Time line from 1834 to 1984 in the invention and development of computer memory.
Years |
Inventors and Description of inventions |
| 1834 |
Charles Barbage begins to build his "Analytical Engine", precursor to the computer. It uses read-only memory in the form of punch cards.
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| 1932 |
Gustav Tauschek invents drum memory in Austria.
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| 1936 |
Konrad Zeus applies for a patent for his mechanical memory to be used in his computer. This computer memory is based on sliding metal parts.
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| 1939 |
Helmut Schreyer invents a prototype memory using neon lamps.
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| 1942 |
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer has 60 50-bit words of memory in the form of capacitors mounted on two revolving drums. For secondary memory it uses punch cards.
Frederick Viehe of Los Angeles applies for a patent for an invention that uses magnetic core memory. Magnetic drum memory is independently invented by several people.
- AnWang invented the magnetic pulse controlling device, the principle upon which magnetic core memory is based.
- Kenneth Olsen invented vital computer components, best known for "Magnetic Core Memory" Patent No. 3,161,861 and as being the cofounder of Digital Equipment Corporation.
- Jay Forrester was a pioneer in early digital computer development and invented random-access, coincident-current magnetic storage.
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| 1949 |
Jay Forrester conceives the idea of magnetic core memory as it is to become commonly used, with a grid of wires used to address the cores. The first practical form manifests in 1952-53 and renders obsolete previous types of computer memory.
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| 1950 |
Ferranti Ltd. completes the first commercial computer with 256 40-bit words of main memory and 16K words of drum memory. Only eight were sold.
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| 1952 |
The EDVAC computer is completed with 1024 44-bit words of ultrasonic memory. A core memory module is added to the ENIAC computer.
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| 1966 |
Hewlett-Packard releases their HP2116A real-time computer with 8K of memory. The newly formed Intel starts sell a semiconductor chip with 2,000 bits of memory.
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| 1968 |
Robert Dennard develops a one-transistor DRAM cell. DRAM stands for Dynamic RAM (Random Access Memory) or Dynamic Random Access Memory. DRAM will become the standard memory chip for personal computers replacing magnetic core memory.
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| 1969 |
Intel begins as chip designers and produce a 1 KB RAM chip, the largest memory chip to date. Intel soon switches design computer microprocessors.
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| 1970 |
Intel releases the 1103 chip, the first generally available DRAM memory chip.
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| 1971 |
Intel releases the 1101 chip, a 256-bit programmable memory, and the 1701 chip, a 256-byte erasable read-only memory (EROM).
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| 1975 |
Personal consumer computer Altair released, it uses Intel's 8-bit 8080 processor and includes 1 KB of memory. Later in the same year, Bob Marsh manufactures the first Processor Technology's 4 kB memory boards for the Altair.
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| 1984 |
Apple Computers releases the Macintosh personal computer. It is the first computer that came with 128KB of memory. The one-megabyte memory chip is developed.
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