Inventions

4 Facts about the Semiconductor Transistor A semiconductor transistor is a device used to amplify or switch electrical impulses. The transistor is a fundamental component of modern electronics, and contains three terminals to connect to an electric circuit. In 1956, the Nobel Prize in Physics was given for creating the transistor which has been recognized […]

5 Facts About Computer Scanners The history of Computer scanners began when Rudolf Hell came up with the idea for the fax machine about 50 years ago. The scanner was then invented in Kiel, starting with the fax machine. The first image it scanned was of Walden, the son of the inventor of computers scanner. […]

3 Facts about Touch Screen More than 90% of touchscreens are capacitive. Touchscreens have an average durability period of 3 years. Almost all touchscreen devices feature a Liquid-Crystal Display, LCD. Touch Screen History The concept of now-ubiquitous touch screen interface was put into words in October 1965, when Eric Arthur Johnson, an engineer at the […]

3 Facts about Magnetic Tape Magnetic tapes were initially created for audio storage. The device is approximately 20% faster than other types of storage devices. Magnetic tapes were invented in Germany. Magnetic tapes originally had a small storage capacity. Magnetic Tape History The magnetic tape is the oldest memory media for computers, still in use […]

3 Facts About The Modem “Modem” is an abbreviation of the device’s function, which is to act as a modulator-demodulator for data signals traversing analog and digital networks. As the product evolved, the transfer speeds increased not only because of the actual transfer rate, but also because of the protocols used to transfer data. Eventually […]

Four Facts about the Printed Circuit Board The first circuit board of any kind was invented in 1925 by Charles Ducas. It featured types of conductive material stencils over a wooden board. The inventor of the printed circuit board, Paul Eisler, inadvertently signed over PCB manufacturing and the patent rights to Technograph for one pound […]

Electromechanical Relay

Four Facts About the Computer Mouse Douglas Engelbart and Bill English named their first prototype after the rodent due to its shape. The name computer “mouse” has been used ever since the first prototype. The primary inventor of the mouse, Doug Engelbart, never received any royalties because the patent was held by the Stanford Research […]

3 Facts About Microprocessor Microprocessors were initially called “Microcomputer on a chip” until 1972. You need at least two (2) months to create a microprocessor. Microprocessors are made from quartz, metals, silicon, and other chemicals. Microprocessor History Microprocessors are computer processors containing logic, arithmetic, and control circuitry needed for a computer’s CPU to function correctly. In […]

3 Facts about Liquid Crystal Display Magnets do not affect LCDs. At least 200million+ Liquid Crystal Display TVs get sold every year. LCDs do not produce light. Liquid Crystal Display History A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a flat and thin panel used for displaying information on watches, phones, computer monitors, televisions, and numerous other […]

Magnetic drum memory was a magnetic data storage device. Since its founding in 1932, the drum became the backbone of many early computers. It formed the primary working memory of the computer and sometimes served as the secondary storage. But later on, the magnetic core memory and hard disk drives came into existence and replaced […]

6 Facts About Laser Printer IBM invented the first laser printer in 1985. It was known as the IBM 3800 and was capable of printing 180 pages per minute.  Each laser printer cartridge is equivalent to around one gallon of oil. The majority of the components in laser printer cartridges are recyclable. Initially, laser printers were […]

Computer keyboards are peripheral data input devices modeled after the typewriter keyboards era. Since the 1970s, computer keyboards have seen a notable transformation from the traditional paper tape and punched technology to interactions through teleprinters and keypunches. Five Facts About the Modern Computer Keyboard The development of the first modern computer keyboard was occasioned by […]

5 Facts about Hard Disk  A hard disk contains numerous substances. Hard disk typically has limited spaces. The world’s smallest hard disk was invented in 2016 by Dutch scientists. Hard disks aren’t airtight. Hard drives can be easily passworded. Hard Disk History Hard disks, otherwise regarded as hard drives or disk drives, are magnetic disks […]

Most people know that the floppy disk was invented in 1967 by a team led by Alan Shugart at IBM. However, you can give its ideation and invention credit to Yoshiro Nakamatsu, a Japanese inventor. Floppy disks have been a crucial storage source at a time when there were no other options. The ideal storage […]

3 Facts About the Thermionic Tube The Thermionic tube goes by many names, to include vacuum tubes, vacuum diodes, thermionic tubes, the Fleming valve, and kenotron.  While the device has many names, the actual device only has three components. The device heats electrons, gives them away at one end of the tube, and receives them […]

Modern-day display technologies continue to improve with each passing year, but throughout the mid-1900s, they didn’t really move an inch. While liquid crystal displays (LCD), organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), and plasma screens dominate the industry in the 21st century, cathode ray tube (CRT) display technology is what used to be king. While this tech is […]

3 Facts about Compact Disc  Compact discs are 1.2mm thick with a diameter of 120mm. The Eagles 1976 album is the most sold CD ever, with over 38 million copies sold. The Visitors, an album by Abba, a Swedish pop group, was the first-ever created compact disc. Compact Disc History The first workable digital compact […]

Five Facts about Dynamic Random Access Memory  Robert Dennard invented dynamic Random Access Memory in 1966 at IBM. Dynamic Random Access Memory is dynamic (or active) because it must be refreshed regularly, or the data stored in it will be lost. The most common type of RAM is dynamic random access memory (DRAM). DRAM as […]

3 Facts about Audion Vacuum Tube It was the original vacuum tube with a control grid among the anode plate and the cathode filament (in the shape of a bent wire). Lee De Forest adjusted the current between the filament and the plate using the control grid, resulting in the first functional electronic amplifier. Audion’s […]

Optical character recognition, often abbreviated as OCR, plays an enormous part in the text recognition software many of us rely on today through Adobe Acrobat, Google Drive, and the like. While most would assume that the ability to recognize and translate an image to text would be a modern-day invention based on some contemporary algorithm, […]

3 Facts about the Circuit The Integrated Circuit was technically developed and invented by three different individuals, all unaware of each other’s work. Geoffrey Dummer conceptualized the design, Robert Noyce was granted the first patent, and Jack Kilby’s application was being reviewed while the first patent was granted.  Integrated circuits differ from their predecessors in […]

5 Facts about Tabulating Machine Some significant facts about Tabulating machines are as follows. The tabulating machine was a counting machine used for the first for tabulating U.S. census data in 1890. Herman Hollerith invented the tabulating machine. It kept track of the number of cards that had a hole punched at a specific location. It […]

3 Facts about Mechanical Calculators The 17th century was the beginning of the history of mechanical calculators, the first machine being Pascal’s calculator, which was invented in 1642. The mechanical calculator was first invented after three years of research and 50 prototypes. In the 18th century, the first mechanical calculator that could perform a multiplication […]