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Related: Culture Forums, Support Forums15 Of The Rarest Photographs In History
One wonders what this gentleman is thinking as he gazes down upon the newly constructed Transcontinental Railroad in Nevada in 1868.
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first computer ever made. The 1946 machine was hailed as a Giant Brain with a speed of one thousand times that of electro-mechanical machines. ENIAC used common octal-base radio tubes and it her early use would burn a few of these out every day causing the machine to be inoperable much of the time. After a memory upgrade in 1947 ENIAC was moved to Maryland where it was in continuous operation until 1955. Philadelphia City proclaimed February fifteenth 2011 as, ENIAC Day to celebrate this famous machines sixty-fifth anniversary.
After the German defeat in Berlin, this was one of the first photographs taken of the dictators hidey hole, Führerbunker. It is reported that in the months that Hitler lived underground he was almost pathologically afraid to go outside. The man became thin and emaciated and some of the final military decisions made by him were catastrophic disasters for Germany. His proclamations and orders were contradictory and confusing for his commanders in the field. Hitler had the bunker constructed to withstand the wholesale bombing of Berlin by the allies. It had thirteen feet of concrete in the roof alone.
This 1899 photograph shows the last Russian Tsar horsing around with a friend. In 1917 he and his entire family were butchered by the Bolsheviks. His full inherited title was, Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland, and titular King of Poland. Shortened it was officially, Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. During his reign Russia experienced many defeats, most notably against Japan, and much civil turmoil causing economic and military collapse. The alleged incompetent handling of Russias involvement in the Great War by the Tsar, which cost the lives of more than three million Imperial Soldiers, is believed to be one of the main causes of the fall of the Romanov dynasty.
This rare picture depicts New Yorks Times Square in 1911.
Quoted as being, The only surviving authenticated portrait of Billy the Kid. This tintype portrait sold at auction in June 2011 for USD $2,300,000.
more at link:
http://www.wizzed.com/?s=15+rarest+photographs
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)That Times Square shot is gorgeous!
surrealAmerican
(11,360 posts)... although I have a hard time believing that there wouldn't be numerous other photos of Times Square by that time. By 1911 photography was pretty widespread.
Triana
(22,666 posts)They weren't recognized for their work until some 50-60 years later, when some of them were dead. I think they're all gone now except perhaps one.
All that time, males were given credit for having built the computer and photos showed the women in the picture - however they were said to be just 'models'. They were not. They were the women who programmed the thing to calculate missile trajectories -- programming without which the damned thing would have just been a roomful of useless metal.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)It's time to start correcting the public record.
If we're going to be seen as human, we better PUT THE INFO out there: Women's Accomplishments.
AllyCat
(16,174 posts)AllyCat
(16,174 posts)Triana
(22,666 posts)...
http://fortune.com/2014/09/18/walter-isaacson-the-women-of-eniac/
http://eniacprogrammers.org/
These women were the first 'computers' of our digital age.
bvf
(6,604 posts)Last edited Thu Apr 2, 2015, 02:12 PM - Edit history (1)
Don't rightly know if she was involved with ENIAC, but she was primarily responsible for a little thing called COBOL, IIRC.
tclambert
(11,085 posts)She programmed the Harvard Mark I in 1944, two years before ENIAC was announced. ENIAC was first in being completely electronic, and "Turing complete." The Mark I was electro-mechanical and not quite Turing complete. As far as I can find out, Hopper never worked on the ENIAC. She was later brought in to program the UNIVAC I, a successor to ENIAC, but somehow appears to have missed ENIAC.
She was called "the grandmother of COBOL." Business interests at the time tried to come up with their own programming languages, but couldn't create a standardized universal one. They asked the Department of Defense to step in, and seeing the advantage for their own computer use as well as business, the DoD agreed to sponsor an effort largely based on previous work on compilers done by Hopper. And she sat on the original CODASYL (Conference on Data Systems Languages) committee that designed COBOL.
bvf
(6,604 posts)on memory there, which I admit isn't what it used to be!
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)thanks for posting
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Thanks for posting
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)A lot of sadness there, too...
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Thanks for posting!
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)Thanks TA.
Joe Chi Minh
(15,229 posts)reminded me of a video on the UK Daily Telegraph site of a Danish longbow archer, which went viral.
I was wondering how he'd have made out as a gunslinger in the Wild West. Most of it beggars belief, but the finale....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/virals/11367934/High-speed-archers-video-of-incredible-trick-shots-goes-viral.html
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)I love the Man in Nevada photo, so much depth.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)"I got to get OUT of here. They have ruined this place.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)And they continue to ruin this place a thousandfold.
One may also see this pic as a road of hope to end the loneliness.
sheshe2
(83,728 posts)Thanks for posting them, TA.
mopinko
(70,071 posts)christopher broke the enigma code. unfortunately, that information was surpressed for 50 years, so eniac took the bragging rights. and of course, no pictures exist.
watched 'imitation game' last night. positively infuriating.
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)Yeah, Bragging Rights .... and proof that History can be/is subjective.
I copied and pasted from the site so, that is why this text.
I did "think" about it ... but, decided it was .... you know ... something to argue/ponder/discuss.
Thanks for the comment/clarification, mopinko