a history of the computer in table format

7/30/2019 A History of the Computer in Table Format

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A History of the Computer in Table Format

DATE COMPUTER HISTORY INTERNET HISTORY BUSINESS HISTORY WORLD EVENTS

Revised February 22, 2009 Page 1 of 32

3000

BC

The abacus is invented in Babylonia The Tower of Babel is builtNative Americans invent popcorn

80 AD The Antikythera Device, a bronzemechanical lunar month calculator, isconstructed in Greece

The wedding cake is invented inRome. Instead of being eaten, it isthrown at the bride to insure fertility.

1517 Coffee, without which little progresswould have been made in thecomputer sciences, is introduced inEurope

1600 Doughnuts are invented in Holland.They don't invent the hole until1850

1620 Pilgrims establish a colony atPlymouth Rock.

1622 William Oughtred invents the slide rule. Thisfirst one was circular.

J ames I is King of England, gets hisvery own version of the Bible.Descartes thinks, therefore he is.

1623 Wilhelm Schickard designs the first knownmechanical calculator, the "CalculatingClock" to multiply large numbers.

Bernini completes his sculpture"David"

1633 Galileo is tried by the Inquisition for

his belief in a heliocentric solarsystem. The Pope doesn't admitGalileo was right until 1989

1642 Blaise Pascal invents an adding machinewhich he calls the Pascaline. It couldperform addition and subtraction, but it wastoo expensive to be practical and onlyPascal could keep it working

Income and property taxintroduced in England

Rembrandt paints The Night WatchGalileo diesIsaac Newton born

1666 Samuel Morland builds a mechanical

calculator that will add and subtract

The Great Fire of London

Charles II introduces waistcoats,


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the binary system. She writes programs forhis analytical engine, becoming the world'sfirst programmer

1843 Ada translates Luigi Menabrea's theories ofthe analytical engine and adds her owncommentary

1844 Morse sends the first telegraphicmessage from Washington toBaltimore.

First use of Nitrous Oxide indentistry

1848 California gold rush begins.

1853 Scheutz invents the first printing calculator Franklin Pierce inaugurated as 14thpresident of the USSamuel Colt introduces the firstrevolver

The hypodermic syringe is used forthe first timePotato chips are invented

1850's George Boole develops Boolean Logic whichwill one day become the basis for computerlogic.

1856 The first Atlantic cable is laidbetween the US and Europe. It only

works for a few days beforebreaking, but by 1866 a successfulcable is laid and will carryinternational communications forover 100 years

Sigmund Freud is bornSir Henry Bessemer

introduces his converter for makingsteel

1858 Cocaine is first isolated

1861 A trans-continental telegraph lineconnects the Atlantic and Pacificcoasts

The Martini is invented in SanFranciscoAlso in San Francisco, Levi Strauss

begins selling denim jeans.


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1938 Konrad Zuse completes his Z1 calculatingmachine

William Hewlett and DavidPackard start Hewlett-Packard in a garage inPalo Alto, CA, setting atradition which was laterfollowed by two guysnamed Steve who built a

computer and called it anApple.

Ballpoint pen invented

1939 J ohn Atanasoff begins work on his ABCcomputerHoward Aiken begins work on the HarvardMark 1 with funding from IBM

Nylon stockings first appearMr. Hitler stirs up trouble in Europe

1940 Zuse introduces his Z1, the firstprogrammable calculating machine to usethe binary system. It is used to solve

complex engineering equationsBell Labs' George Stibitz and SamuelWilliams complete the Complex NumberComputer, later known as the Bell LabsModel 1.Stibittz later demonstrates the Model 1 atDartmouth College with a terminal in NewHampshire and the Model 1 in New York

First successful helicopter flightFDR re-elected for a third termWar breaks out in Europe

M&Ms are invented

1941 Zuse completes his Z3, the first program-

controlled electromechanical digitalcomputer.In Britain, Alan Turing, M.H.A. Newman andTommy Flowers complete work on theColossus, the first all-electronic calculatingmachine. It is used during WWII to breakGerman codes.

