What Is the Smallest Planet In the Solar System?

The smallest planet in the solar system is the planet Mercury. Also the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is about 20 times smaller than Earth and orbits the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. Although bright, Mercury is not easily seen from Earth as it is normally lost in the glare of the Sun. The first spacecraft to visit the planet was Mariner 10 in 1974. Mercury has no moon, no atmosphere and its surface looks very similar to our moon...

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Who Invented Chocolate and Where Does Chocolate Come From?

Chocolate comes from the cacao tree which has been cultivated since 1100 BC in Mexico, Central and South America. We now know that the Aztecs made chocolate beverages called xocolātl, which means “bitter water” in Nahuatl. Chocolate was used in Maya and Aztec royal and religious rituals, and the oldest known cultivation of cacao was discovered at a site in Puerto Escondido, Honduras. Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout the Aztec...

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Who Invented the Computer Device Called a Mouse and When?

The mouse is a great piece of technology many of us use everyday, and was destined for cuteness, not boring drivel. It was invented in the late 1960s by Douglas Engelbart, and was called the “XY Position Indicator for a Display System.” It was a catchy name, but early users quickly came up with a nickname of their own: “turtle.” The animal motif continued with the more accurate description, “rodent,” that followed. With its long hairless...

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Who Invented the First Computer Mouse and How Did It Get Its Name?

The first computer mouse was given its name by the device’s inventor, Douglas Engelbart. Because, for some reason, the “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System” just didn’t catch on. The first users hated the clumsiness of the name and quickly dubbed them “turtles,” which eventually became “rodent,” which morphed into the cuter-sounding “mouse.” This name was just right for the shape and size of the X-Y Position Indicator, and it stuck. These days, mice are sophisticated devices that have many buttons. Some are cordless, and more recently,...

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Why is a Computer Problem Called a “Bug” And Where Did the Term Originate?

Grace Hopper led the team that developed the first large-scale computer for the American Navy in 1945. After troubleshooting an unexplained problem for days, they finally found the cause to be a two-inch bug, a moth, that had gotten stuck in the relay system. And that’s how the term bug was coined. From then on, all unexplained computer problems were called bu...

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Which Is Smarter Your Brain or a Computer?

A computer is a complicated electronic or mechanical machine invented by man to solve difficult problems. But a computer can only carry out instructions that the human brain gives it. The computer has no ability to think or reason for itself. However, it could take a man a lifetime to solve some of the problems that a computer can solve in only minutes. So, even though the human brain is more complicated and efficient than any computer, the computer is fast...

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What Was Considered a Computer Before the Electronic Age and How Much Did It Cost?

The word computer first appeared in the seventeenth century as the job title of a person who did calculations as an occupation. Most human computers weren’t paid very much, just like the Information Technology workers of today, even though their job descriptions are slightly different. Although slide rules were sometimes called computers, it wasn’t until the 1940s, with the development of massive electronic data machines, that the human occupation...

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How Was the Computer Invented and When?

Imagine the world without computers. You’d have no internet to help you with your homework, and just think of all that post, photocopying and filing. The first computer was invented in 1834, long before TV, telephones and even electricity. The inventor, Charles Babbage, called his computer the Difference Engine. It was essentially a calculator and since there was no electricity, it was mechanical. And very complicated. In fact he never quite managed to finish it. Babbage spent a further 37 years designing the Analytical Engine, a pre-cursor...

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Who Invented the First Computer?

The answer to this question depends of your definition of a computer. The first known counting devices or tools were Tally Sticks from about 35,000 BC. The Abacus was then invented by the Babylonians in 2400 BC. In 1837, Charles Babbage, a British professor of mathematics described his idea for the Analytical Engine, the first stored-program mechanical computer. The Analytical Engine was designed to be powered by a steam engine and was to...

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