The first mechanical computer was designed by Charles Babbage throughout the 1820's. It was his life's work, but it was not physically created until 1991. He also developed an "analytical engine" which was only ever put on paper.
The History of Computers
Computer Timeline
Ada Augustus Lovelace had received an education in mathematics, which was unusual for a woman in the 17th century. She met Charles Babbage at a party in 1833, where she learned about his analytical engine, and began working with him on the machine. She is considered the first programmer.
As the population in the United States was rapidly growing, more and more numbers needed to be counted at the same pace as the fast moving country. Herman Hollerith decided to solve this problem with a machine that could count faster than a human. Herman Hollerith's punched card machine was adopted for use in 1890.
During World War II, to fire ballistics, one needed a firing table, and to do extensive calculations on how to position the firing table so that the missile would be sent to the correct spot. John Mauchly decided to solve this problem with a machine that could make these calculations. That machine was the ENIAC. The ENIAC employed the use to vacuum tubes, and was big enough to fill a whole room.
The UNIVAC, made also John Mauchley, and Von Noyman was created in 1954. It could make calculations and use alphabetic letters as well. It was a big upgrade from the ENIAC.
Transistors were invented by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Houser Brattain in 1947. They were a much more efficient in comparison to vacuum tubes.
The integrated circuit was invented by Jack Killby and Robert Noyce only 12 years after transistors in 1959. Both transistors and Integrated circuits were smaller yet more powerful, assisting the United States during the space race.
The mouse, invented by Douglass Engelbart in 1964, changed the way we access and control computers.
The microprocessor was another step towards shrinking the size of technology, invented by Marcian Hoff in 1971
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were two young and ambitious engineers. They together created the Apple 1 and began a business, but did not get far because of the large size of the Apple 1. Then, the Apple 2 was invented, which caught the eye of a former millionaire Intel employee who helped Apple become a stable business and what it is today.
Commodore releases the VIC-20 home computer which came after the Commodore PET personal compute. It was smaller and more efficient. It was released in 1980.
Instead of "Person of The Year", TIME Magazine chooses to honor the machine of the year in 1982
The IBM PC (Personal Computer) was released in 1981. It was the first PC to gain widespread adoption by industry.
In 1983, Apple releases its newest computer, Lisa
The Apple Macintosh computer was invented by Steve Jobs, and released in 1984.
Nintendo releases its NES gaming system in the United States in 1985, where it becomes very popular.
Pixar was founded in 1986. Pixar created some of the first completely computer animated movies.
The personal system 2, or ps/2 was released by IBM as a successor to the ps 1 in 1987.
After being kicked out of Apple, Steve Jobs created a new company and released the NeXT Cube in 1988, an all black cube that had three Motorola microprocessors and 8 MB of RAM.