Question 1

Who is recognized as the world's first computer programmer for writing an algorithm intended for Babbage's Analytical Engine?

Accepted Answer

Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace wrote notes on the Analytical Engine in 1843 containing an algorithm to calculate Bernoulli numbers, making her the first computer programmer.

Question 2

Which device, completed in 1945 at the University of Pennsylvania, was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer?

Accepted Answer

ENIAC. ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first programmable, general-purpose electronic digital computer built in the United States.

Question 3

Who is widely considered the 'father of the computer' for conceptualizing the Analytical Engine?

Accepted Answer

Charles Babbage. Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine, laying down the fundamental architecture of modern general-purpose computers.

Question 4

Which British mathematician proved foundational to computer science with his concept of a theoretical computing machine in 1936 and his wartime codebreaking work at Bletchley Park?

Accepted Answer

Alan Turing. Alan Turing introduced the Turing machine concept in 1936 and played a crucial role in cracking intercepted coded messages during World War II.

Question 5

In what year did Apple launch the original Macintosh computer, which featured a graphical user interface and a built-in mouse?

Accepted Answer

1984. Apple introduced the original Macintosh on January 24, 1984, famously heralded by Ridley Scott's '1984' Super Bowl commercial.

Question 6

What was the name of the first commercially produced general-purpose electronic digital computer in the United States, delivered to the Census Bureau in 1951?

Accepted Answer

UNIVAC I. UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly and was the first commercial computer produced in the US.

Question 7

Released in 1971, what was the model number of the world's first commercially available single-chip microprocessor produced by Intel?

Accepted Answer

Intel 4004. The Intel 4004 was a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released in 1971, recognized as the first commercially produced microprocessor on a single chip.

Question 8

In 1968, Douglas Engelbart presented a 90-minute live demonstration introducing the computer mouse, hypertext, and graphical interfaces. What is this presentation commonly called?

Accepted Answer

The Mother of All Demos. Douglas Engelbart's 1968 presentation at the Fall Joint Computer Conference demonstrated groundbreaking computing concepts and is widely known as 'The Mother of All Demos.'

Question 9

In what year did ARPANET, the precursor to the modern Internet, transmit its first message between UCLA and Stanford University?

Accepted Answer

1969. The first ARPANET message (the letters 'LO' of 'LOGIN') was sent between computer nodes at UCLA and SRI on October 29, 1969.

Question 10

Which computer scientist led the IBM team that developed FORTRAN, one of the earliest high-level programming languages, in the 1950s?

Accepted Answer

John Backus. John Backus led the team at IBM that developed FORTRAN (Formula Translation) between 1954 and 1957, vastly reducing the effort needed to program computers.

Question 11

What was the nickname of the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), which successfully ran the world's first stored program in June 1948?

Accepted Answer

Manchester Baby. The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, built at the University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Tootill, was affectionately known as 'Baby'.

History of computers