- The First Computer Bug Was a Real Bug! In 1947, computer scientist Grace Hopper and her team found a moth stuck in a relay of the Harvard Mark II computer, causing it to malfunction. They called it a “bug,” and that’s how the term was born. So yes, the first computer bug was an actual insect!
- QWERTY Layout Wasn’t Designed for Speed – The QWERTY keyboard layout was developed to slow down typists and prevent mechanical typewriters from jamming. So, if you’ve ever felt like typing could be faster, it’s because your keyboard was literally designed to slow you down.
- Over 90% of the World’s Currency is Digital – That’s right! Most of the money in the world exists only on computers. So, next time you hear someone say they’re broke, maybe their computer is just low on digital cash.
- Email Pre-dates the Internet – The first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson to himself in 1971, before the Internet as we know it even existed. It said something like “QWERTYUIOP”—purely because he was testing the system.
- CAPTCHA Tests Were Initially Developed to Keep Spam Bots at Bay – CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.” So, every time you solve one, you’re helping keep the internet just a little bit more human.
- The First 1GB Hard Drive Was the Size of a Refrigerator – In 1980, IBM introduced the first gigabyte hard disk drive. It was the size of a refrigerator, weighed over 500 pounds, and cost $40,000. Now, you can fit thousands of gigabytes in your pocket.
- The Origin of the Term “Computer” – Before computers as we know them today, a “computer” was a job title for people, often women, who performed mathematical calculations by hand. So, if you’ve ever felt like your math homework is turning you into a human calculator, you weren’t far off.
By Ms Bhuvaneswari. L
Computer science teacher (high school), CKPS
