Questions & Answers
Browse all 18 questions from the
History of Computing Fundamentals study set below.
Each question shows the correct answer — select a study format above to practice interactively.
1
Which mechanical device, developed by Charles Babbage in the 19th century, is considered the conceptual ancestor of the modern computer?
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A
The Difference Engine
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B
The Jacquard Loom
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C
The Antikythera Mechanism
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D
The Pascaline
2
In 1946, the ENIAC was revealed as the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer. What does ENIAC stand for?
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A
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer
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B
Electronic Network Integrated Automatic Calculator
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C
Electronic Numeric Integrated Advanced Computer
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D
Electrical Numerical Input And Calculation
3
Which female mathematician is widely recognized as the world's first computer programmer for her work on Babbage's Analytical Engine?
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A
Grace Hopper
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B
Ada Lovelace
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C
Hedy Lamarr
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D
Margaret Hamilton
4
What was the first commercially available microprocessor, released by Intel in 1971?
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A
Intel 4004
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B
Intel 8008
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C
Intel 8080
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D
Intel 286
5
Grace Hopper is credited with developing the first compiler in 1952. What was the name of this compiler?
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A
FLOW-MATIC
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B
A-0 System
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C
COBOL
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D
FORTRAN
6
Which company released the Apple II in 1977, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products?
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A
IBM
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B
Commodore
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C
Apple
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D
Tandy
7
What was the primary storage medium for data on the first IBM Personal Computer (Model 5150) released in 1981?
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A
CD-ROM
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B
Magnetic Tape
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C
5.25-inch Floppy Disk
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D
Hard Disk Drive
8
In 1969, the first message was sent over ARPANET, the precursor to the modern Internet. Between which two institutions was this sent?
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A
UCLA and Stanford
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B
MIT and Harvard
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C
NASA and CERN
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D
IBM and AT&T
9
What was the name of the first graphical web browser, released in 1993, which helped popularize the World Wide Web?
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A
Netscape Navigator
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B
Internet Explorer
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C
Mosaic
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D
Opera
10
The term 'bug' to describe a computer glitch was popularized by Grace Hopper after a moth was found in which machine?
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A
UNIVAC I
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B
Harvard Mark II
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C
ENIAC
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D
EDVAC
11
Which programming language, released in 1957, was the first high-level language to be widely used for scientific and engineering applications?
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A
BASIC
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B
C
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C
FORTRAN
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D
LISP
12
Who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975?
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A
Steve Jobs
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B
Paul Allen
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C
Steve Wozniak
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D
Larry Ellison
13
The first computer mouse, invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1964, was primarily made of which material?
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A
Plastic
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B
Aluminum
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C
Wood
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D
Steel
14
Which operating system, released by Microsoft in 1985, provided the first graphical user interface for MS-DOS computers?
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A
Windows 1.0
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B
OS/2
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C
Windows 95
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D
MS-DOS 4.0
15
What was the first widely used object-oriented programming language, developed at Xerox PARC in the 1970s?
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A
Smalltalk
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B
C++
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C
Java
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D
Python
16
In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee publicly posted the summary of the World Wide Web project. What language did he use to create the first web pages?
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A
XML
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B
HTML
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C
PHP
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D
JavaScript
17
Which company developed the Java programming language, first released in 1995?
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A
Sun Microsystems
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B
Oracle
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C
Microsoft
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D
IBM
18
The 'QWERTY' keyboard layout was originally patented in 1873 by Christopher Sholes. For what device was it specifically designed?
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A
Teleprinter
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B
Typewriter
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C
Computer Terminal
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D
Adding Machine
