I can't believe you've missing the Apraphulians. The Apraphulians devised
the earliest known digital computational device. IIRC, their civilization
flourished and died in South America before the arrival of Columbus. It
reached such heights of complexity that the ruling priesthood required
automated computational machines to assist them in overseeing the empire.

Early excavation of Apraphulian sites uncovered acres-wide systems of ropes,
pulleys, and springs. Careful examination revealed that these were
configured to act as AND gates and OR gates. Power for the rope system was
provided apparently provided by elephants or mammoths, judging by bones were
found on the site.

If you're interested, you can read more about the Apraphulians in Scientific
American, April 1987. Or maybe April 1988. I forget which.

Joel Franklin
Network Analyst
P.S. I get it.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Densmore [mailto:DensmoreB@ctbsonline.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2001 9:25 AM
To: Jonathan Hutchins; KCLUG (E-mail)
Subject: RE: Qbasic ?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brian Densmore [mailto:DensmoreB@ctbsonline.com]
> 
> > Sorry, still wrong. The dark ages go back to Mr. Babbage 
> > (made first mechanical computer) and his lady Ada (wrote 
> > the first program) in the 1800's. 
> 
> Ahem.  Hollerith?  Jaquard?
> 

Blaise Pascal         - 1649 - creates first mechanical calculator
Joseph-Marie Jacquard - 1804 - punched cards
Charles Babbage       - 1822 - differential engine (finished in 1834)
Charles Babbage       - 1834 - analytical engine (not completely built
until 1999, designed to use Jacquard cards to operate)
Augusta Ada Byron     - 1843 - program for analytical engine to compute
Bernoulli's numbers
Herman Hollerith      - 1884 - tabulating machine (aka computer)

 Babbage's computer did work as originally designed, when it was finally
finished in 1822. Nobody really doubted it would, so he wins the prize
in my book. Sorry punched cards don't make a computer, and if we include
that as a program then the real originator of programs I will give
Jacquard the prize for first program. Learn something new every day!
Jacquard created a method of controlling devices, like player pianos or
cloth looms, kind of like sending commands to an RS232 port. But Ada
wrote the first "computer program" to derive an answer from something.
Hollerith is just a guy who applied Babbage's knowledge to build
something, sorry no star.

Thanks for the knowledge, I didn't remember Jacquard.

Brian