What Happened 117 Years Ago on March 8th?

March 8, 1900: Howard Aiken, American mathematician was born. He invented forerunner of the modern electronic digital computer. Aiken's research had led to system of differential equations which could only be solved using numerical techniques, for which he began planning large computer. His idea was to use an adaptation of Hollerith's punched card machine. When eventually built, it weighed 35 tons, had 500 miles of wire and could compute to 23 significant figures. There were 72 storage registers & central units to perform multiplication & division. It was controlled by sequence of instructions on punched paper tapes, & used punched cards to enter data and give output from the machine.