The Fascinating Realm of Software

Since the invention of the computer and the rise of the Internet, numerous intriguing facts have emerged that many developers—who engage with code and software development daily—might be unaware of. During my exploration of historical computing tidbits, I stumbled upon various enlightening and amusing insights. Below are 100 such facts:

1. Computers as Occupations: Initially, the term "computer" referred to a person rather than a machine, allowing individuals to apply for jobs as computers.
2. Women in Programming: In the early days of computing, programming was predominantly viewed as a female occupation. Notably, Ada Lovelace is recognized as the first programmer, along with Klára Dán von Neumann and the first six programmers of ENIAC, all of whom were women.
3. The Origin of "Bug": The term "bug" was popularized by Grace Hopper when a moth was discovered in a computer, causing a malfunction.
4. First Debugging Breakpoint: The concept of a "breakpoint" in debugging originated from physically pulling a wire out of a computer to view intermediate results, a term introduced by Elizabeth Hoberlton.
5. Understanding TAR: When archiving and compressing files, the command tar is employed. The name stands for Tape Archive, a nod to an older technology that is no longer in common use.
6. The Naming of the Mouse: The cursor on the screen was initially referred to as "CAT," leading to the name "mouse" because of the wire resembling a tail.
7. Plural of Mouse: When referring to multiple computer mice, the term "mouses" is used, diverging from the animal's plural form.
8. John von Neumann: Known as the Father of the Modern Computer, he also laid the groundwork for computer virology by creating the first self-replicating program.
9. Gmail's Launch: When Google introduced Gmail with 1GB of free storage on April 1, 2004, many assumed it was an April Fool’s joke, especially since Hotmail offered only 2MB at the time.
10. Steve Jobs' Unique Timeline: Steve Jobs departed from and returned to Apple on the same date, September 16, but twelve years apart.
11. Predictions by Guy Kawasaki: In 1994, Guy Kawasaki foresaw that Steve Jobs would sell NeXT back to Apple three years before it actually occurred.
12. Evolution of Technology: By the 2000s, the computing power of a cell phone was estimated to be a million times cheaper, a thousand times more powerful, and a hundred thousand times smaller than the computer at MIT in 1965.
13. Facebook's Domain History: The domain facebook.com was registered on March 29, 1997, long before the social media platform was established, and was initially owned by a different company.
14. Lawsuit Outcomes: Facebook successfully sued Manx for using face-book.com, despite Manx having registered it first.
15. Windows OS Name: The original name for the Windows operating system was "Interface Manager" back in 1981.
16. The Name "Google": A typo led to the registration of the domain google.com, which was meant to be googol, a term representing a large number.
17. Apple's Fruitful Name Choice: Steve Jobs chose the name "Apple" because he enjoyed the fruit, inspired by his fruitarian diet.
18. YouTube's Initial Concept: YouTube was originally intended as a dating site where users could upload videos about themselves.
19. Antivirus Origins: The first antivirus program, Reaper, was also a virus designed to eliminate the Creeper virus from networked systems.
20. Android's Initial Purpose: Although Android is now a well-known operating system, it was initially developed to be an OS for cameras.
21. Kotlin's Naming: Kotlin was named after Kotlin Island, mirroring Java's naming after the Indonesian island of Java.
22. Java's Coffee Connection: The programming language Java was named after coffee, not the island itself.
23. Ruby's Naming Journey: Before Java was officially named, Ruby was considered, with several other contenders like Oak and Greentalk.
24. AWK Command's Origin: The AWK command in Unix is named after its creators: Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan.
25. Haskell Brooks Curry: Three programming languages—Haskell, Brook, and Curry—are named after the mathematician Haskell Brooks Curry.
26. First Internet Message: The inaugural message sent over the internet was "lo" on October 29, 1969, which was intended to be "login."
27. BASIC Programming: In BASIC, each line of code requires a line number for organization and later modifications.
28. dBase's Pioneering Role: The first database software for microcomputers, dBase, was developed on PTDOS, predating both MSDOS and CP/M.