The US declares war on Germany

and ItalyThe Japanese attack Pearl Harbor,and the US declares war on JapanRobert Arnold is born

1942 J ohn Mauchly and J .Presper Eckert proposea digital electronic version of VannevarBush's differential analyzer.

487 people die in a fire at theCoconut Grove nightclub in BostonThe US Government begins to

move Japanese-Americans into


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Other computers of 1950:UNIVAC 1101ADVIACIBM 607SEAC (National Bureau of Standards)

1951 William Shockley invents the junctiontransistor. Reverse-engineered alientechnology from Roswell? Inquiring mindswant to know.The first UNIVAC 1 computer, developedunder the leadership of Grace MurrayHopper, is delivered to the US CensusBureauJ ay Forrester files a patent for matrix corememory.The Whirlwind computer begins operationsat M.I.T

IEEE Computer Society foundedA British catering firm, Lyons & Company,develops the first business computer, theLyons Electronic Office (LEO) , based onresearch which they funded at CambridgeUniversity. David Caminer becomes theworld's first corporate systems analyst.Other Computers of 1951:Fairchild ComputerGeneral Electric 100 ERMA

NBS SWAC (Sealed With A Kiss?)Burroughs Lab Calculator

J ohn Huston's "African Queen" isreleasedElectric power first produced fromatomic energy

1952 J ay Forester develops magnetic memory atM.I.T.The EDVAC (Electronic Discrete VariableAutomatic Computer) is completed at MooreSchool by Mauchly, Eckert and VonNeumannGrace Murray Hopper develops A-O, the firstprogram compiler

A complaint is filed againstIBM, alleging monopolisticpractices in its computerbusiness, in violation ofthe Sherman Act.

Elizabeth II becomes Queen ofEngland


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circuits would double in complexity everyyear. This later becomes known as Moore'sLaw.The programming language, Basic(Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic InstructionCode), is developed by J ohn Kemeny andThomas Kurtz at Dartmouth CollegeIBM's SABRE airline reservation system isimplementedControl Data Corporation introduces the firstsupercomputer, the CDC6600, developed bySeymour Cray.First fully automated, computer-controlledfactory is inaugurated by Sara Lee

1965 DEC introduces the PDP-8, the first mini-computer. It is priced at the then-unheard ofbargain price of US$18,500

First manned spaceflight in theGemini spacecraft

1966 Steven Gray founds the Amateur ComputerSociety, and begins publishing the ACSNewsletter. This is considered by some to bethe birthdate of personal computingIBM introduces the first disk storage system,the IBM RAMAC 305. It holds 5 MB of dataon 50 2-foot wide platters.

Hallie Arnold born

1967 The change from magnetic core memory tosemiconductor memory beginsThe LOGO programming language isdevelopedIBM develops the first floppy diskJ ack Kilby, J ohn Merryman and J amesVanTassel develop the first four-functionhand-held calculator

A plan for a packet-switchingnetwork is presented at the ACMSymposium on Operating Principles

Niko Coucouvanis born

1968 Douglas Engelbart, of the Stanford ResearchInstitute, demonstrates his system ofkeyboard, keypad, mouse, and windows at

the J oint Computer Conference in San

Andy Grove, Gordon Moore andRobert Noyce start a little companycalled Intel

IBM first starts selling itssoftware separately,beginning the software

industry

Martin Luther King is assasinatedRobert Kennedy is assassinated2001: A Space Odyssey is released


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Francisco Robert Noyce and GordonMoore leave Fairchild andfound Intel CorporationEd Roberts and ForestMims found MicroInstrumentation TelemetrySystems (MITS)

1969 Dennis Ritchie and Kenneth Thompsonbegin work on the UNIX operating system atBell LabsIntel announces a 1 KB RAM chip, whichhas a significantly larger capacity than anypreviously produced memory chip.William Gates and Paul Allen, callingthemselves the "Lakeside ProgrammingGroup" sign an agreement with ComputerCenter Corporation to report bugs in PDP-10

software, in exchange for computer time.At Xerox's research facility in Webster, NewYork, Gary Starkweather demonstrates theuse of a laser beam with the xerographyprocess to create a laser printer

Researchers at UCLA proposed toARPA that they organize a NetworkMeasurement Center to explore thepossibilities of networkedcomputers.ARPA-Net, the forerunner of theInternet, is established by the USDepartment of Defence.A primitive network was establishedbetween UCLA (Xerox DSS7),

Stanford Research Institute (NIC-SDS940), UC Santa Barbara (IBM360/75), and the University of Utah(DEC PDP-10) in Salt Lake City. Bythe end of the summer they wereready to see if something typed ona computer at UCLA would appearon the computer at SRI. Theybegan by typing "login". Did itwork? Well, they got as far a "g"

before the system crashed, but itwas a start.

