The Intel 4004 was a 4-bit central processing unit built on a single chip, and it is generally regarded as the first commercially available microprocessor. It was designed for the Japanese calculator maker Busicom by Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff and Stanley Mazor, with Masatoshi Shima of Busicom contributing to the logic design. The chip held about 2,300 transistors and ran at a clock speed of roughly 740 kilohertz. Intel obtained the right to sell it to other customers, and the date shown marks its public announcement in an advertisement. The 4004 led to the 8-bit 8008 and 8080 and, in time, to the processors that underpin personal computers.
Before and after
- from 27 October 1971 to 16 May 1997Zaire
- 3 November 1971Invention of chmod
- 12 November 1971Establishment of Arches National Park
- 14 November 1971Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet
- 15 November 1971Intel 4004
- from 3 December 1971 to 16 December 1971Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
- from 4 December 1971 to 5 December 1971Operation Trident
- from 8 December 1971 to 9 December 1971Operation Python
- 21 December 1971Founding of Médecins Sans Frontières
More in Science & technology
- 1945Discovery of promethium
- 1950Discovery of californium
- 18 February 1970Discovery of dubnium
- July 1974Discovery of seaborgium
- 1976Discovery of bohrium
- 29 August 1982Discovery of meitnerium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.