Computer Scientists, Innovators Chronology

Births, deaths, defining moments of Computer Scientists and Innovators

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1617
Apr 04Mathematician, discoverer of logarithms, John Napier dies in Edinburgh, Scotland.Ref: 68
1623
Jun 19Blaise Pascal mathematician/physicist/religious writer, is born.Ref: 5
1662
Aug 19Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher, dies at age 39.Ref: 4
1667
Jul 27Johann Bernoulli, mathematician, is born.Ref: 62
1752
Jul 07Joseph-Marie Jacquard, inventor of the punch card weaving machine, is born in Lyons, France.Ref: 2
1792
Dec 26Charles Babbage, English mathematician who perfected the calculating machine, is born.Ref: 68
1815
Nov 02George Boole mathematician (Boolean algebra), is born.Ref: 5
Dec 10Augusta Ada Byron, later the Countess of Lovelace, is born. Lovelace, a mathematical prodigy and daughter of the poet Lord Byron, was an important influence on Charles Babbage, who developed one of the first mechanical computers. Ref. 
1834
Aug 07Joseph-Marie Jacquard, French inventor of the Jacquard loom, dies at age 82.Ref: 70
1852
Nov 27Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace, inventor of the programming loop, first suggested a binary storage system, dies.Ref: 62
1860
Feb 29Herman Hollerith, inventor of a tabulation mechanism that was a forerunner to the computer, is born.Ref: 68
1864
Dec 08George Boole, the inventor of Boolean algebra, dies of pneumonia.Ref: 68
1871
Oct 18Charles Babbage, English mathematician who perfected the calculating machine, dies at age 79.Ref: 68
1874
Feb 17Thomas J. Watson Sr., U.S. industrialist who converted a financially ailing manufacturing business into the international giant IBM, is born.Ref: 2
1890
Mar 11Vannevar Bush developed first electronic analogue computer, is born.Ref: 5
1900
Mar 08Howard Hathaway Aiken, inventor of the Mark I, computer pioneer, is born in Hoboken NJ.Ref: 68
1902
Jun 23Dr Howard T Engstrom Boston, a designer of Univac computer, is born.Ref: 5
1903
Oct 04-John Vincent Atanasoff, inventor of the Atanasoff Berry Computer, the world's first electronic digital computer, is born. 
Dec 03John Lewis von Neumann, promoter of the stored program concept, whose logical design of the IAS became the prototype of most of its successors - the von Neumann Architecture, is born.Ref: 68
Dec 28John Von Neumann mathematician/astronomer (Bocher Award 1938), is born.Ref: 5
1904
Apr 20-Dr. George Robert Stibitz, pioneer of digital computing and remote job entry, is born. 
1906
Dec 09Grace Hopper computer developer: COBOL; U.S. Naval officer: Rear Admiral, oldest naval officer on active duty [retired at age 79]; is born.Ref: 4
1907
Aug 30John W. Mauchly, credited with co-inventing the computer, co-builder of the ENIAC, is born.Ref: 62
1910
Feb 02Charlotte Auerbach computer Pioneer/Mathematician, is born.Ref: 5
Jun 22Konrad Zuse, German inventor of the Z3 computer (the first binary computer), is born in Berlin.Ref: 62
1912
Jun 23Alan Turing mathematician pioneer in computer theory (Turing Machine), is born.Ref: 5
1913
May 20William Hewlett cofounder of Hewlett-Packard Co, is born.Ref: 5
Jun 26Maurice Wilkes inventor (stored program concept for computers), is born.Ref: 5
1914
Jan 08Thomas J Watson Jr president of IBM (1956-71)/diplomat, is born.Ref: 68
1918
Jul 14Jay Wright Forrester invented random-access magnetic core memory, is born.Ref: 5
1919
Apr 09John Presper Eckert co-inventor (1st electronic computer-ENIAC), is born.Ref: 5
1920
Feb 07Dr An Wang founder (Wang Labs, Wang Computers), is born in Shanghai, China.Ref: 68
1922
Nov 16Computer designer, chief architect of the IBM 360, Gene Amdahl is born.Ref: 15
1923
Jan 08Joseph Wiezenbaum artificial intelligence pioneer, is born.Ref: 5
1924
Dec 03John Backus inventor (FORTRAN computer language), is born.Ref: 5
1925
Sep 28Seymour Cray, inventor of the Cray I computer, is born.Ref: 5
