Bjarne Stroustrup is widely recognized as the creator of the C++ programming language. Starting in 1979 at Bell Labs, Stroustrup developed 'C with Classes' with the primary goal of enhancing the C language with features such as classes, virtual functions, and operator overloading, inspired by Simula. This eventually evolved into what we now know as C++. Dennis Ritchie is known for creating the C programming language, Ken Thompson for co-creating Unix and the B programming language, and Guido van Rossum for creating Python.

BASIC is a high-level programming language developed in the 1960s at Dartmouth College. The acronym stands for Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, reflecting its design goal of being an easy-to-learn language for students and novice programmers.

The Jacquard Loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801 (not 1804 as sometimes cited, though its widespread adoption was slightly later), revolutionized textile manufacturing by using a series of connected punched cards to control the weaving process. Each hole in a card corresponded to a specific action of the loom's hooks, allowing for the automatic creation of intricate patterns. This system was revolutionary because it demonstrated the principle of storing a program (the weaving pattern) on an external medium (punched cards) that could then 'instruct' a machine to perform a complex, pre-defined sequence of operations without human intervention for each individual step. This concept of programmable control, where data on cards dictated machine behavior, directly inspired Charles Babbage in his work on the Analytical Engine and is widely recognized as a foundational concept in the history of computer programming.

Third-generation computers supported structured programming languages for better software development.

The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), affectionately known as 'Baby,' was the first computer globally to successfully run a program from its own electronically stored memory. This monumental event occurred on June 21, 1948, at the University of Manchester, effectively demonstrating the feasibility and transformative potential of the stored-program concept. While ENIAC (1946) was a powerful early electronic computer, it primarily used re-wiring for programming. EDVAC (conceived earlier but operational in 1949/1950) was designed with the stored-program concept in mind but was completed after the SSEM. UNIVAC I (1951) was a commercially successful general-purpose computer but came later.

Fourth-generation computers utilized VLSI technology, which allowed for the creation of microprocessors containing tens of thousands, and later hundreds of thousands, of transistors on a single chip.

The abacus is an early Chinese computing device for arithmetic operations.

The Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972, holds the significant title of being the very first home video game console. Designed by Ralph H. Baer, often called 'The Father of Video Games,' this console allowed users to play simple games like 'Table Tennis' (a precursor to Pong) on their home televisions. Unlike later consoles, it was an analog machine and did not have a central processing unit (CPU) or memory in the modern sense. It utilized circuit boards and overlays for television screens to create different game environments. While extremely basic by today's standards, its invention laid the fundamental groundwork for the entire home video game industry that subsequently flourished. The Atari 2600 (1977), Nintendo Entertainment System (1985), and ColecoVision (1982) all came much later and offered significantly more advanced graphics and gameplay.

Ada Lovelace earned her historical distinction as potentially the first computer programmer through her extensive work and detailed notes on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. While Babbage conceived the machine, Lovelace's notes included what is widely considered the first algorithm specifically designed to be carried out by a machine (the calculation of Bernoulli numbers). This went beyond merely performing calculations and demonstrated the machine's potential for more complex, programmable operations. The ENIAC and Colossus were later electronic computers, and while the Difference Engine was also Babbage's invention, it was a specialized calculating machine, not the general-purpose, programmable design that the Analytical Engine represented and for which Lovelace developed her 'program'.

The Xerox Alto, developed in 1973, was a groundbreaking personal computer that incorporated a bitmapped display, a GUI, and a mouse. While it was never sold commercially, it heavily influenced the design of future computers like the Apple Lisa and Macintosh.