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This brief timeline of computing skims key events in the creation and invention of computing tools and ideas. These ideas continued and continue the invention and advancement of the computer. They continue the computer's integration and interaction with human history, culture and our educational systems. Underlying this development is a concept unique to our human species, one so persistent in human behavior that it seems embedded in our genetic code. Not only is there a belief (e.g., theory) that life can be made better by remembering or storing information, but that through personal actions ones own life can be improved through such remembering. In that theory we also find the motivation for systems of education that have become our schools and universities.

Computer, electronic device that can receive a set of instructions, or program, and then carry out this program by performing calculations on numerical data or by compiling and correlating other forms of information. The modern world of high technology could not have come about except for the development of the computer. Different types and sizes of computers find uses throughout society in the storage and handling of data, from secret governmental files to banking transactions to private household accounts.

Fifty years ago, the word “computer” had a very different meaning. Prior to World War II, the word referred not to machines, but to people (mostly women in order to save costs) hired as human calculators. During the war, military research spawned mechanical calculators, “computers” such as Colossus and ENIAC; afterward, IBM commercialized equally intimidating, multi-million dollar machines that required their own rooms. They shipped to some of the largest companies in the nation, where they were tended to by specialists. In the popular imagination they were recognized symbols of bureaucracy and dehumanization — the dictatorial Alpha 60 in Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville, for example, and the domineering EPICAC in Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano — and there was no such thing as a “personal computer.”

The invention of the computer, apart from what anybody has told you, started around 2000 years ago. The computer started out as an abacus. An abacus is a rack made of wood with two wires running parallel to each other. On the wires there are beads. By moving the beads anyone can solve simple math problems. Next, there was the Astrolabe, used for navigating.

Computers and computer applications are on almost every aspect of our daily lives. As like many ordinary objects around us, we may need clearer understanding of what they are. You may ask "What is a computer?" or "What is a software", or "What is a programming language?" First, let's examine the history.

The computer is undoubtedly among mankind's most important inventions. The ability to compute and store data provides us with the ability to tackle problems that would likely be impossible to handle otherwise. It's hard to imagine scientists looking for the Higgs-Boson with nothing more than typewriters and legal pads.

As personal computers became affordable, must-have Internet gateways in the late 1990s, individual models took a backseat to larger brands. Dell didn't bother advertising special model names. It just advertised one major selling point: cheap. When Apple made a comeback with iMacs, and later MacBooks and MacBook Pros, you were either a Mac person or a PC person. Whether that PC was a Dell, or an HP, or an ASUS didn't make much difference.

"History is made by people; it is made up of the events and inventions of people. The history of computing is especially affected by the visions of a few people. These people believe strongly in the significant technological changes that are possible. They strive to understand how computational and communications power can be made accessible to people in scientific laboratories, professional offices, hospitals, schools, and homes."

-The dates, people and events that led to the first computers -The code-breaking machine Colossus -Alan Turing and Computing Machinery -Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Language (BASIC) -The development of personal computers

Early Man relied on counting on his fingers and toes (which by the way, is the basis for our base 10 numbering system). He also used sticks and stones as markers. Later notched sticks and knotted cords were used for counting. Finally came symbols written on hides, parchment, and later paper. Man invents the concept of number, then invents devices to help keep up with the numbers of his possessions.