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Cloud History

1950s

See also: Timeline of the History of Computing, This Year in History and History

1950s

DatePlaceEvent
Apr 1950USASEAC (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer) demonstrated at US NBS in Washington, DC – was the first fully functional stored-program computer in the U.S.
Aug 1950USASWAC (Standards Western Automatic Computer) demonstrated at UCLA in Los Angeles; fastest computer in the world until IAS machine
Sep 1950GERKonrad Zuse leased his Z4 machine to the ETH Zurich for five years. Z4 was a relay-based machine. The corresponding contract was signed in the fall of 1949, and the machine reassembled in Zurich after its arrival in July 1950.The Z4 was replaced by ERMETH, a computer developed at the ETH in Switzerland from 1953 to 1956, one of the first electronic computers on the European continent.
1950UKTuring Test – The British mathematician and computer pioneer Alan Turing published a paper describing the potential development of human and computer intelligence and communication. The paper would come later to be called the Turing Test.
May 1950UKThe Pilot ACE computer, with 800 vacuum tubes, and mercury delay lines for its main memory, became operational on 10 May 1950 at the National Physical Laboratory near London. It was a preliminary version of the full ACE, which had been designed by Alan Turing.
1950USATIME magazine cover story on the Harvard “Mark III: Can man build a superman?” includes a quote from Howard Aiken, commenting on “calculators” (computers) then under construction: “We’ll have to think up bigger problems if we want to keep them busy.”
30 Mar 1951USAThe first commercially successful electronic computer, UNIVAC, was also the first general-purpose computer – designed to handle both numeric and textual information. Designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, whose corporation subsequently passed to Remington Rand. The implementation of this machine marked the real beginning of the computer era. Remington Rand delivered the first UNIVAC machine to the U.S. Bureau of Census. This machine used magnetic tape for input.
21 Apr 1951USAWhirlwind, the first real-time computer was built at MIT by the team of Jay Forrester for the US Air Defense System, became operational.This computer is the first to allow interactive computing, allowing users to interact with it using a keyboard and a cathode-ray tube. The Whirlwind design was later developed into SAGE, a comprehensive system of real-time computers used for early warning of air attacks.
17 Nov 1951UKJ Lyons, a United Kingdom food company, famous for its tea, made history by running the first business application on an electronic computer. A payroll system was run on Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) a computer system designed by Maurice Wilkes who had previously worked on EDSAC.
Sep 1951UKThe oldest known recordings of computer generated music were played by the Ferranti Mark 1 computer.The Mark 1 is a commercial version of the Manchester Mark 1 machine from the University of Manchester. The music program was written by Christopher Strachey.
1951USAEDVAC (electronic discrete variable computer). The first computer to use magnetic tape.EDVAC could have new programs loaded from the tape. Proposed by John von Neumann, it was installed at the Institute for Advance Study, Princeton, USA.
1951AustraliaCSIRAC used to play music – the first time a computer was used as a musical instrument.
1951USAThe A-0 high-level compiler is invented by Grace Murray Hopper.
April 1952USAIBM introduces the IBM 701, the first computer in its 700 and 7000 series of large scale machines with varied scientific and commercial architectures, but common electronics and peripherals. Some computers in this series remained in service until the 1980s.
June 1952USAIAS machine completed at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA (by Von Neumann and others).
1952USSRBESM-1 is completed. Only one BESM-1 machine was built. The machine used approximately 5,000 vacuum tubes.
1953UKThe University of Manchester team complete the first transistorised computer.
1953USAArthur Andersen was hired to program the payroll for General Electric (GE)’s Appliance Park manufacturing facility near Louisville, Kentucky. As a result, GE purchased UNIVAC I which became the first-ever commercial computer in the USA. Joe Glickauf was Arthur Andersen‘s project leader for the GE engagement.
1953WorldEstimate that there are 100 computers in the world.
1953USAMagnetic core memory developed.
1954USAFORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation), the first high-level programming language development, was begun by John Backus and his team at IBMThe development continued until 1957. It is still in use for scientific programming. Before being run, a FORTRAN program needs to be converted into a machine program by a compiler, itself a program.
1954USAThe IBM 650 is introduced. A relatively inexpensive decimal machine with drum storage, it becomes the first mass-produced computer, with some 2000 installations.
December 1954USAThe NORC was delivered by IBM to the US Navy.
1956USAFirst conference on artificial intelligence held at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
1956USAThe Bendix G-15 computer was introduced by the Bendix Corporation
1956NEDEdsger Dijkstra invented an efficient algorithm for shortest paths in graphs as a demonstration of the abilities of the ARMAC computer. The example used was the Dutch railway system. The problem was chosen because it could be explained quickly and the result checked. Although this is the main thing many people will remember Dijkstra for, he also made important contributions to many areas of computing – in particular he should be remembered for his work on problems relating to concurrency, such as the invention of the semaphore.
1957USAFirst dot matrix printer marketed by IBM.
1957USAFORTRAN development finished. See 1954.
1957USAI have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.— Editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall.
1958USAProgramming language LISP (interpreted) developed, Finished in 1960. LISP stands for ‘LISt Processing’. Used in A.I. development. Developed by John McCarthy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1958USSRSetun, a balanced ternary computer developed in 1958 at Moscow State University.
12 Sep 1958USAThe integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments.Robert Noyce, who later set up Intel, also worked separately on the invention. Intel later went on to perfect the microprocessor. The patent was applied for in 1959 and granted in 1964. This patent wasn’t accepted by Japan so Japanese businesses could avoid paying any fees, but in 1989 – after a 30-year legal battle – Japan granted the patent; so all Japanese companies paid fees up until the year 2001 – long after the patent became obsolete in the rest of the World.
1959WorldComputers introduced between 1959 and 1964, often regarded as Second-generation computers, were based on discrete transistors and printed circuits – resulting in smaller, more powerful and more reliable computers.
1959USACOBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language) developed by Grace Murray Hopper as the successor to FLOW-MATIC, finished in 1961.
1959USSRMinsk mainframe computer development and production begun in the USSR. Stopped in 1975.
1959USAThe MOSFET (MOS transistor) invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs.The MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor, was invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs. It enabled high-density integrated circuits, and is the most widely used semiconductor device in computers.[1][2]
1959USAThe silicon integrated circuit developed by Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor, using Jean Hoerni‘s planar process.In contrast to Kilby’s germanium integrated circuit, Noyce developed a silicon integrated circuit, using Jean Hoerni‘s planar process.[3]
1959USADouglas E. Eastwood and Douglas McIlroy of Bell Labs created Macro SAP, the first programming language with advanced macro capabilities. The following year McIlroy published a seminal paper in the fields of macro processors and programming language extensibility.