Advanced Micro DevicesIncorporated is founded byJ erry Sanders and sevenothers from FairchildMicrosystems Internationalis incorporated tomanufacture microchips.The company wasformerly known as theAdvanced Devices Centre

of Northern Electric andManufacturing Company(Canada).

Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrinbecome the first humans to walk onthe MoonCharlie Manson and friends get alittle wild.Woodstock

1970 Bell Labs introduces UNIXThe first Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) isinstalledGilbert Hyatt files the first basic patent on themicroprocessorThe floppy disk is introduced.The daisywheel printer is introduced

ALOHAnet is developed by NormanAbrahamson at the University ofHawaiiARPANET hosts start usingNetwork Control P rotocol (NCP).

Xerox opens the Palo AltoResearch Center (PARC)

Boeing introduces the 747

1971 The first mass-produced microprocessor, the ARPANET has expanded to15


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Intel 4004 processor, developed by TedHoff, is introduced. It can process four bits ofdata simultaneously at a rate 60,000instructions per second and has its ownarithmetic logic unitNolan Bushnell invents the videogame"Pong". It is wildly popular and makes him, inaddition to a lot of money, the father ofvideogames,The Kenback Corporation releases theKenback-1, the first microcomputer kit,designed by J ohn V. Blankenbaker.Intel creates the 1103 chip, the first generallyavailable DRAM memory chipNicklaus Wirth develops PASCAL, astructured programming languageThe programming language FORTH isdeveloped

Texas Instruments produces the first pocketcalculator

nodes (23 hosts): UCLA, SRI,UCSB, U of Utah, BBN, MIT,RAND, SDC, Harvard, Lincoln Lab,Stanford, UIU(C), CWRU, CMU,NASA/AmesTo encourage further developmentof the ARPANET, Larry Robertsasks Bob Kahn of BBN to puttogether a public demonstration.

1972 The Intel 8008 processor is introducedThe C programming language is developedat Bell Labs by Dennis Ritchie. It is called Cbecause the previous version was called B.Real creative guys, those programmers...Hand-held calculators become popular,rendering the slide rule instantly obsolete.

Xerox Parc's Learning Research Groupdevelops the Smalltalk programminglanguage.Alain Colmerauer develops the Porloglanguage at University of MarseillesDEC introduces the PDP 11/45Wang introduces a word processing systemLiquid-crystal displays are introduced

Bob Kahn demonstrates ARPANETin the basement the Washington(DC) Hilton Hotel by networking 40computers at universities andresearch centers around thecountry. The technicians fromAT&T don't think it would work, let

alone be of interest to anyone otherthan a handful of computerscientists and techno-dweebs, butevent was a great success andtriggered more intensivedevelopment of the idea of hookinga bunch of computers together.The InterNetworking WorkingGroup (INWG) is created toaddress the need for establishingstandardized, agreed upon

Flush with the success of"Pong", Nolan Bushnellfounds Atart. He is laterresponsible for foundingChuck E. Cheese pizza.


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protocols. The group is chaired byInternet pioneer Vinton Cerf.Ray Tomlinson of BBN invents anemail program to send messagesacross a distributed network. Ray isalso noted in Internet history as theman who decided to use the @symbol in email addresses.

1973 Steve Wozniak begins to build "Blue Boxes",tone generators to make free long-distancecalls, and sells them in his dorm at BerkeleyXerox Parc develops an experimentalcomputer called Alto that uses DouglasEnglebart's new mouse and features aGraphical User Interface. Unfortunately, theysee no future in the personal computer.Alan Kay also develops a forerunner of the

PC that he calls an "office computer".A federal judges invalidates Eckert andMauchly's ENIAC patent and recognizesJ ohn V. Atanasoff as the inventor of themodern electronic computer.

England and Norway make the firstinternational connections to theARPANET.Bob Metcalfe, a Harvard Universitystudent, outlines the idea ofEthernet in his doctoral thesis.

1974 The Intel 8080 processor is introduced - itbecomes the basis for the first personalcomputersSteven J obs and Stephen Wozniak startbuilding computers in the J obs' familygarage.An article in Radio Electronics providesplans for building a "personal minicomputer"called the Mark 8.A chess-playing computer has its first matchin Stockholm

Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn publish "AProtocol for Packet NetworkInternetworking" which specified indetail the design of aTransmission Control Program(TCP).BBN opens Telenet, a commercialversion of ARPANET

Gerald Ford is elected president

1975 Ed Roberts, considered the father of the

personal computer, designs the Altair 8800.

