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Computer by Domenico Loia/

10 Interesting Facts about the First-Ever Computer

We all wonder where the word computer came from well the first time the term was used was in 1613 it was used to describe a human who performed calculations. The term remained until the 19^th century when people came to the realization that machines can perform calculations much faster than any human. The first modern electronic digital computer was called the Atanasoff Berry Computer also known as the ABC invented by John Vincent Atanasoff and Cliff Berry. The first computer that was a giant machine was the ENIAC Electrical Numerical Integrator and calculator. It was invented by John. W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania.

Many people do not consider the computer developed by Charles Babbage as part of the history of computers, but it is said that he is the first person who developed the first computer called the Difference Engine in 1822. The computer is considered the first automatic computing machine, it was capable of computing several sets of numbers. The first storage computer, a machine that could store and execute programs was the SSEM Small Scale Experimental Machine also known as the Manchester Baby in 1948 designed by Frederic William. The first personal computer was the Altair 8800 by Ed Roberts in 1975, and the first portable computer the IBM 5100 invented in 1975.

1. John Vincent Atanasoff father of the first computer

ATANASOFF by Unknown Arthur/

John Vincent Atanasoff was born in October 1903 and invented the first ABC computer, he was gifted with accomplishments in mathematics, engineering, and computer science. Vincent spent his life innovating and creating technologies for the Armed and Naval forces. He founded Ordnance Engineering corporation, Atanasoff’s first job out of college he was a professor of mathematics and also a physicist. In 1942 Atanasoff worked for the United States Navy, working as the Chief of the Acoustics Division at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory. Atanasoff’s most distinguished invention was the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, also referred to as a Clifford Berry Computer. The electronic digital computer that he invented with Clifford Berry, a graduate student. The device was a predecessor to the digital computer and was capable of performing some mathematics equations, including certain algebra equations.

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2. Clifford Berry partnered with Atanasoff to invent the first computer

John V. Atanasoff and Clifford E. Berry partnered and together invented the world’s the first electronic digital computer. Berry graduated from Iowa High school at 16, he had straight A, and his family thought he was too young to go to college and wait one more year. During that year of waiting, he spent more of his time on science courses and working on his ham radio setup. Atanasoff was impressed with Clifford Berry’s brilliance and capacity, so he asked him if he could assist him in his computing machine project. Atanasoff builds a successful prototype for the purpose of testing two ideas, the capacity to store data in binary form and electronic logic circuits to perform addition and subtraction. They both started inventing and designing a larger and more the general-purpose computer known as the Atanasoff Berry Computer or the ABC.

3. The ABC Computer

Atanasoff-Berry Computer at Durham Center by Unknown Arthur/

The Atanasoff Berry computer later named the ABC the first digital electronic computer was built at Iowa State University in 1939 by Dr. John Atanasoff and his graduate student Clifford Berry. The historical significance of the first digital computer demonstrated the feasibility of electronic computing. It was the first computer to use vacuum tubes, it was designed with a specific purpose to solve systems of simultaneous up to 29 linear equations. The machine’s actual operation was to accept two linear equations simultaneously with up to 29 variables and a constant. The ABC was not a general-purpose computer, this computer was the first to implement three of the most important ideas used in computers today.

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4. Features of ABC’s first computer

Atanasoff-Berry Computer at Durham Center by Unknown Arthur/

The ABC weighed over 700 pounds and used three hundred vacuum tubes for controlling and arithmetic calculations, the computer had a rotating drum bigger than a paint can it had a small capacitor. The Capacitor works like a battery and could store electric charge. The computer contained a mile of wire it calculated about one operation every fifteen seconds, and it used punched cards as input or output units. The computer was too enormous to go anywhere, it remained in the basement of the physics department. The war effort prevented Atanasoff from finishing the patent process and doing any further work on the computer.

5. The function of the first Computer

The Atanasoff Berry Computer was created with the specific purpose of solving a system of linear equations, it could operate 29 equations which was an achievement. The ABC lacked programming architecture and it had limited functionality. The ABC comes with another very important invention built into it the use of dynamic random access memory DRAM. Atanasoff’s work required a great deal of mathematical calculation, which he performed on a Monroe calculator, at the time it was an advanced calculating machine, but it still required hours of calculations.

6. When was the first computer built the ABC

In August 1940 American physicist and inventor John Atanasoff at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, wrote a thirty-five-page memorandum describing the design and principles of what came to be known as the Atanasoff-Berry Computer. The ABC completed one operation about every 15 seconds. Compared to the millions of operations per second of today’s computer, that probably seems very slow. The ABC did not have a changeable stored program, this meant the program was fixed and designed to do a single task. After Atanasoff left Iowa State, the ABC was dismantled. Atanasoff never filed a patent for his invention. That means that, for a long time, many people weren’t aware of ABC.

7. Iowa State University

Roberts Residence Hall, Iowa State University by Unknown Arthur/

The history of Iowa State University dates back to 1858 when it was chartered as the Iowa Agriculture College and model farm. In 1898 the name changed to Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts before its current name Iowa State University. This university is the birthplace of the first electronic digital computer invented at Iowa State by John Atanasoff, a mathematics and physic professor, along with Clifford Berry in 1942 on campus. In 1959, the college was officially renamed Iowa State University of Science and Technology. The focus on technology has led directly to many research patents and inventions including the first binary computer, Maytag blue cheese, the round hay baler, and many more.

8. Atanasoff credited coming up with Binary digits

Binary digits by Alexander Sinn/

Atanasoff was credited with several breakthrough ideas that are still present in modern computers. The most important one was the use of binary digits, just ones, and zeroes, to represent all numbers and data. Atanasoff was convinced that the two-digit binary system with its benefit of reducing ten symbols to two in his machine’s circuitry would increase speed and efficiency. The second idea he came up with is the separation of the program and memory.

9. Iowa State University funded Atanasoff’s project

Funds by Josh Appel/

The ABC computer was the first electronic digital computing device. It was designed with a specific purpose, to solve systems of simultaneous up to 29 linear equations. The computer-implemented three elements that are used in today’s computers. The first was the binary system, the second was the use of electronics to perform calculations instead of mechanical switches and the third was using the principle from the Von Neumann architecture where the memory and the computation were separate. Atanasoff applied to Iowa State College for funding he got $650 with his main goal being to improve the accuracy and speed of a machine’s capacity for calculations, which he successfully did.

10. The ENIAC was inspired by the ABC

When Atanasoff left Iowa State the ABC was dismantled, and he never filed a patent for his invention. Many people are not aware that the ABC was the first computer after it was dismantled but later in the years a replica was created and it was smaller than the first ABC. Mauchly visited Atanasoff and saw the ABC and later he invented the ENIAC, the ENIAC filled the vacuum the ABC left and most people know it is the first computer to be invented.