Written by the mathematician Alan Turing and published in 1936, this paper demonstrates that there are problems to which no mechanically computable solution exists by detailing the design of a theoretical digital computer. German mathematician David Hilbert theorized in 1928 that all math problems could be solved and that a…
Born June 23rd, 1912 in London, England, Turing displayed a penchant for math at an early age. He attended Kings College, Cambridge, and Princeton, where he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics. He published “On Computable Numbers” in 1936, which established the theoretical foundations of digital, stored-program computing. During WWII he…
Designed by the Department of Communications of the British Foreign Office, the Colossus was an entirely electronic deciphering machine. Driven by a need to break the codes being used by the Germans, who had their own electromechanical machine called Enigma creating them, they were built in secrecy and the first…
George Stibitz created the Complex Number Calculator (CNC) at Bell Labs in 1937. Called the Model K, it was capable of calculating complex numbers using binary addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It was entirely relay-based and was based on Stibitz’s theory that the electromechanical relays of telephone switching systems could…
Introduced by the U.S. Government on June 19th, 1934, the federal Communications Act created laws governing the use of and regulation of interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio. It officially changed the Federal Radio Commission to the Federal Communications Commission and gave enforcement to the FCC…