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A Decade-by-Decade Timeline of Computing
A readable computing timeline from the 1940s to today, with signposts for each decade: machines, languages, networks, personal computers, the web and mobile.
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Computing by Decade
A decade-by-decade tour of what computing looked like and what changed.
Computing in the 1940s
How World War II shaped computing in the 1940s, from codebreaking machines and electromechanical calculators to the first large electronic computers.
Computing in the 1950s
A look at computing in the 1950s, when machines moved from laboratories into businesses and the first high-level programming languages appeared.
Computing in the 1960s
Computing in the 1960s brought time-sharing, integrated circuits, early network research and the rise of large mainframes and smaller minicomputers.
Computing in the 1970s
Computing in the 1970s saw minicomputers spread, microprocessors arrive, hobbyists build kit computers and the first video games reach arcades and homes.
Computing in the 1980s
Computing in the 1980s brought home computers, the IBM PC standard and the first graphical interfaces, turning the computer into an everyday machine.
Computing in the 1990s
Computing in the 1990s was the decade of the spread of the web and email, CD-ROM multimedia, Windows 95 and the first big wave of internet companies.
Computing in the 2000s
Computing in the 2000s covered the spread of broadband, the rise of search and social sites, the dot-com aftermath and the first smartphones, including the iPhone.
Computing in the 2010s
Computing in the 2010s was shaped by mobile apps, cloud services and rapid progress in machine learning, along with growing concern over privacy and security.
Computing in the 2020s So Far
A cautious look at computing in the 2020s so far, including remote work, chip shortages and generative AI, and why recent events are still being sorted out.
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How Computers Work The core ideas inside a computer, explained through the history of how they developed. Preserving Computing History How old machines, software and data are saved, restored and kept readable. Myths and Misconceptions Popular stories about computing history, checked against what is known. Glossary and Word Origins Plain-language explanations of computing terms and where they come from.