"Lite" beer is introduced


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It is produced by Micro Instrumentation andTelemetry Systems (MITS). Introduced inPopular Electronics magazine as a kit for$397, it becomes an overnight success.Two young hacker geeks, William Gates andPaul Allen offer to build a BASIC compiler forMITS. This is the start of what will becomeMicrosoftTwo other young hacker geeks, Steven J obsand Stephen Wozniac build a computer inSteve's parents garage. They call it theApple.The first PC, the Altair 8800, is introduced inkit form and is featured in an article inPopular Electronics magazine. The responsefor orders is unexpectedly overwhelming.The Zilog Z-80 computer is introduced. It has8500 transistors and a clock speed of 2.5

MMzMOS Technologies introduces the 6502processor, selling for around $25. Jobs andWozniak use it in the Apple II. It will later beused in the Commodore PET, Commodore64 and early Atari computers.IBM introduces the first laser printerFredrick Brooks publishes the theory thatadding more people to a project which is lateonly makes it later.

The second personal computer, the IMSAI isintroduced. Like the Altair, it lacks bothkeyboard and monitor and information isentered by switches. Unlike the Altair, it istargeted at businesses rather thanhobbyists. The price for the kit is $450.

1976 The CRAY 1 supercomputer is introduced

The next entry into the personal computermarket is the SOL, named after the Editor of

UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy)developed at AT&T Bell Labs anddistributed with UNIX one yearlater.

J obs and Wozniak startApple ComputerGary Killdall founds DigitalResearch


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Popular Electronics magazine.Gary Killdall starts Digital Research andintroduces the CP/M operating system.IBM develops the ink jet printer.Steven J obs and Stephen Wozniak designand build the first Apple computers, theApple 1, in the J obs' family garage. It's notmuch more than a circuit board in a woodenbox, but they build and sell 200 of themthrough Paul Terrell's Byte Shop. The price?$666.66Stan Veit opens the Computer Mart of NewYork, the second computer store in theworld.

1977 The Apple II computer is introduced at atrade show

The TRS-80 and Commodore computers areintroduced at the same show

The University of Wisconsin createsTHEORYNET, a system which

provided electronic mail to over 100computer science researchers.First fiber-optic telephone system istested in Chicago

Bill Gates and Paul Allenfound Microsoft in

Albuquerque, NewMexico.

1978 The DEC VAX 11/780 computer isintroducedThe concept of "office automation" isintroduced with the WANG VS minicomputersystemIntel introduces the 8086 chip with 29,000transistors. Shortly after, they introduce the8088 chipDan Bricklin and Bob Frankston writeVisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheetThe Wordstar word processing program isintroduced for use on CP/M systems. It islater modified to run on DOS systems.

Halloween is released

1979 Don Bricklin and Bob Franston developVisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet

program.

USENET was established usingUUCP between Duke University

and the University of North Carolina

Sony introduces the Walkman


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Motorola introduces the 68000 chip whichwill be used in Macintosh computersCellular telephones are first tested in Japanand Chicago

by Tom Truscott and SteveBellovin.The first MUD (Multi-UserDungeon), MUD1,iss created byRichard Bartle and Roy Trubshawat the University of Essex so thatgeeks and dweebs can playDungeons and Dragons onnetworked computers.ARPA establishes the InternetConfiguration Control Board (ICCB)SF-LOVERS mailing list is begunso that Sci-Fi fans can discussimaginary topics of greatsignificance.

1980 IBM hires Microsoft to develop an operatingsystem for their proposed personal

computer. Gates and company develop MS-DOS and take the first steps on their way toobscene riches.By the end of the year, over 120,000 Applecomputers have been sold.The ADA programming language, namedafter Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace, isdeveloped by the US Department ofDefense.

Osborne introduces the first "portable"computer, the Osborne 1. It weighs 24pounds and is the size of a suitcase.

The concept of a mailing list"digest" (a mailing list where

messages are bundled together)was created.Moderated mailing lists make theirfirst appearance.MUDs spread and become popularwith college students, sci-fi fansand other geeks.

