First Programmable machine computer

In 1837, Charles Babbage was the initialyt to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer that he called "The Analytical Engine". Due to small finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with the design, Babbage never actually built his Analytical Engine.

Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed for the U.S. Census in 1890 by tabulate machines designed by Herman Hollerith and created by the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation, which later became IBM. By the end of the 19th century a number of technologies that would later prove useful in the realization of user computers had begun to appear: the punched card, Boolean algebra, the vacuum tube (thermionic valve) and the teleprinter.

During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical representation of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these were not programmable and usually lacked the versatility and accuracy of modern digital computers.