Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse in the early 1960s in his research lab at Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International). The first prototype was built in 1964, the patent application for this “X-Y position indicator for a display system” was filed in 1967, and US Patent 3,541,541 was awarded in 1970. The basic idea […]
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Two Computer-Related Firsts on the Same Day, 36 Years Apart
On January 24, 1948, the “first true computer,” the IBM SSEC (Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator) was introduced. The machine included 13,500 vacuum tubes and 21,000 electronic relays and was the first device capable of handling both data and instructions. It occupied a space one-half the size of a football field, at IBM headquarters in Manhattan. […]