1981 IBM introduces their personal computerusing an operating system developed by thefledgling Microsoft CorporationThe first successful portable computer, TheOsborne 1, is introducedThe price of technology is dropping. 256k ofRAM can be had for only $1100, and a 5 MB

BITNET, the "Because Its TimeNETwork" is started as acooperative network at the CityUniversity of New York, with firstthe connection to Yale. It provideselectronic mail and listserv serversto distribute information. unlike

Raiders of the Lost Ark is releasedFirst flight of the space shuttleColumbia


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hard disk costs $3000. 300 MB hard disksstart at about $15,000Apple introduces the ill-fated Lisa computerwhich lists for nearly $10,000Intel introduces the 80286 chip with six timesthe computing power of the 8086Xerox introduces a commercial version oftheir experimental Alto computer. It is called

the Xerox Star.Computer chips are first installed inautomobiles

USENET, where client s/w isneeded, electronic mail is the onlytool necessary.CSNET (Computer ScienceNETwork) is built by UCAR andBBN with seed money from NSF toprovide networking services,particularly email, to university

scientists who have no access toARPANET. CSNET later becomesknown as the Computer andScience Network.Minitel (Teletel) is deployed acrossFrance by French Telecom.CPSR (Computer Professionals forSocial Responsibility) founded by at CERN, the European equivalent of

ARPA, makes its presense felt inthe not-yet-born Internet

1982 Sony announces the Compact DiskMitchell Kapor designs Lotus 1-2-3The first IBM PC "clone" is produced byColumbia Dara Products.Compaq introduces its PC "clone"J ohn Warnock develops PostScriptTwo Cray-1 computers are linked together inparallel and prove to be three times as fastas a single Cray-1. This new supercomputeris called the Cray X-MP.

DCA and ARPA establishes theTransmission Control Protocol(TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), asthe protocol suite, commonly knownas TCP/IP, for ARPANET.- Thisleads to one of the first definitionsof an "internet" as a connected setof networks, specifically those usingTCP/IP, and "Internet" asconnected TCP/IP internets.The Department of Defensedeclares TCP/IP suite to be thestandard for DoD.EUnet (European UNIX Network) iscreated by EUUG to provide emailand USENET services.Those dopey little smileys :-) arefirst used in emails.

Mitchell Kapor starts LotusDevelopmentOsborne Computer goesout of businessJ ohn Warnock andCharles Geschke foundAdobe Systems.


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Dots first appear in addresses, asin .arpa.The % sign appears in addresses.Commercial e-mail service beginsThe AT&T telephone monopoly isbroken

1983 Microsoft announces the Windows operating

system, a poor imitation of Apple's graphicaluser interface. It will be two years before thepublic sees the actual productThe first "laptop" computer, the TRS-80Model 100IBM introduces the the PC/ATMichael Dell begins building computers inhis college dorm room.The Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program isreleased for the IBM PC

IBM introduces the PC-XTApple launches the ill-fated Lisa computer.

The switch from NCP to TCP/IP (1

J anuary) marks the beginning ofthe global Internet.

The name server concept wasdeveloped at U of Wisconsin, sothat users were no longer requiringto know the exact path to othersystems.

CSNET / ARPANET gateway put in

placeARPANET is split into ARPANETand MILNET, which becameintegrated with the Defense DataNetwork created the previous year.The standard practice of having asingle, large time-sharingmainframe computer connected tothe Internet at each site begins tochange to the connection of anentire local network.The Internet Activities Board (IAB)established, replacing the ICCB.EARN (European Academic andResearch Network) is established.Its operation is very similar to theway BITNET works.FidoNet is developed by TomJ ennings.The symbol >is first used toindicate quoted material being

Phillipe Khan starts

Borland SoftwareHewlett-Packard beginsselling the Laser-J etprinter


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replied to in emails.

1984 Apple launches the Macintosh with aspectacular presentation at the 1984 SuperBowl games.Apple introduces its MacPaint program.Motorola introduces the 68020 chip for Applecomputers. It features 250,000 transistors on

a postage stamp sized chip.Microsoft releases DOS 3.0Commodore introduces the AmigaMusical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)standards arte developed for interfacingcomputers with digital music synthesizers.Sony and Phillips jointly introduce the CD-ROMThe movie The Last Starfighter is released.It uses graphics and images generated by a

supercomputer.Intel introduces its 16 bit 80286 chip whichgreatly expands the capabilities of PC's

Domain Name Server (DNS) isintroduced.The number of Internet of hostsbreaks 1,000.J UNET (J apan Unix Network) isestablished using UUCP.

J ANET (J oint Academic Network) isestablished in the UK using theColoured Book protocols (not to beconfused with the protocols of Zionwhich is another matter entirely).The Apple Macintosh computermakes its appearance.Rot13, a simple replacement codeis developed to shield sensitive orsmutty material from over-the-

shoulder prying eyes.

