Tech History Made on December 26, 1791

Thanks tochee@hawaii.edu for the video

Many brilliant inventors never lived to see their inventions completed. Charles Babbage, who was born on this day in 1791, was no exception. He was the first to attempt to construct a programmable computer. He was never able to complete the machine, but his uncompleted works are displayed at the London Science Museum. In 1991 his plans were used to construct a perfectly functioning difference engine (seen in the video above.) In 2000 the printer he had designed for the difference machine was constructed with success. The printer is considered a highly complex machine concept for the 19th century. It makes you wonder what Babbage would have accomplished had he lived in our day.