1157-98: first mechanical clocks; significance: forerunner of mechanical devices.

1623-63: Pascal's adding machine invented by Blaise Pascal; significance: first real calculating device.

1646-1716: Leibnitz calculator invented by Gottfried von Leibnitz; significance: improved Pascal's design.

1752-1834: Jacquard's loom and punched card concept invented by Joseph Jacquard; significance: forerunner of the computer.

1837-1921: mechanical adding machine invented by William S. Burroughs; significance: could calculate, summarize, and record information.

1860-1929: Hollerith's code and census machine invented by Herman Hollerith; significance: developed a code which enabled special machines to record, interpret, and sort large amounts of information.

1937-38: ABC computer invented by John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry; significance: first electronic digital computer.

1944-45: Mark I and II invented by Howard H. Aiken; significance: enabled by electrical relays and mechanical counters to multiply two numbers together in three seconds.

1945: EDVAC invented by John von Neumann; significance: initiated the store program concept.

1946: ENIAC invented by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, Jr.; significance: could multiply in about .003 seconds.

1947: the transistor invented by John Bardeen, H. Walter Brattain, and William Shockley; significance: changed the electronics industry.

1949: EDSAC invented by Maurice Wilkes; significance: first computer to operate using stored program concept.

1951: UNIVAC invented by John W. Mauchly and J. Prespet Eckert, Jr.; significance: first computer to be used for business applications.

1952: assembly language programming invented by Grace Hopper; significance: allowed programmers to write programs using symbols or mnemonics.

1953: 650 invented by IBM; significance: opened the way for IBM in the computer market.

1954: TRADIC invented by Bell Laboratories; significance: first transistorized computer.

1957: FORTRAN invented by IBM; significance: first high-level language.

1958: 7090 and 7070 invented by IBM; significance: first all-transistorized machines.

1959: 1401 invented by IBM; significance: first all-transistorized business machines.

1959: COBOL invented by Grace Hopper; significance: high-level language that allowed programmers to write business programs that would run on any machine.

1959: the chip invented by Texas Instruments; significance: allowed several transistors to be placed on a single piece of silicon.

1964: System 360 invented by IBM; significance: first computer designed to use solid logic technology.

1964-65: BASIC invented by John Kemeny; significance: simple programming language that aids beginning programmers.

1964-65: time-sharing operating system invented by John Kemeny; significance: allowed more than one user at a time on one computer by sharing time slots.

1964: first successful minicomputer invented by Digital Equipment Corporation; significance: made it possible for small businesses to afford computers.

1971: Intel 4004; significance: first four-bit microcomputer chip.

1973: Intel 8080; significance: first eight-bit microprocessor.

1974: Motorola 6800; significance: first microprocessor to include peripheral chips.

1975: TRS-80; significance: first home computer to contain microprocessors.

1979: Motorola 68000; significance: first sixteen/thirty-two bit microprocessor.

1980: Radio Shack Color Computer; significance: low cost.

1981: IBM PC; significance: microcomputer market acknowledged by a major manufacturer.

1984: Apple Macintosh; significance: first popular use of icon-based interface; first popular computer to use 3.5-inch disk drive.

1984: Motorola MC68020; significance: first full thirty-two-bit microprocessors approaching the power of mainframe computers.

1985: Commodore Amiga; significance: first multi-tasking computer for less than $2000.

Tips (contains various software and hardware tips; it will always change so check often):

When looking for ICQ for Linux, I don't recommend the Java version ICQ lets Linux users download; try getting ICQ clone programs you see around the net.

ZDTV rates the TNT 2 Ultra video card as the best overall. I think you should heed their rating.

Linux (or any type of UNIX system) may be difficult to use to a beginner or a Windows user, but practice and some reference books are the key to learning to use it (I think).

A simple tip: if you're going to play games on your system or if you just like nicer graphic performance, you shouldn't get less than an 8 or 16 MB video card.

Whenever you replace a hard drive, be sure to check if your cooling fan can still cool the system; because if your hard drive starts running too fast, you system will overheat!

It's actually possible to install Linux on a Mac; go to thescreensavers.com's Linux Superguide for more info.

Uninstalling a program using its uninstallation program will still leave some fragments; you should use an uninstaller program such as Quarterdeck (now Norton) Cleansweep to do the job.

A simple tip: a three button mouse is a good mouse for functions especially when you want the middle to this or the right button to do this, so on so forth.

When buying printers, two of the best choices would be HP or Epson.

Game console emulators such as NO$GMB are a good thing to have on your computer; you can create more saved games than the actual game allows you too; you can do this by renaming the saved file(s) and then starting a new game and saving so the game will think that there is no saved file.