1985 Aldus introduces desktop publishing with itsPageMaker softwareIntel introduces the 80386 or "386" chip withover 250,000 transistorsSteve J obs leaves Apple and starts NeXTComputerMicrosoft finally releases the Windowsoperating system.Aldus releases Paul Brainard's Pagemaker,the first desktop publishing program.

Addresses endingin .com, .edu, .gov and .uk firstappear.

1986 Compaq introduces the DeskPro 386, thefirst computer to use the 80386 chipMicrosoft introduces DOS 3.3DESQView, TopView and GEM Desktopchallenge Mr.Bill's Windows operatingsystem

Sun introduces its first SPARC RISC

NSFNET created- NSF establishes 5 super-computing centers to provide high-computing power for all(J VNC@Princeton,PSC@Pittsburgh, SDSC@UCSD,

NCSA@UIUC, Theory

Burroughs and Sperrymerge and form Unisys,the second largestcomputer manufacturer


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(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) CPU

Intel introduces the 80386 chip

Center@Cornell).The bungling bureaucracy ofARPANET prevents it from beingused to interconnect centers. andthe NSF creates NSFNET (with athen-unheard of backbone speed of56Kbps) with the aid of NASA andDOE. As a result, there is an

explosion of connections, especiallyfrom universities.Cleveland Freenet (start of NPTN)comes on-line.Network News Transfer Protocol(NNTP) designed to enhanceUsenet news performance overTCP/IP.Mail Exchanger (MX) recordsdeveloped by Craig Partridge

allowing non-IP network hosts tohave domain addresses.The WELL (Whole Earth 'LectronicLink) an independent ISP isfounded by Steward Brand ofWhole Earth Catalog fame.Addresses ending in .net appear.The term "netiquette" first appears.

1987 Adobe joins the destop publishing fray withPostscriptIBM introduces the OS/2 operating systemMicrosoft ships Windows 2.0

NSF signs a cooperativeagreement to manage the NSFNETbackbone with Merit Network, Inc.(IBM and MCI involvement wasthrough an agreement with Merit).Merit, IBM, and MCI later foundedANS.UUNET is founded with Usenixfunds to provide commercial UUCPand Usenet access.


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The number of Internet hostsbreaks 10,000The number of BITNET hostsbreaks 1,000Addresses ending in .org appear.AT&T completes digitalization of itslong-distance facilities

1988 The Year 2000 problem is first mentioned inprintPERL, a programming language isdeveloped.Steve Jobs introduces his new computer, theNeXTcube, with an object-oriented operatingsystem

An Internet worm burrows throughthe Net, affecting about 6,000 of the60,000 hosts on the Internet.The DoD chooses to adopt OSI andsees use of TCP/IP as an interim.US Government OSI Profile(GOSIP) defines the set ofprotocols to be supported byGovernment purchased products.Internet addresses ending in .ca

(Canada) appear.The Robert Tappan Morris J r.releases a worm program on theInternet. It quickly infects much ofthe net and illustrates the need forgreater network security.

1989 Intel introduces the 80486 chip, the firstmicroprocessor with over 1,000,000transistors and a built-in math coprocessorMicrosoft introduces Word for Windows

Seymour Cray begins to develop the Cray 3.

The number of Internet hostsbreaks 100,000The NSFNET backbone isupgraded to T1 (1.544Mbps)

RIPE (Reseaux IP Europeens) isformed by European ISPs to ensurethe necessary administrative andtechnical coordination to allow theoperation of the pan-European IPNetwork.The first relays betweencommercial electronic mail carriersand the Internet are instigated: MCIMail through the Corporation for the

Seymour Cray foundsCray ComputerCorporation

Carnation introduces Coffeemate


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National Research Initiative (CNRI),and Compuserve through OhioState University.The Internet Engineering TaskForce (IETF) and Internet ResearchTask Force (IRTF) comes intoexistence under the IAB.The Corporation for Research and

Education Networking (CREN, notto be confused with CERN) isformed by the merge of CSNET intoBITNETThe GIF graphics format(pronounced with a hard G,according to its creator,IRC (Internet Relay Chat) appears.ClariNet is developed by

The ISP world.std.com becomesthe first ISP directly on the Internet.Tim Berners-Lee, along with RobertCailliau, propose the basic conceptof the Web, using Ted Nelson'sconcept of hypertext.

1990 Microsoft ships Windows 3.0, a second-rate,Mac-lookalike operating system.Bell Labs demonstrates the first all-opticalprocessorHewlett-Packard and IBM announce RISC-based computersMotorola releases the 68040 chipCray introduces the Cray Y-MP C90 with 16processors and a speed of 16 gigaflops (lovethat word!)

