Computers
First Personal Computer Convention
March 26, 1976
The First Annual World Altair Computer Convention is held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Altair 8800 is considered the world’s first popular “microcomputer”, which essentially was the first popular personal computer. Created by MITS which was headquartered in Albuquerque, this Altair convention is also known for being the world’s first major microcomputer or personal computer convention. Over 700 people from 46 states and 7 countries attended. The next day at the opening address, a young Bill Gates gives a talk about software piracy. Bill Gates and Paul Allen had moved to Albuquerque about a year earlier to write the BASIC programming language for the Altair, founding Microsoft.
First Pentiums Shipped
March 22, 1993
Intel ships the first Pentium processors, debuting with speeds of 60 and 66 MHz. With 3.1 million transistors and 4 GB of addressable memory, it was a significant upgrade from the 80486 line of processors. Also significant was the fact that Intel chose to brand this fifth generation of processors with a name that could be trademarked, departing from the 286, 386, and 486 sequence it had been using for their 8086 line of processors. The main reason for this was that AMD, who had been a second source manufacturer of x86 processors, reverse engineered Intel’s 386 processor after Intel tried to end their second source arrangement. AMD claimed that they had the legal right to manufacture x86 processors due to the contract it had with Intel. This started a long running legal feud between the two companies that lasted until 1995. Among various lawsuits, AMD successfully defended a trademark infringement claim brought about by Intel over the 386 name. The court ruled in March of 1991 that the term 386 was generic and could not be trademarked. Therefore Intel went to a marketing firm to come up with the name Pentium so it could differentiate itself from AMD’s eventual 586 clone.
First Newsletter of the Homebrew Computer Club
March 15, 1975
Issue number one of the Homebrew Computer Club’s newsletter is published. Only 21 issues are published through December 1977, but the newsletter is considered influential in the early culture of the personal computer industry.
Bell Labs Announces TRADIC
March 14, 1955
AT&T Bell Laboratories announces the completion of the first fully transistorized computer, TRADIC. TRADIC, which stood for TRAnsistor DIgital Computer, contained nearly 800 transistors, which replaced the standard vacuum tube and allowed the machine to operate on fewer than 100 watts which was one-twentieth the power required by a comparable vacuum tube computer.
Apple, IBM, Motorola form PowerOpen Association
March 9, 1993
Apple, IBM, and Motorola form the PowerOpen Association along with 4 other companies to promote and support the deployment of the PowerPC processor. The PowerPC would most famously be used for many generations of Apple Macintosh computers, but also found its way into use in video games consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. As a competitor to Intel’s x86 line of processors, the RISC-based PowerPC for a time boasted more powerful designs and influenced the development of RISC processing technology that has been incorporated into many modern processors.
IBM Introduces PC-XT
March 8, 1983
IBM introduces the IBM Personal Computer XT, which stands for eXtended Technology. For a price of $4,995, it features a Intel 8088 processor, a 10MB hard drive, eight expansion slots, serial port, 128 kB RAM, 40Kb ROM, a keyboard, and one double-sided 360kB floppy drive.
The First Computer Operating System
March 8, 1955
Lead programmer Doug Ross demonstrates Director, the first permanent set of instructions for a computer on MIT’s Whirlwind. In essence this is the first concept of an operating system. Loaded by paper tape, Director would allow operators to load multiple problems in Whirlwind by taking advantage of newer, faster photoelectric tape reader technology, eliminating the need for manual human intervention in changing tapes on older mechanical tape readers.
Michelangelo Strikes
March 6, 1992
The Michelangelo virus, so-named because it activates on March 6, the birthday of Michelangelo, begins infecting computers. The virus will also make news in 1993. It was one of the earliest viruses to receive widespread media attention and also one of the first to prompt widespread hysteria. The irony of the name of the virus was that nothing in the virus’ code referenced Michelangelo. It is possible the virus author, who was never identified, did not know March 6th was Michelangelo’s birthday!
Sinclair ZX81 Launched
March 5, 1981
The Sinclair ZX81, the successor to the ZX80, is launched in England. Designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing, the ZX81 was the first personal computer to be later sold in the United States for under $150. More than 1.5 million units were sold worldwide and created a lasting legacy among nascent programmers and early personal computer users.
Homebrew Computer Club Holds First Meeting
The invitation to the first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
March 5, 1975
The Homebrew Computer Club holds its first meeting. Many people who played an important part in the early years of personal computing attended meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club during its history. Perhaps no meeting was more important than the one that took place almost exactly one year after the first: Steve Wozniak brought his design for what eventually becomes the Apple I computer.