Family and Friends 6 (Reading 6)

COMPUTERS - FUN FACTS

Who invented the computer?

In 1833, a British inventor, Charles Babbage made plans for a mathematical machine. It was the beginning of the first computer. Babbage spent 37 years trying to build his machine, but there were many complications and he died before he finished it. The first computer was finally created in 1946. It was called The Small-Scale Experimental Machine.

How big was the first computer?

The first computer was huge. It filled a large room and weighed over 30,000 kilos. That's the same as six adult male elephants!

Luckily, as technology has grown, computers have got smaller. Today, you can even buy a computer that's the size of a small mobile phone.

Why is a mouse called a mouse?

The first computer mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in around 1964. It was a little wooden box on wheels that

could move an on-screen cursor. It was called a mouse because the wire that connected it to the computer looked like a tail. Luckily, a computer mouse is much smaller now and is usually made of plastic. However, it still looks like the first mouse that was made.

When did the World Wide Web begin?

The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau in 1990. It was immediately successful and in four years, 50 million people were using it! Today, billions of email messages are sent across the world every day. It is difficult to imagine life without it as the World Wide Web has changed the world!

How many computers are there in the world today?

In the early 1940s, the president of the computer company IBM said, "I think there is a world market for about five computers." However, today there are more than a billion computers in the world! Computers became much more important in the world than anyone ever expected!