Tim Berners-Lee creates HyperTextMarkup Language (HTML) at theCERN labs in Switzerland, andwrites the prototype for the WorldWide Web. It will use three of hiscreations: HTML, HTTP and URLsUsing the NeXT's object-orientedtechnology, the first Web serverand client machines weredeveloped at CERN in November,1990, based on the Next's object-oriented technology.ARPANET is decommissioned.

Scott Adams comic strip. Dilbert,first appears


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Electronic Frontier Foundation isfounded by Mitchell Kapor.Archie is released by PeterDeutsch, Alan Emtage, and BillHeelan at McGill University.Hytelnet is released by Peter Scottat the University of Saskatchewan.Addresses ending in .arpa are

phased out.The word "newbie" enters thelanguage.The urban legend about a ChevyImpala with a J ATO unit in Arizonamakes its first appearance on theInternet. It will be repeated adnauseam every few months for therest of eternity.The term "GUI" (Graphical User

Interface) is first used.

1991 Windows 3.1 appears. It is the first relativelystable Windows operating systemThe J PEG (Joint Photographic ExpertsGroup) graphics compression format isreleased.QuickTime, a video compression formatdeveloped by Apple, is released.Apple, IBM and Motorola form an alliance todevelop and promote the PowerPC platform.

Commercial Internet eXchange(CIX) Association, Inc. is formed byGeneral Atomics (CERFnet),Performance Systems International,Inc. (PSInet), and UUNETTechnologies, Inc. (AlterNet) (:glg:)Wide Area Information Servers(WAIS), is invented by BrewsterKahle, and released by Thinking

Machines CorporationGopher is released by Paul Lindnerand Mark P. McCahill from theUniversity of Minnesota.The United States' HighPerformance Computing Actestablishes the National Researchand Education Network (NREN -not to be confused with CREN,which is not to be confused with


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CERN. Got it?)The term cyber is first used as aprefix referring to the net is firstused.The first use of the wordcyberspace in refence to theInternet, rather than something inscience fiction.

Archie, a telnet data retrieval tool, isrelesed Zimmerman creates PGP,his RSA-based encryption software.He publishes it for free on theInternet before repressivegovernment forces can suppress it.He is arrested and charged with"exporting munitions". Ultimately heis acquitted

WAIS (), a data retrievaltool, is released.

1992 There are now about 1000 known computerviruses, up from 5 in 1988Linux, a new PC operating system createdby , is released. It is givenaway freely in the spirit of the early days ofcomputing. It attracts a strong following ofdedicated and devoted geeks.

DEC introduces the first 64 bit RISC Alphachip

The World-Wide Web, one of themost significant advances in thedevelopment of the Internet, isreleased by CERNThe Internet Society (ISOC) ischarteredThe number of Internet hostsbreaks 1,000,000

NSFNETs backbone is upgraded toT3 (44.736Mbps)First MBONE audio multicast takesplace in March and is followed bythe first video multicast inNovember.IAB is reconstituted as the InternetArchitecture Board and becomespart of the Internet SocietyA lot of new words enter the


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vocabularies of the techno-hip andterminally aware in 1992:"Web" (as in World-Wide)"browser" (software)http:// (URLs -- now seen in everymagazine, TV show, and movie)"firewall" (as a part of the net)"home page"

"cypherpunk""WWW"

Gopher (a data retrieval tool)POP (Point of Presence)SLIP (the connection protocol)MIME14.4 kbps modems make theirappearance and are initially pricedin the $ to $ range.

The British ISP "Demon" islaunchedanon.penet.fi, an anonymousserver, is launched.Project Gutenberg, a gargantuaneffort to digitize all of the importantworks of literature, is launched.PPP, a connection protocol, isreleased and given away withoutcharge.Veronica (a data retrieval tool)

WinsockThe email program, Eudora, islaunched and quickly becomes theemailer of choice for savvy netizens(note how we slipped that new wordin...)

1993 Apple, IBM and Motorola announce theavailablillity of the Power PC

Mark Andrreessen and Eric Binadevelop the Mosaic browser at

Wired magazine is launched andgraphic designers are appalled.

A Hi t f th C t i T bl F t


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DEC introduces the Alpha AXP chipIntel announces the Pentium chip which has3.1 million transistors and is able to perform112 million instructions per second (MIPS)Laptop computers get CD-ROM drivesThe MPEG (what the hell does it stand for?)video compression format is released. Thismakes it feasible to broadcast video on Web

sites.The first Geek Code is developedThe first version of the computer gameDOOM is released upon an unsuspectingworld of gamers. The world will never be thesame again.Apple introduces the Newton, the firstsuccessful Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).It's not so hot, but it's still better thananything else.

