From beads to your pocket — meet the machine that changed everything!

People used the abacus — beads on rods — to count and add numbers. It was the very first counting tool humans ever made.

Charles Babbage designed a huge steam-powered machine called the Analytical Engine that could do calculations automatically. He never finished building it, but his idea was the beginning of the computer.

Ada Lovelace wrote the very first ideas for a computer program. That is why she is called the world's first programmer.

ENIAC was the first general electronic computer and it was as big as an entire room, weighing about 30 tons! It could solve maths problems much faster than any human.

Scientists at Bell Labs invented the transistor — a tiny switch that controls electricity. This little invention let computers become much smaller and much faster.

For the first time, an entire computer brain was placed on one tiny chip called a microprocessor. This made personal computers possible for everyday people.

The Apple-1 was one of the first computers made for people to use at home. It showed that computers were not just for scientists and big companies.

Microsoft launched Windows, which let people use computers by clicking on pictures and boxes with a mouse. Computers became much easier and friendlier for everyone.

Apple released the iPhone, which put a powerful computer right in your pocket. Suddenly you could browse the internet, take photos, and run apps from anywhere.

Today we can use huge, powerful computers over the internet without owning them — this is called cloud computing. Your photos, videos, and school work can be saved in the cloud so you can reach them from any device.