Chronology of Events - Pre-1700

The following is a chronological listing of significant events in the development of the field of Information Technology prior to 1800 (many of the dates are only approximate):

300 B.C. &mdash; The oldest surviving counting board is the Salamis tablet used by the Babylonians.

300 B.C. &mdash; 	Euclid releases Euclid's Elements &mdash; 13 books that summarize all mathematical knowledge of the Greeks to date.

200 B.C. &mdash; The Chinese develop the "modern" abacus.

250 &mdash; The Maya develop a base-20 system of mathematics and introduce the concept of zero.

1440 &mdash; Johannes Gutenberg completes development of the first printing press.

1492 &mdash; Leonardo da Vinci makes drawing of 13-digit cog-wheeled adder.

1500 &mdash; Leonardo da Vinci invents the first mechanical calculator.

1613 &mdash; The word "computer" is first used; it is used to describe a person who performs calculations or computations.

1617 &mdash; John Napier introduces a system called "Napiers Bones," which are made from horn, bone or ivory and can multiply by adding numbers and divide by subtracting numbers.

1621 &mdash; The circular slide rule is invented by William Oughtred.

1623 &mdash; The first known, workable mechanical calculating machine is invented by Wilhelm Schickard. it is based on the idea of Napier's Bones.

1632 &mdash; William Oughtred makes a device that resembles a modern slide rule.

1642 &mdash; Frances Blaise Pascal invents a machine, called the Pascaline, that can add, subtract, and carry numbers with up to eight digits.

1671 &mdash; Gottfried Leibniz introduces the Step Reckoner, a device that can multiply, divide, and evaluate square roots.

1679 &mdash; Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates binary arithmetic.