29. Dijkstra's Wisdom: Renowned computer scientist Dijkstra once remarked that a formula holds more value than a thousand pictures.
30. Dual CEO Twins: In Silicon Valley, identical twins George and Thomas Kurian have both served as CEOs for major tech companies—NetApp Cloud and Google Cloud, respectively.
31. Domain Disputes: Microsoft settled an out-of-court dispute with a student who registered the domain MikeRoweSoft.com.
32. NeXT Computer's Legacy: Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, used a NeXT computer to create the first web server.
33. "Surfing the Internet": The term was coined by a librarian, evoking the enjoyment and randomness of using the web.
34. CERFnet's Contribution: One of the first ISPs published a comic called "The Adventures of Captain Internet," potentially influencing the term "surfing the Internet."
35. Historical Demos: "The Mother of All Demos," held on December 9, 1968, forecasted future technologies such as the mouse and word processing.
36. Xerox's Innovations: The term WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menu, Pointer) for graphical user interfaces originated from Xerox PARC.
37. Legal Battles in Tech: Apple and Microsoft faced lawsuits from Xerox over user interface designs, with Xerox losing to Apple and Apple losing to Microsoft.
38. Xerox's Name Evolution: Originally named Haloid Photographic Company, it became Xerox due to its pioneering work in xerography.
39. Red Hat's Origin: The name of the Linux distribution Red Hat stems from a red hat that one of its founders wore in college.
40. Apple's Founding Trio: Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, who sold his share shortly after the company's establishment.
41. Apple's Iconic Logo: The bitten Apple logo was designed to avoid confusion with a tomato and to play on the word "byte."
42. The Original Apple Logo: Initially, Apple's logo featured Isaac Newton under an apple tree, designed by Ronald Wayne.
43. Apple's Pricing Choice: The first Apple computer was sold for $666.66, a figure chosen for its repeating digits rather than any satanic connotations.
44. Naming Strategy: Jobs chose the name "Apple" partly to secure a favorable position in phone books over Atari.
45. Macintosh's Genesis: The Macintosh was conceived by Jef Raskin in 1979, with Jobs later joining the project.
46. Steve Jobs' Technical Background: While Jobs was involved in design, he never actually coded for Apple.
47. Twitter Acquisition Stunt: Elon Musk's first day at Twitter included purchasing a kitchen sink, which he humorously shared on social media.
48. Understanding CAPTCHA: CAPTCHA is an acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart."
49. Longest Acronym: While many computing acronyms exist, BICARSA GLAPPR is the longest, encompassing various accounting applications.
50. Emoticons' Early Days: The first emoticon appeared in 1982, a full decade before the first SMS was sent.
51. December 28 Milestones: On December 28, 1969, Linus Torvalds, Neil Papworth, and John von Neumann were all born.
52. Naming Linux: Linus Torvalds did not name the operating system; it was named by Ari Lemmke without his input.
53. Git's Creation: Torvalds developed Git after criticism over using BitKeeper for Linux development, and the name reflects his mood at the time.
54. Google's Name Origin: The name "Google" was suggested by a Stanford student, Sean Anderson, not the company's founders.
55. First Smartphone: The first smartphone, IBM's Simon Personal Communicator, predates the term itself, released in 1994.
56. Android's Original Focus: Originally intended for cameras, Android later evolved into a full-fledged smartphone operating system.
57. Scala Programming: The book "Hands-on Scala Programming" is authored by Haoyi Li, son of Singapore’s Prime Minister.
58. Tetris' Unique Name: The game Tetris is a combination of the word "tetromino" and the creator's love for tennis.
59. Spreadsheet Impact: Early computer sales were driven by spreadsheet programs like VisiCalc, which were essential for microcomputers.
60. Altair 8800: The first commercially successful computer, the Altair 8800, was sold as a kit that required assembly.
61. Personal Computer Origins: The first successful personal computer did not emerge from Silicon Valley but from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
62. Ed Roberts' Legacy: Known as the Father of the Personal Computer, Roberts later became a medical doctor at 45.
63. IBM's Deep Blue: IBM is colloquially known as Big Blue due to its logo color, which was also used for its chess-playing machine, Deep Blue.
