The term “algorithm” comes from the name of Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, who lived in the 9th century. His works on arithmetic and algebra were translated into Latin in the Middle Ages and helped lay the foundations for modern computational thinking.
The first webpage ever created is still online at CERN. It was launched by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991 and simply explained what the World Wide Web was and how to use it. The site marked the birth of the modern internet as we know it.
JavaScript was created in just 10 days in 1995 by Brendan Eich at Netscape. Despite its rushed origin, it became one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. It was originally called Mocha, then LiveScript, before being renamed to JavaScript (as a marketing ploy unrelated to Java).
Alan Turing’s “Universal Machine” (1936) laid the theoretical foundation for all modern computers. It was a conceptual device that could simulate any algorithmic process, and is essentially what today’s programmable computers are. Turing’s work is considered the birth of theoretical computer science.
Grace Hopper invented the first compiler in 1952, a program that translates human-readable code into machine code. Before this, programming was done using binary or assembly language, which was extremely tedious and error-prone. Her work directly influenced the development of COBOL, one of the earliest high-level programming languages.
The Fibonacci sequence appears in nature frequently—in the arrangement of leaves, pinecones, and flower petals. The ratio between successive Fibonacci numbers approximates the golden ratio.
Fiber optic cables transmit data using light, not electricity. Inside, light bounces off the inner walls through total internal reflection, allowing incredibly fast and long-distance communication with minimal loss.
The James Webb Space Telescope's mirrors are coated in gold because gold reflects infrared light extremely well. Each mirror segment is covered with just 100 nanometers of gold—thinner than a human hair.
Did you know the reason LED lights are so energy-efficient is that they convert over 90% of their energy into light, whereas traditional incandescent bulbs waste most energy as heat?
Did you know the human eye can distinguish around 10 million different colors, but our brains interpret color relatively rather than absolutely? This is why optical illusions can trick our perception of color.
Did you know trees can communicate with each other through underground networks of fungi? This "Wood Wide Web" helps trees share nutrients and send warning signals about pests or drought conditions.
The first computer mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1964. It was made of wood and had two perpendicular wheels for tracking movement, a far cry from today's optical mice.
The World Wide Web was created in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee. It was initially designed to allow researchers to share documents via hyperlinks. The first website, info. cern. ch, is still online.
Machine learning as a concept dates back to 1959 when Arthur Samuel defined it as the ability for computers to learn without being explicitly programmed. Early implementations were in games like checkers.
Linux, the open-source operating system created by Linus Torvalds in 1991, powers over 90% of the world’s supercomputers, as well as most smartphones (via Android).