NCSA (the National Center forSupercomputing Applications)InterNIC is created by NSF toprovide Internet registrationservices (Network Solutions Inc.),directory and database services(AT&T), and information services(General Atomics/CERFnet)

US White House comes on-line:- P resident Bill Clinton:[email protected] Vice-President Al Gore: [email protected] First Lady Hillary Clinton:[email protected] Talk Radio beginsbroadcastingThe United Nations and the World

Bank come on-lineUS National InformationInfrastructure Act is passedBusinesses and the media begin totake serious notice of the Internet.New words for 1993:"information highway""anon server", also "anonymousserver""surf", in reference to Internet use."netizen"

"National InformationInfrastructure", a high-soundingterm for the Internet"Internet Talk Radio""URL""cybersex"Lynx, a fast, text-only browser, isreleased

Hype achieves new heights incyberspace.

1994 IBM releases OS/2 Warp 3.0 Netscape Navigator is released for Marc Andreesen and J im

A Hi t f th C t i T bl F t


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Microsoft releases Windows 95 public beta testing"Shopping malls" make theirinevitable appearance on theInternet.The first online flower shop beginstaking orders via the InternetMass marketing discovers massemailing.

The first cyberstation, RT-FM,broadcasts from Interop in LasVegasThe National Institute for Standardsand Technology (NIST) suggeststhat GOSIP should incorporateTCP/IP and drop the "OSI-only"requirement.The Arizona law firm of Canter &Siegel "spam" the Internet with

email advertising green card lotteryservices.WWW Worms (W4), Spiders,Wanderers, Crawlers, and Snakesbegin to appear on the Intrernet.Our new vocabulary for 1994:"intranet""roadkill along the informationsuperhighway""information supercollider""spam"

"search engine""web page""ISP" (they were formerly calledPublic Access Unix)cgi-bin

The Electronic Privacy InformationCenter (EPIC) is founded by28.8 kbps modems appear and

Clark found NetscapeCommunications



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make 14.4 kbps modems suddenlyslow and old-fashioned.The ISP, Mindspring, opens itscyberdoors for business.CUSeeMe, a video conferencingprotocol, makes livevideoconferencing cheap and easy.Many people discover that they can

have a wanking good time withcybersex.Yahoo! launchesThe "good times" e-mail virus hoaxmakes the first of its many rounds.

1995 Toy Story is the first full-length feature film tobe completely computer generated.Sun releases the J ava programminglanguage which makes platform-independent

programming possible.

Intel introduces the Pentium Pro chip with5.5 million transistors.

New words for '95:

"velveeta" (crossposting an articleto too many newsgroups)

"shell account""applet"Netscape releases Mozilla, amultipurpose, multimediaThe ill-advised, ill-conceived CDA(Communications Decency act),aka S.314, is passed. It is struckdown a few months later, to therelief of those who believe in the

First Amendment.NetPhone (explain)Lycos launches.RealAudio, an audio compressionand streaming format brings CDquality sound to the Web.J ava (explain)DejaNews launches.Frames make their appearance onWeb sites, to the delight of



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designers and the dismay of thosewhose browsers won't recognizeframes.AltaVista launches.

1996 Microsoft introduces its lame version of abrowser, Internet Explorer 3.0DVD disks

New words for '96:"infomercial stuporhighway"33.6 kbps modems make internet

access just a little faster (whenlines aren't jammed and theconnection holds)In a move designed to insure thatthere is no market left untapped,Microsoft releases InternetExplorer, their version of a browser.56 kbps modems appear, but notmany people are buying becausethere are two standards and theyusually don't work that fast anyway.WebTV is the hot new buzzword.PointCast begins its newsfeed andPush Technology is added to ourvocabularies.anon.penet.fi, the anonymousserver, is shut down by theauthorities for

1997 Apple releases the Macintosh OS-8 system CAUCE, an organization that worksfor the banning of commercial e-

mail spam, is founded by

1998 Apple releases the iMac Bill Gates has a littletrouble with the J usticeDepartment

1999

2000 As a result of a problem with computers'



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inability to expressi dates beyond 1999, theworld is thrown into chaos and reverts to aprimitive state reminiscent of Road Warrior

a history of the computer in table format

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