64. WIFI's Historical Roots: The invention of frequency hopping by Hedy Lamarr laid the groundwork for modern WIFI technology.
65. CP/M's Legacy: The first operating system for personal computers was CP/M, predating DOS systems.
66. MS-DOS Naming: MS-DOS was humorously referred to as "Microsoft Dirty Operating System" before its official naming.
67. MySQL's Name: The "my" in MySQL honors the creator's daughter rather than being a possessive pronoun.
68. Java and MySQL's Launch: Both Java and MySQL were released on May 23, 1995, by different companies but are now owned by Oracle.
69. Microsoft Office's Origins: The initial release of Microsoft Office was for the Apple Macintosh in 1989, prior to its PC version.
70. Susan Kare's Design Journey: Susan Kare, the first graphic designer for Macintosh, had no formal experience in computer graphics when she began.
71. Ball Mouse Invention: The idea for the ball mouse came quickly; its inventor completed the patent in just over half an hour.
72. ASCII's Standardization: ASCII became a US federal standard in 1968, long before personal computers were popularized.
73. Adobe's Logo Creation: Marva Warnock, the wife of one of Adobe's founders, designed the company's iconic logo.
74. JavaScript's Rapid Development: Brendan Eich developed JavaScript in just 10 days, initially naming it Mocha before it became JavaScript.
75. BASIC's Origins: The microcomputer version of BASIC was co-developed by Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Monte Davidoff.
76. Epigram on Programming: Alan J Perlis published "Epigrams on Programming" in September 1982, becoming the first recipient of the Turing Award.
77. Turbo Pascal's Licensing: Turbo Pascal was introduced with a Book License, restricting simultaneous use in different locations.
78. "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.": Though often attributed to Steve Jobs, he merely quoted this phrase from the Whole Earth Catalog.
79. "As We May Think": This 1945 publication foresaw many digital advancements, including personal computers and the Internet.
80. The iPhone's Early Registration: Infogear registered the iPhone name in 1996, well before Apple's announcement of its iPhone.
81. Component Rivalry: Despite being competitors, Apple's iPhone utilizes components from Samsung, including display panels and memory chips.
82. Ternary Computers: The first modern electronic ternary computer, Setun, was developed in 1958, though binary computers eventually became dominant.
83. PHP's Recursive Acronym: PHP stands for "PHP: Hypertext Processor," a recursive acronym, originally meaning "Personal Home Page."
84. Sam Altman's Brief Tenure: Sam Altman briefly served as CEO of Reddit for just eight days, marking one of the shortest tenures in tech history.
85. Apple Lisa's Naming: The Apple Lisa was named after Jobs' daughter, though he initially claimed it stood for "Locally Integrated Software Architecture."
86. Queen Elizabeth II's Email: In 1976, Queen Elizabeth II became the first head of state to send an email via Arpanet.
87. Hotmail's Launch: Launched on July 4, 1996, Hotmail symbolized freedom from ISP-based email access.
88. Eudora's Literary Connection: Eudora email was named after author Eudora Welty, inspired by her short story "Why I Live at the P.O."
89. GIF's Original Purpose: Initially created to transmit image data, GIF was not designed for animation.
90. GIF's Pronunciation Debate: The creator of GIF, Steve Wilhite, pronounced it "jif," while others pronounce it as "gift."
91. PNG's Purpose: PNG was developed to replace GIF, with the name indicating "PNG Is Not GIF."
92. cURL's Naming: cURL stands for "Client and URL" but is also humorously referred to as "Curl URL Request Library."
93. GNU's Fun Origin: The name "GNU" is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix," and is also a playful word.
94. StackOverflow Humor: Two notable StackOverflow questions include "What is Your Best Programming Joke?" and "What's Your Favorite Programming Cartoon?"
95. Creepy Numeric Coincidence: The octal number 31 equates to decimal 25—an eerie coincidence!

I hope you find these intriguing facts as enjoyable as I did! Feel free to share your thoughts or additional facts in the comments. Cheers!