International Business Machines Corporation

IBM had its roots in the merger of three 19th century businesses: the Tabulating Machine Company, the International Time Recording Company, and the Computing Scale Company of America. In June 1911, Charles R. Flint arranged the merger of the International Time Recording Company, Computing Scale Company, and Tabulating Machine Company to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). The new organization was based in New York City and has 1,300 employees.

In 1914, Thomas J. Watson, Sr. joined CTR as general manager. The following year, he became president of the company. He began to develop the company into an international powerhouse. In 1915, Watson introduced the "THINK" motivational signs and logo. In 1917, the Canadian division of the firm took on the name International Business Machines Ltd. In 1924, the entire company name was changed from CTR to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).


Some landmarks include:

1920--CTR introduces the first printing tabulator in 1920.

1923--The first electric key punch was introduced.

1928--IBM introduces the 80-column punch card, which becomes the industry standard and known as the IBM card.

1933--IBM opens its Schoolhouse and Engineering Lab in Endicott, NY.

1934–405 Accounting Machine introduced. Piecework eliminated for IBM workforce, which becomes salaried.

1935–Electromatic Typewriter becomes first commercially successful electric typewriter. IBM makes typewriters until 1990.

1936–IBM installs punched-card system for use by the Social Security Administration.

1938–"World Peace through World Trade" vision of the company.

1942–Launches training for people with disabilities in Topeka, Kansas, followed a year later in New York City.

1943–IBM develops the Vacuum Tube Multiplier, which substitutes vacuum tubes for electric relays and becomes the first machine to perform arithmetic electronically.

1944–Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASSC) completed and installed at Harvard University. Known as the Mark I., it is the first computing device capable of executing long computations automatically.

1945–Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory set up at Columbia University.

1946–603 Electronic Multiplier is a small commercial product that uses vacuum tubes to perform multiplication more rapidly than the electromechanical method of the Mark I.

1948–Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (SSEC) is introduced. It has 12,000 vacuum tubes and 21,000 electromechanical relays for use in large-scale digital computing. It is the first computer capable of altering a stored program.

1952–Magnetic Tape Drive Vacuum Column prevents the breakage of tape caused by sudden starts and stops. Magnet tape becomes a popular storage medium as a result.

1952–New IBM logo introducted.

1953–IBM introduces the 650 Magnetic Drum Calculator, a medium-sized electronic computer. It becomes the most popular computer sold in the 1950s, with 2000 units sold in ten years.

1956–Arthur L. Samuel in IBM's Poughkeepsie, NY laboratory, creates the first "self-learning" program when he programs an IBM 704 to play checkers.

1956–IBM introduces its Random Access Method of Accounting and Control (RAMAC) machines. the 305 and 650 RAMAC machines use a magnetic hard disk for data storage. The 305 RAMAC stored about 5 megabytes of data on 50 disks, each 2-feet in diameter.

1957–IBM develops the FORTRAN programming language under the leadership of John W. Backus. FORTRAN becomes the industry standard.

1959–1401 Data Processing System offers high-speed, high-volume printing.

1960–Introduces the Stretch Computing System.

1961–IBM introduces the famed Selectric Typewriter with the golf-ball typing element.

1961--The Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY opens.

1960s–IBM funds Mathematica, the museum exhibition by designers Charles and Ray Eames.

1964–IBM introduces the System/360, which features the microelectronic circuits of IBM's Solid Logic Technology (SLT) and a family of compatible computers.

1964–The firm moves its corporate headquarters to Armonk, NY.

1965–IBM computers are used for guidance of the NASA Gemini flights. In 1969, IBM computers help to land men on the moon.

1966–IBM researcher Robert H. Dennard invents Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) cells, one-transistor devices that store a single bit of information as an electrical charge in an electronic circuit. The result is greater memory density.

1968–Laser optical memory is developed by IBM.

1969–Researchers develop speech-recognition technology.

1970–Edgar F. Codd of IBM develops the relational database.

1971–IBM introduces the floppy-disk magnetic storage system.

1974–IBM contracts with NASA to develop a telemetry online processing system (TELOPS).

1975–The 5100 Portable Computer, a 50-pound desktop machine, puts computers in the hands of many. It can also serve as a terminal for the IBM System/370 and costs up to $20,000.

1975–IBM scientist Benoit Mandelbrot develops fractal geometry.

1979–IBM introduces the supermarket checkout devices that read Universal Product Code (UPC) stripes on merchandise by means of holographic scanning.

1980–IBM introduces the 3380 Direct Access Storage Device and the Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) architecture.

1981–The IBM Personal Computer (PC) puts computing on the desks of scientists, engineers, and business users.

1986–IBM Fellows Gerd K. Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer win the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on scanning tunneling microscopy.