History of Computing

Question 1

A frame with beads strung on wires and rods and arithmetic calculations are formed by manipulating the beads.

Answer 1

18th Century
China
Abacus

Question 2

Simple device for multiplying.

Answer 2

17th Century
Europe
Napier’s Logs and Bones
John Napier

Question 3

Consists of two movable ruler
placed side by side. Each ruler is
marked off in such a way that the
actual distance from the
beginning of the ruler are
proportional to the logarithms of
the number printed on the ruler

Answer 3

17th Century
Europe
Oughtred’s Slide Rule
William Oughtred

Question 4

Capable of adding, subtracting,
multiplying, and dividing
numbers.

Answer 4

1642
France
Calculator
Wilhelm Von Leibniz

Question 5

Calculate and print mathematical

tables.

Answer 5

19th Century
Difference Engine
Charles Babbage

Question 6

Used to calculate artillery

trajectories during World War II.

Answer 6

1930
Differential Analyzer
Dr. Vannevar Bush

Question 7

Automatically read the
information that had been
punched into card, without
human intermediation.

Answer 7

1896
America
Punch Card Machine
Herman Hollerith

Question 8

Handled 23 decimal place
numbers and could perform all
four arithmetic operations. It has
built-in special programs, or
subroutines, to handle logarithms
and trigonometric functions

Answer 8

1897
America
AutomaticCalculating Machine
Howard Aiken

Question 9

The first large-scale vacuum tube

computer.

Answer 9

1943-1946 
America Electronic
Numeric Integrated and Calculator (ENIAC)
Presper Eckert Jr.
John Mauchly

Question 10

Modified version of the ENIAC.

Answer 10

1946
EDVAC
John Von Neumann