History of Computers - Part 1: Pre-1940s

What is the modern definition of the word computer?

• A machine that makes calculations

• An electronic device that stores and processes data

• A person that makes calculations

• A device with sliding beads used for making calculations

When did Babbage begin construction of the Difference Engine?

• 1823
• 1907
• 1765
• 1890

What was the first calculator?

• ENIAC
• Stepped Reckoner
• TI-84
• Abacus

On tabulating machines, metal pins would pass through holes in a punch card and make contact with a vial of _____ , completing an electrical circuit.

• Water
• Mercury
• Aluminum
• Electrons

How long did it take to complete the 1880 Census?

• 23 years
• 14 weeks
• 7 years
• 3 years

The Stepped Reckoner was the first device that could...

• Read punch cards
• Print calculations 
• Add, Subtract, Multiply, & Divide
• Add decimals

The Difference Engine was...

• mechanical
• electronic
• electromechanical
• None of these

What was the definition for the word computer in the late 1800s?

• A machine that makes calculations

• An electronic device that makes calculations

• A person that makes calculations

• A device with sliding beads used for making calculations

What was the first design of a machine that had memory and could be programmed?

• Hollerith's Tabulating Machine
• Difference Engine
• Harvard Mark I
• Analytical Engine

The Tabulating Machine Company eventually became what company in 1923?

• Computing & Tabulating Inc.
• Tabulations 'R' Us
• Computing-Recording Company 
• International Business Machines