IBM, short for International Business Machines, traces its origins to the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, formed in 1911 by the merger of several firms that made punch-card tabulating machines, time clocks and commercial scales. Thomas J. Watson took over management in 1914 and built the company into a leader in business machines, renaming it International Business Machines in 1924. In the following decades IBM became the dominant maker of mainframe computers, with its System/360 family in the 1960s, and it launched its personal computer in 1981. Its researchers have won several Nobel Prizes, and its Deep Blue computer defeated the chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. Over time the company has shifted toward software, cloud services and consulting.
Before and after
- 30 March 1911Founding of Tsinghua University
- 18 May 1911Death of Gustav Mahler
- 4 June 1911Construction of Altare della Patria
- 13 June 1911Birth of Luis Walter Alvarez
- 16 June 1911Founding of IBM
- 30 June 1911Birth of Czesław Miłosz
- 5 July 1911Birth of Georges Pompidou
- 16 July 1911Birth of Ginger Rogers
- 24 July 1911Hiram Bingham reaches Machu Picchu
More in Society, economy & sport
- 1823Origins of rugby union
- 26 October 1863The Football Association is founded in London
- 4 June 1880Introduction of Bulgarian lev
- 1903Origins of Major League Baseball
- 1907Rise of scouting
- 23 December 1913Founding of Federal Reserve System
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.