The First Mouse

The first computer mouse was developed by Doug Englebart in 1963 at Stanford Research Institute. He had been creating the oN-Line System, or NLS, a hardware and software system that incorporated many of the concepts of today’s modern computers. Using two gear wheels at perpindicular positions, it allowed movement of the mouse on the X and Y planes of axis. Each wheel’s rotation was translated to motion on the plane. Englebart patented the “X-Y Position Indicator For A Display System” in Nov., 1970. Later Bill English devised a variation of the mouse at Xerox which used a single round ball that could move in any direction. An inverted trackball, it became the dominant form of computer mouse in the 80s and 90s. Even later the advent of the optical mouse further evolved the device again.