References

  1. ^ https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/metal-oxide-semiconductor-mos-transistor-demonstrated/
  2. ^ https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-invented-the-transistor/
  3. ^ https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/practical-monolithic-integrated-circuit-concept-patented/
  4. ^ “Molecular Electronic Computer brochure | 102646283 | Computer History Museum”. www.computerhistory.org. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  5. ^ history-computer.com: LINC
  6. ^ a b c Matthew Kirschenbaum (July 2013), “10 Most Influential Software Programs Ever”, Slate, USA
  7. ^ Stefan Betschon: Der Zauber des Anfangs – Schweizer Computerpioniere. In: Ingenieure bauen die Schweiz. Franz Betschon et al. (editors), pp. 376–399, Verlag Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03823-791-4
  8. ^ “Auf den Spuren der deutschen Computermaus” [In the footsteps of the German computer mouse] (in German). Heise Verlag. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  9. ^ “Telefunken’s ‘Rollkugel'”. oldmouse.com.
  10. ^ “SIG-100 video terminal and mouse”.
  11. ^ a b Paul Ford (April 2014), The Great Works of Software – via Medium
  12. ^ “The man who made ‘the world’s first personal computer'”, BBC News, 6 November 2015
  13. ^ a b Cornell University Library (2003). “Digital Preservation and Technology Timeline”. Digital Preservation Management. USA. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  14. ^ a b IBM Archives Archived 2003-02-10 at Archive.today
  15. ^ Friedl, Paul J. (November 1983). “SCAMP: The Missing Link In The PC’s Past?”. PC. pp. 190–197. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  16. ^ see 6502 microprocessor history
  17. ^ Steven Weyhrich (28 December 2001). “Apple II History Chapter 5, The Disk II”. Archived from the original on 1 December 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  18. ^ Christopher Null (April 2007), “50 Best Tech Products of All Time”, PC World, USA

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