Pre-Computers
Computers were originally people. It was a job title for people that did repetitive tasks and calculations. The abacus was the first device created that allowed humans to perform calculations. John Napier invented Napier Bones which were abuci that did multiplication and division in 1617. The forefathers of computers are Blaise Pascal and Charles Babbage.
Blaise Pascal invented the first mechanical calculator called the Pascaline in 1642. Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine in 1837 which is generally considered the first mechanical computer, but was only partially built to be able to do basic calculations by his son. In 1890 Herman Hollerith invented the Hollerith Desk which using punching card technology was the first automatic counting machine.
IBM is born in 1924 as Thomas J. Watson renames CTR to IBM. IBM went on to become the most powerful company in the computer industry in the 20th century. In 1930 Harvard and IBM worked together to make the Harvard Mark I which was the first automatic digital computer that could do long calculations without human interaction. in 1941, Konrad Zuse built the Z3 which was the first programmable, digital computer.
