5 Unknown Facts About Computers
Certainly! Here are five lesser-known facts about computers:-
- The First Computer Programmer was a Woman: Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician and writer, is often credited as the world's first computer programmer. She worked with Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine, and wrote detailed notes and algorithms for it in the mid-19th century.
- The First Computer Mouse was Made of Wood: The first computer mouse was created by Douglas Engelbart in 1964 and was made of wood. It had two perpendicular wheels for movement and was used in conjunction with the NLS (oN-Line System), a pioneering computer system.
- Computers Helped Solve the Zodiac Killer's Cipher: In 2020, a team of hobbyist codebreakers used a computer to crack one of the unsolved ciphers sent by the infamous Zodiac Killer in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was a breakthrough in a decades-long mystery.
- There's a Computer Buried in the Ground: The "Clock of the Long Now" is a mechanical computer designed to run for 10,000 years. It's buried underground in a remote location in Texas to ensure its longevity. The clock is designed to keep time accurately for millennia.
- The Most Powerful Supercomputers Use GPUs: Many of the world's most powerful supercomputers utilize graphics processing units (GPUs) in addition to traditional central processing units (CPUs) to perform complex calculations. GPUs are highly efficient for parallel processing tasks, making them essential for scientific simulations and artificial intelligence applications.
These facts highlight some of the intriguing and often overlooked aspects of the history and technology of computers.
