- The first computer virus was created in 1971 by a programmer named Bob Thomas. It was called the “Creeper” virus and it infected the ARPANET, a precursor to the internet.
- The world’s first website was launched on August 6, 1991, by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. It was a simple page that described the project and how people could participate.
- The first electronic computer, called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), was built in 1946 and weighed over 27 tons. It could perform about 5,000 calculations per second.
- The first computer mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1964. It was made of wood and had two wheels at the bottom.
- The first hard disk drive was created by IBM in 1956. It was the size of a refrigerator, weighed over a ton, and had a storage capacity of just 5 MB.
- The first computer programmer was a woman named Ada Lovelace. She wrote the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine, for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a mechanical general-purpose computer.
- The first webcam was created at the University of Cambridge in 1991. It was used to monitor a coffee pot to see when it was empty.
- The first smartphone was created by IBM in 1993. It was called Simon and had a touch screen, email capabilities, and the ability to send faxes.
- The first emoticon, or smiley face, was created by Scott Fahlman in 1982. He suggested using 🙂 to indicate a joke or lighthearted comment in online communications.
- The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com, which was registered on March 15, 1985.
