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Happy 60th Birthday IBM Research

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the everybody-likes-fractals dept.

HockeyPuck writes "On Tuesday, IBM Research celebrated it's 60th Birthday "IBM inventions and discoveries include the programming language Fortran (1957), magnetic storage (1955), the relational database (1970), DRAM (dynamic random access memory) cells (1962), the RISC (reduced instruction set computer) chip architecture (1980), fractals (1967), superconductivity (1987) and the Data Encryption Standard (1974). In the last 12 years, IBM has received 29,021 patents--more than any other company or individual in the world.""

2 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Another 60th birthday by CaptainZapp · · Score: 5, Informative
    Another birthday child deserves mentioning for its 60th birthday:

    LSD was invented 60 years ago by Professor Albert Hofman, who will celebrate his 100th birthday come January.

    --
    ich bin der musikant

    mit taschenrechner in der hand

    kraftwerk

  2. Re:also interesting to note by Temkin · · Score: 5, Informative

    is their contribution to the Nazi party by selling them computers which, unless I'm mistaken



    You're mistaken. Computers were not invented until the waning days of WW2, and IBM didn't build the 701 until 1952, and the 702 in 1953. IBM's German sub-corp did sell them tabulating equipment in the 1930's, which was used at concentration camps. This arm of IBM was nationalized by the Nazi's in 1941, and IBM HQ lost control of it. Concentration camps were not illegal in time of war, the fact that they were actually extermination camps only came out later. Trying to hold IBM responsible smacks of revisionism.

    IBM has a number of firsts in human rights, including:

    The first corperation to support the United Negro College Fund in 1944.

    and

    The first US corperation to mandate equal opportunity employment in 1953.