April 2012

In 1991, Intel released its 486SX chip. At $400, the 486SX chip was designed to stimulate demand in the whole spectrum of computers, from palmtop PCs to supercomputers. Read more about the history of microprocessors at http://oz.plymouth.edu/~harding/historymicro.html Photo: Steven White

In 1828, Noah Webster published the first edition of his An American Dictionary of the English Language. In an attempt to make them more phonetic, Webster changed the spelling of many words. Many of the differences that exist today between American English and other English

In 1940, the first electron microscope was demonstrated. Vladimir Zworykin demonstrated the electron microscope at RCA in Philadelphia, PA. Zworykin is better known as a co-inventor of television. He came to the US in 1919 and worked for Westinghouse before moving to RCA. Learn more

In 1931, Fred Brooks, computer engineer, was born. Fred Brooks worked at IBM during the early supercomputer era. He coined the term “computer architecture”, and later oversaw development of the IBM System/360 and managed the software team that designed the OS/360 operating system. He is

In 1945, John Ambrose Fleming, inventor of the vacuum tube, died. John Ambrose Fleming was an electronics pioneer. His invention would help make radios, televisions, telephones and even early electronic computers possible. Fleming patented the vacuum tube in 1904. This is often considered to be

In 1986, IBM produced the first megabit-chip. A megachip is a memory chip capable of storing 1 million bits of information. Read more about IBM’s history of chipmaking at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-powerppl/