----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerard McGovern" <stuff@inkiboo.com>
To: <steve@seasoned-software.com>; "'JB'" <info@bwp.net>
Cc: <discuss-list@opensrs.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 2:57 AM
Subject: RE: VAT stuff
> As for the computer, what do you define as a computer? Charles Babbage
could
> be credited with inventing the first computer. The computer you refer to
was
> made at Bletchley Heath in England and helped crack the codes produced by
> the German Enigma machine. Without a shadow of a doubt it shortened the
> length f the war by three years. It predates the first American computer
by
> a few years and was not destroyed. From memory one exists at the Science
> Museum in London.
"Many encyclopedias and other reference works state that the first
large-scale automatic digital computer was the Harvard Mark 1, which was
developed by Howard H. Aiken (and team) in America between 1939 and 1944.
However, in the aftermath of World War II it was discovered that a program
controlled computer called the Z3 had been completed in Germany in 1941,
which means that the Z3 pre-dated the Harvard Mark I."
http://www.epemag.com/zuse/
"The exhibition provides for the first time an overview of the life,
inventions, and the artistic work of Konrad Zuse, who today enjoys worldwide
recognition as the inventor of the first computers."
http://www.dtmb.de/Aktuelles/Sonderausstellungen/Zuse_Ausstellung/body_en.ht
ml
>> Next they'll be telling us they invented the motor car.
"A lot of people agree that the inventor of the car was Karl Benz. Karl Benz
was an engineer and inventor who lived in Germany during the late 1800's and
early 1900's. On January 29, 1886 Karl Benz patented the first car. On July
3, 1886 it was first demonstrated for the public in Mannheim, Germany....
A few years later in 1876 another man named Nikolous Augustus Otto invented
a better kind of internal combustion engine in Germany. This kind of engine
is very similar in principle to what is used in most cars today.
After the invention of the Internal Combustion Engine it was easier to make
a car that was small enough and reliable enough to be practicle. Just like
with the steam cars, a lot of people were trying to come up with an internal
cumbustion engine car at the same time. The two most important people were
Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. Both of these men patented a car in Germany
in 1886 but Karl Benz patented his first so most people say he invented the
car.
A few years later, Karl Benz's company and Gottlieb Daimler's company merged
and became Daimler-Benz. This is the company that makes the Mercedes-Benz
brand of cars. The name Mercedes came from a man who raced and sold
Daimler-Benz cars. The man's name was Emil Jellinek. He had a daughter named
Mercedes and he decided to name the cars he sold after her. The name became
famous and the Daimler-Benz company has continued to use it until today."
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/dec96/844045821.Eg.r.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Tue Oct 19 2004 - 23:37:45 EDT