This Day in Tech

1815: English mathematician George Boole, who would help establish what is now known as Boolean logic, is born. Boole’s breakthrough was the insight that logic, which had previously been considered a branch of philosophy, was actually closer to mathematics. All you needed to do was express logical p

1954: IBM builds the first calculating machine to use solid-state transistors instead of vacuum tubes. IBM already had a business selling calculating machines, and it was humming along quite nicely. The IBM 604 Electronic Calculating Punch, which IBM introduced in 1948, was a desk-sized cabinet that