Joseph-Marie Jacquard
Joseph-Marie Jacquard was born 1752 in a silk weavers family. His father was a master silk weaver, and he himself worked in a weaver's shop as a child. Starting around 1775, the French began to support those who created innovative inventions for a variety of areas. With the encouragement, many people started to work on new inventions, and Jacquard was one of those people. Due to his upbringing, it's not much of a surprise that the innovations he focused on inventing were meant for weaving.
During 1801, Jacquard presented one of his first looms to a crowd after his last demonstration of the invention went off successfully. The weavers in the crowd, however, felt threatened by the new loom and rioted, destroying Jacquard's loom and injuring Jacquard himself.
Around 1803, Jacquard perfected his invention, which was an attachment to that fit many different looms instead of an entire loom itself. This attachment is what allowed looms to create intricate patterns punched cards that Jacquard became so famous for. The looms that used this attachment became known as the Jacquard loom, even if it was only the attachment that he himself made.
How does this relate to computers? Simple, for the Jacquard loom showed the incredible potential of programmable computers using punched cards. In 1834, Charles Babbage was greatly impressed by the high quality images created, and soon began the concept of his Analytical Engine. While the Analytical Engine ultimately remained just a concept, it was the first design that contained many of the concepts for a programmable digital computer.
During 1801, Jacquard presented one of his first looms to a crowd after his last demonstration of the invention went off successfully. The weavers in the crowd, however, felt threatened by the new loom and rioted, destroying Jacquard's loom and injuring Jacquard himself.
Around 1803, Jacquard perfected his invention, which was an attachment to that fit many different looms instead of an entire loom itself. This attachment is what allowed looms to create intricate patterns punched cards that Jacquard became so famous for. The looms that used this attachment became known as the Jacquard loom, even if it was only the attachment that he himself made.
How does this relate to computers? Simple, for the Jacquard loom showed the incredible potential of programmable computers using punched cards. In 1834, Charles Babbage was greatly impressed by the high quality images created, and soon began the concept of his Analytical Engine. While the Analytical Engine ultimately remained just a concept, it was the first design that contained many of the concepts for a programmable digital computer.