1890 HERMAN HOLLERITH

1890 HERMAN HOLLERITH DESIGNS A SYSTEM TO RECORD CENSUS DATA. THE INFORMATION IS STORED AS HOLES IN CARDS, WHICH ARE INTERPRETED BY MACHINES WITH ELECTRICAL SENSORS. HOLLERITH STARTS A COMPANY THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME IBM.

Herman Hollerith, an employee of the census bureau with a Ph.D. in statistics, was granted a contract to develop an automated system. Using Jacquard's ideas, he invented a model that coded the census data as a series of holes punched in an eight-column card. The code was called Hollerith code and is still in use today. The electronic tabulating machines designed by Hollerith were able to read the information on the cards and process it electronically. The machines consisted of three parts: a tabulator, a sorter with compartments electronically controlled by the tabulator's counters, and a device to punch data onto cards. Hollerith's tabulating machines were the forerunners of today's data processing industry.

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