1926
Feb 20Kenneth H Olsen US, engineer/founder (Digital Equipment Corp), is born.Ref: 5
1927
Aug 09Marvin Minsky Artifical intelligence computer scientist (MIT), is born.Ref: 5
1929
Nov 17Herman Hollerith engineer, teacher, inventor: first electric tabulating machine [forerunner of the calculator], founded Tabulating Machine Company: forerunner of Computer Tabulating Recording Company [CTR]: forerunner of IBM [International Business Machines]; dies at age 69.Ref: 68
1933
Oct 27Gerald M. Weinberg, computer scientist-author, bornRef: 62
1934
Feb 15Niklaus Wirth Switzerland, computer programmer/inventor (PASCAL), is born.Ref: 5
1937
Jul 19Larry Boxx founded Land B Computer Serv, is born.Ref: 5
1939
Jan 05Peter Struycken statues/computer expert/teacher, is born.Ref: 5
1942
May 19Gary Kildall creator of CP/M, is born.Ref: 5
May 19James Topping author of CP/M, is born.Ref: 5
1943
Feb 05Nolan Bushnell founder (Atari)/creator (Pong), is born.Ref: 5
1947
Feb 23Colin Sanders British computer engineer (Solid State Logic), is born.Ref: 5
1949
Jun 14Bob Frankston programmer (VisiCalc), is born.Ref: 5
1950
Aug 11Steve Wozniak founder: Apple Computer, Inc [1976: w/Steve Jobs], is born.Ref: 4
1954
Jun 07Alan Turing dies of self-inflicted cyanide poisoning.Ref: 10
Aug 11Stephen Wozniac, Cofounder of Apple, is born.Ref: 62
1955
Feb 24Mrs. Jobs names her baby boy - "Steven".Ref: 5
Oct 28Mrs. Gates names her baby boy - "William".Ref: 2
Dec 20Sammy Mitchell US programmer (Qedit/TSE/Semware), is born.Ref: 5
1956
Jun 19Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the American industrialist who built I.B.M., dies.Ref: 70
1957
Feb 08John Lewis von Neumann, promoter of the stored program concept, whose logical design of the IAS became the prototype of most of its successors - the von Neumann Architecture, dies at age 53.Ref: 68
1962
Mar 09Dr Howard Engstrom Boston MA, a designer of Univac computer dies at 59.Ref: 5
1967
Jan 03Joseph Amor San Jose, video game record holder (Space Invaders), is born.Ref: 5
1968
Feb 21Todd Ferich computer language expert, is born.Ref: 5
1971
Nov 16Donald Wolf computer game creator, is born.Ref: 5
1973
Mar 14Computer pioneer Howard H. Aiken dies in St. Louis MO.Ref: 68
1974
Jun 28Vannevar Bush, American electrical engineer and government administrator in World War II, developed first electronic analogue computer, dies at age 84.Ref: 70
1980
Jan 08John W. Mauchly, credited with co-inventing the computer, co-builder of the ENIAC, dies. (TWA, 1981)Ref: 95
1988
Dec 07Andrei P Ershov Russian computer pioneer, dies.Ref: 5
1990
Mar 24Shanghai-born An Wang, founder of Wang Laboratories, dies at age 70 from cancer. He had immigrated to the U.S. and later attended Harvard University, where he earned a Ph.D. In 1948, he invented the magnetic memory core, laying the foundation for all computer memory until the invention of the microchip.Ref: 68
1992
Jan 01Grace Hopper computer developer: COBOL; U.S. Naval officer: Rear Admiral, oldest naval officer on active duty [retired at age 79]; dies at age 85.Ref: 5
Dec 26John G Kemeny US computer pioneer (BASIC), diesRef: 5
1993
Dec 31Thomas J Watson Jr president of IBM (1956-71)/diplomat, dies at age 79 in Greenwich CT.Ref: 68
1995
Jan 13Dr. George Robert Stibitz, pioneer of digital computing and remote job entry, dies.Ref: 68
Jun 03John Presper Eckert, computer pioneer, co-inventor of the ENIAC, dies. (TWA, 1996)Ref: 95
Dec 18-Konrad Zuse, German inventor of the Z3 computer (the first binary computer), dies in Hunfield Germany. 
1996
Oct 05Supercomputer pioneer Seymour Cray dies at age 71. (TWA, 1997)Ref: 95
Dec 13Charles Edwin Molnar computer pioneer, dies at 61.Ref: 5
1997
Dec 22John Pinkerton computer scientist, dies at 78.Ref: 5
2001
Jan 12Hewlett-Packard Co. co-founder William Hewlett died in Palo Alto, Calif., at age 87.Ref: 70
Last Update: October 27th, 2005
© 2000-2005   Kenneth Fussichen