Timeline of computing hardware before 1950: Difference between revisions

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{{history of computing}}

==Pre-computing==

===[[Prehistory]]–[[Ancient history|antiquity]]===

{| class="wikitable"

|-

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| c. 910 BC

| The [[south-pointing chariot]] was invented in [[History of China#Ancient China|ancient China]]. It was the first known geared mechanism to use a [[differential gear]]. The chariot was a two-wheeled vehicle, upon which is a pointing figure connected to the wheels by means of differential gearing. Through careful selection of wheel size, track and gear ratios, the figure atop the chariot always pointed in the same direction.

|}

==The analog computer==

===[[Prehistory]]–[[Ancient history|antiquityAntiquity]]===

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Date

! class="unsortable" | Event

|- valign="top"

| c. 125 BC

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| [[J. H. Müller]], an engineer in the Hessian army, first conceived of the idea of a [[difference engine]] (first written reference to the basic principles of a difference machine is dated to 1784).

|- valign="top"

| 1801 <ref>

| 1804

*{{cite web|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/punched-cards-control-jacquard-loom/|website=computerhistory.org|title=The Jacquard Loom: A Driver of the Industrial Revolution|date=|publisher=[[ Computer History Museum]]|access-date=|url-status=|archive-url=|archive-date=|quote=In Lyon, France, Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) demonstrated in 1801 a loom that enabled unskilled workers to weave complex patterns in silk.}}

*{{cite web|author=Michael N Geselowitz|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-jacquard-loom-a-driver-of-the-industrial-revolution|website=ieee.org|title=1801: Punched cards control Jacquard loom|date=1 Jan 2019|publisher=[[IEEE]]|access-date=|url-status=|archive-url=|archive-date=|quote=At an industrial exhibition in Paris in 1801, Jacquard demonstrated }}

*{{cite web|url=https://passerelles.essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/chronologie/article/06fe304e-561f-4b9d-bf32-24339fae5877-metier-tisser-jacquard|website=bnf.fr|title=Métier à tisser de Jacquard|date=|publisher=[[Bibliothèque nationale de France|BnF]]|access-date=|url-status=|archive-url=|archive-date=|quote=En 1801, cet ingénieur de Lyon équipe le métier à tisser d’un mécanisme en fonte qui sélectionne les fils de chaîne grâce à un programme inscrit sur une carte perforée.}}

*{{cite book|year=1888|chapter=BROCADE|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjxKAAAAYAAJ&dq=Jacquard+attachment+1801&pg=PA746|___location=|editor1-link= Thomas Spencer Baynes |title=Supplement to Encyclopedia Britannica. (<small><small>NINTH EDITION.</small></small>) <small><small>A DICTIONARY OF ARTS SCIENCES AND GENERAL LITERATURE</small></small> |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjxKAAAAYAAJ|volume=1|edition=9|publication-place=|publisher=[[H.G. Allen]]|publication-date= 1833 |access-date=|via=[[Google Books]]|quote=Until the invention of the Jacquard attachment to the loom in the year 1801, embroidered silk goods were called brocades.}}</ref>

| [[France]]

|| [[Joseph-Marie Jacquard]] developed the [[Jacquard loom]], an automatic loom controlled by [[punched card]]s.

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*[[History of computing hardware]]

==NotesReferences==

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==ReferencesSources==

{{Refbegin}}

*{{cite book|ref=MARG|language=fr|title=Histoire des instruments et machines à calculer, trois siècles de mécanique pensante 1642–1942|first=Jean|last=Marguin|year=1994|publisher=Hermann|isbn=978-2-7056-6166-3}}