37 events with tag "calculation"
2700 BC
ID: 4452
Abacus developed in Mesopotamia - first known calculating device using beads on rods for arithmetic
ID: 4452
538 BC
ID: 2806
Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks - predicts coming of Messiah and destruction of city and sanctuary
ID: 2806
500 BC
ID: 4453
Chinese develop suanpan abacus - more advanced with 2 beads above bar and 5 below, enables hexadecimal calculation
ID: 4453
100 BC
ID: 4454
Romans develop portable hand abacus - bronze tablet with grooves and counters for merchants and engineers
ID: 4454
1600
ID: 4455
Japanese soroban abacus refined - 1 bead above, 4 below bar, still used today in Japanese schools
ID: 4455
1614
ID: 4456
John Napier publishes 'Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio' - invents logarithms to turn multiplication into addition
ID: 4456
1617
ID: 4457
Napier's bones (Napier's rods) invented - numbered rods for multiplication, division, and square roots
ID: 4457
1622
ID: 4458
William Oughtred invents slide rule - combines logarithmic scales for multiplication and division, used until 1970s
ID: 4458
1623
ID: 4459
Wilhelm Schickard designs 'Calculating Clock' - first mechanical calculator with gears for addition and subtraction
ID: 4459
1642
ID: 4460
Blaise Pascal invents Pascaline - mechanical calculator using gears and wheels, builds 50 units for sale
ID: 4460
1673
ID: 4461
Leibniz creates Stepped Reckoner - first calculator that could multiply, divide, and find square roots using stepped drums
ID: 4461
1685
ID: 4462
Leibniz perfects his wheel mechanism - becomes standard for mechanical calculators for 200 years
ID: 4462
1734
ID: 501
Johann Albrecht Bengel publishes apocalyptic calculations predicting Christ's return for 1836
ID: 501
1820
ID: 4463
Charles Xavier Thomas patents Arithmometer - first commercially successful mechanical calculator, 1,500 sold by 1878
ID: 4463
1823
ID: 752
Charles Babbage begins designing Difference Engine - first attempt to mechanize mathematical calculation
ID: 752
1837
ID: 4464
Babbage designs Analytical Engine - first design for general-purpose computer with mill, store, and punch card programming
ID: 4464
1872
ID: 4465
Frank Baldwin patents pinwheel calculator in America - improves on European designs with variable-toothed gear
ID: 4465
1874
ID: 4466
Willgodt Odhner perfects pinwheel calculator in Russia - his design manufactured worldwide, 500,000+ units made
ID: 4466
1879
ID: 4469
James Ritty invents cash register - mechanical calculator for business transactions, sold to NCR in 1884
ID: 4469
1885
ID: 4468
William Burroughs develops first practical adding machine with printer - founds American Arithmometer Company
ID: 4468
1887
ID: 4467
Dorr Felt patents Comptometer - first successful key-driven adding machine, faster than previous designs
ID: 4467
1889
ID: 4471
Felt & Tarrant introduce Comptograph - adds printing capability to comptometer design
ID: 4471
1893
ID: 4470
Otto Steiger designs 'Millionaire' calculator - first commercially successful direct multiplication machine
ID: 4470
1902
ID: 4472
Dalton Adding Machine Company founded - produces first truly portable 10-key adding machines
ID: 4472
1912
ID: 4473
Monroe Calculating Machine Company founded - becomes major American calculator manufacturer
ID: 4473
1913
ID: 4474
Marchant Calculating Machine Company founded - develops proportional lever mechanism for speed
ID: 4474
1931
ID: 4234
IBM introduces Type 600 series multiplying punch - first machine to perform multiplication automatically
ID: 4234
1934
ID: 4475
Friden introduces first automatic calculator - performs all four operations with single lever pull
ID: 4475
1938
ID: 4476
Curt Herzstark designs Curta calculator - miniature mechanical calculator, perfected in concentration camp, produced 1948-1972
ID: 4476
1939
ID: 4477
George Stibitz builds Complex Number Calculator at Bell Labs - first electric digital calculator using telephone relays
ID: 4477
1961
ID: 4478
ANITA Mark VII released - world's first all-electronic desktop calculator using vacuum tubes
ID: 4478
1963
ID: 4479
Friden 130 released - first fully transistorized electronic calculator, displays on CRT screen
ID: 4479
1967
ID: 4480
Texas Instruments Cal Tech prototype - first calculator using integrated circuits, leads to commercial models
ID: 4480
1970
ID: 4481
Busicom LE-120A 'HANDY' released - first truly pocket-sized calculator, uses Intel processors
ID: 4481
1972
ID: 4482
HP-35 released - first pocket scientific calculator, replaces slide rules, $395
ID: 4482
1974
ID: 4483
HP-65 released - first pocket programmable calculator with magnetic card storage
ID: 4483
1978
ID: 4484
Credit card-sized calculators with LCD and solar cells introduced - calculators become ubiquitous
ID: 4484