1. In 1819, British scientist Babbage designed the "Difference Engine" and produced a movable model in 1822. The Difference Engine and Analytical Engine laid the foundation for the development of modern computer design ideas.
2. In 1889, American scientist Herman Hollery developed an electric tabulating machine based on electricity to store calculation data.
3. In 1930, American scientist Vannevar Bush built the world's first analog electronic computer.
4. J. Atanasoft is a professor of physics at the University of Iowa. Atanasoff invented the electronic computer with the help of his graduate student Clifford E. Berry (1818-1963).
The experimental prototype of the first electronic computer began operation in October 1939. The computer helped University of Iowa professors and graduate students solve complex mathematical equations. Atanasoff named this machine ABC (Atanasoff-Berry-Computer), where A and B take the first letters of their last names, and C is the first letter of "computer".
After the birth of the first electronic computer, Atanasov and Berry did not receive the inventor's wreath.
Before Atanasoff and Berry left, two improved ABC computers were operational. The two ABC computers were stored in a storage room in the physics building at the University of Iowa and gradually forgotten. In 1946, due to material shortages, both machines were dismantled and parts were used for other purposes, leaving only the memory components. The University of Iowa did not apply for a patent for the ABC computer, which resulted in a protracted legal dispute over the invention rights of the electronic computer. The U.S. District Court's ruling was correct because Mauchly, the inventor of ENIAC, did visit the ABC computer at the University of Iowa and listened to Atanasoff's introduction, which inspired him.