R) technology is released.

WAIS publisher-fed search engine, invented by Brewster Kahle of the Thinking Machines Co.

Gopher, created at University of Minnesota Microcomputer, Workstations & Networks Center.

WWW server combines URL (addressing) syntax, HTML (markup) language for documents, and HTTP (communications protocol).

It also offers integration of earlier Internet tools into a seamless whole.

1992

Tim Berners Lee invents the first web browser.

There are about 20 Web servers in existence (Ciolek 1998).

1993

"Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set" (UCS), aka ISO/IEC 10646 is published in 1993 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

It is the first officially standardized coded character set with the purpose to eventually include all characters used in all the written languages in the world (and, in addition, all mathematical and other symbols).

Mosaic graphic WWW browser developed by Marc Andreessen (Cailliau 1995).

Graphics user interface makes WWW finally a competitor to Gopher. Production of web pages becomes an easy task, even to an amateur.

(Mosaic was the first Explorer- or Netscape-like "browser.")

There are 200+ Web servers in existence (Ciolek 1998).

1994

Labyrinth graphic 3-D (vrml) WWW browser is built by Mark Pesce.

It provides access to the virtual reality of three-dimensional objects
• (artifacts, buildings, landscapes).

Netscape WWW browser, developed by Marc Andreessen, Mountain View, California.

1995

RealAudio narrowcasting (Reid 1997:69).

Java programming language, developed by Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, California. Client-side, on-the-fly supplementary data processing can be performed using safe, downloadable micro-programs (applets).

Metacrawler WWW meta-search engine.
The content of WWW is actively and automatically catalogued.

The first online bookstore, Amazon.com, is launched in Seattle by Jeffrey P. Bezos.

• Altavista WWW crawler search engine is built by Digital around the Digital Alpha processor.

• A very fast search of 30-50% of the WWW is made possible).

1996

There are 100,000 Web servers in existence.

1997

There are 650,000 Web servers in existence.

“Deep Blue 2” beats Kasparov, the best chess player in the world.
The world as we know it ends. - lol

• DVD technology (players and movies) is released.
A DVD-recordable standard is created (Alpeda 1998).

Web TV introduced.

1998

Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading in the U.K., became the first human to host a microchip.

• The approximately 23mm-by-3mm glass capsule containing several microprocessors stayed in Warwick's left arm for nine days.

• It was used to test implant's interaction with computer controlled doors and lights in a futuristic 'intelligent office building’.

There are 3.6 mln Web servers in existence (Zakon 1998).

1999

There are 4.3 mln Web servers in existence (Zakon 1999).

Netomat: The Non-Linear Browser, by the New York artist Maciej Wisniewski, launched.

The open-source software uses Java and XML technology to navigate the web in terms of the data (text, images and sounds) it contains, as opposed to traditional browsers (Mosaic, Lynx, Netscape, Explorer) which navigate the web's pages.

1999/2000

A global TV freeware '2000Today' reports live for 25 hrs non-stop the New Year celebrations in 68 countries all over the world.

It is the first ever show of that duration and geographical coverage.

The freeware involved a round-the-clock work of over 6000 technical personnel, and used an array of 60 communication satellites to reach 1 billion viewers from all time-zones all over the globe.

 

Source and References:

Chronology of Digital computing Machines
Mark Brader

From the Abacus to the Apple
Bobbi A. Kerlin

Global Networking: a Timeline
T. Matthew Ciolek

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