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A timeline of computer science

What was the first computer at ETH Zurich? When did ETH students get e-mail accounts? Who founded the Department of Computer Science? From 1947 to 2021, this timeline represents some of the most important events that led to the founding of D-INFK in 1981 and that have influenced its development since, as well as some significant computing and information technology milestones.

by Anna Ettlin, Prof. em. Friedemann Mattern

This timeline was originally published in Visionen 04/2021, the magazine of the Association of Computer Science Students (VIS).

Milestones at ETH Zurich

Milestones elsewhere

The first working transistor
The first working transistor. Photo: Windell Oskay, Creative Commons

1947

John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley develop the first working transistor at Bell Labs.

1948

Eduard Stiefel founds the Institute for Applied Mathematics.

Professor Eduard Stiefel
Professor Eduard Stiefel. Photo: ETH Library

1950

Eduard Stiefel rents the Zuse Z4 for the institute, a relay computer developed in Germany by Konrad Zuse, making it the world’s first commercial digital computer. The Z4 remained at ETH Zurich for four years.

Zuse Z4
Eduard Stiefel’s assistants, Heinz Rutishauser (left) and Ambros Speiser, next to the over 2000 relays of Zuse Z4. Photo: ETH Library
Statue of Alan Turing
Statue of Alan Turing. Photo: Antoine Taveneaux, Creative Commons

1950

Jule Charney and John von Neumann make the first weather forecast using a computer.

Alan Turing proposes the Turing Test for artificial intelligence.
 

1952

ETH Zurich offers programming classes with exercises on the computer – the first university in continental Europe to do so.

 

 

1954

IBM develops Fortran I, the first high-level programming language that would be used widely.

1956

Eduard Stiefel, Heinz Rutishauser and Ambros Speiser finish ERMETH (short for Elektronische Rechenmaschine der ETH). The computer used 1,500 electron tubes and remained in operation until 1963. Today, it is on display at the Museum of Communication in Bern.

The ERMETH (Elektronische Rechenmaschine der ETH)
The ERMETH (Elektronische Rechenmaschine der ETH). Photo: ETH Library
Edsger W. Dijkstra
Edsger W. Dijkstra at ETH Zurich in 1994. Photo: Andreas F. Borchert, Creative Commons

1956

Edsger Dijkstra conceives his shortest-path algorithm, now found in every Internet router.

 

 

1957

The foundation of Fairchild Semiconductor in Santa Clara, California, establishes Silicon Valley as a world centre of technological leadership and entrepreneurial activity in the area of computing.

1958

An international meeting of researchers in Zurich creates the first report on the new universal programming language Algol (Algorithmic Language), designed to break the predominance of Fortran. Heinz Rutishauser was deeply involved in its early development.

   

 

 

1959

The term “computer sciences” is mentioned for the first time in a talk by Louis Fein at the Western Joint Computer Conference.

Sir Tony Hoare
Sir Tony Hoare in 2011. Photo: Rama, Creative Commons

1960

Tony Hoare invents the Quicksort algorithm.

1964

ETH Zurich purchases a computer for the first time, a CDC 1604A. It is 400 times faster than the ERMETH and allows programming in both Fortran and Algol.

 

 

1965

Gordon Moore publishes Moore’s Law.

1965

While one of Eduard Stiefel’s doctoral students, Carl August Zehnder calculates ETH Zurich’s entire exam timetable using a computer – a first for ETH.

Watch an interview with Carl August Zehnder

Prof. em. Carl August Zehnder.
Prof. em. Carl August Zehnder. Photo: Charly Rappo, ETH Zurich

1968

Heinz Rutishauser, Peter Läuchli and Niklaus Wirth establish the Group for Computer Science, with Carl August Zehnder joining them in 1970.

Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson
Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson and their team at Bell Labs created Unix in 1969. Photo: Peter Hamer, Creative Commons

1969

Led by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, the development of the UNIX operating system begins at Bell Labs. Its open-source clone Linux becomes popular in the early 2000s.

1970

The new Computing Centre building (RZ) of ETH Zurich is opened. It houses the new CDC 6400/6500 computer system.

Watch a 1970 news report on the CDC 6400/6500

CDC 6400/6500 computer is being installed in the new Computing Centre building
The CDC 6400/6500 computer is being installed in the new Computing Centre building (RZ) at Clausiusstrasse 55. Photo: ETH Library

1970

Niklaus Wirth develops the programming language Pascal, a successor to Algol, which would become widely popular.

Read more about Pascal

Niklaus Wirth. Photo: ETH Library
Niklaus Wirth in 1969. Photo: ETH Library
Intel 4004 microprocessor. Photo: Thomas Nguyen
The 4-bit Intel 4004 was the first commercially produced microprocessor. It was released in 1971. Photo: Thomas Nguyen, Creative Commons

1971

The first microprocessors are released.

Xerox Alto. Photo: Public domain
The Xerox Alto was the first personal computer to feature a graphical user interface and the inspiration for Niklaus Wirth's Lilith. Photo: Public domain

1973

The Computer Science Laboratory at Xerox PARC (the Palo Alto Research Center) creates Alto, a personal computer workstation featuring the first graphical user interface with windows, icons and menus. The first consumer machine with such an interface is the Apple Macintosh, released in 1984.

1974

The Group for Computer Science gains official standing and is renamed the Institute for Computer Science.

 

 

1976

Public-key cryptography makes its public debut with a now famous paper by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman.

Apple II computer with peripherals. Photo: FozzTexx, Creative Commons
Apple II featured a colour display and came with two game paddles and a cassette interface for data storage. Photo: FozzTexx, Creative Commons

1977

The Apple II, one of the world’s first highly successful personal computers, is released.

1978

Niklaus Wirth and Richard Ohran develop the personal computer Lilith, based on the Xerox Alto, featuring a high-resolution graphical display and a mouse.

Watch a 1983 TV programme about Lilith

Carl August Zehnder (left) and Niklaus Wirth shown in 2006 with Lilith. Photo: Christian Beutler, NZZ
Carl August Zehnder (left) and Niklaus Wirth shown in 2006 with Lilith. Photo: Christian Beutler, NZZ

 

 

1978

Donald Knuth releases the TeX digital typesetting system. It becomes popular in the form of LaTeX, designed by Leslie Lamport in the early 1980s.

Rul Gunzenhäuser, Carl August Zehnder, a guest and Urs Hochstrasser attend the presentation of the new division IIIC in Audi Max. Photo: ETH Library
From left: Rul Gunzenhäuser, Carl August Zehnder, a guest and Urs Hochstrasser attend the presentation of the new division in Audi Max. Photo: ETH Library

1981

Carl August Zehnder, Niklaus Wirth, Jürg Nievergelt and Peter Läuchli found the Division of Computer Science (IIIC), laying the foundation for today’s D-INFK. This is the first time that a new division is created at ETH Zurich since 1935, when electrical engineering was introduced. A little more than a hundred students begin studying in the new graduate course “Computer Science Engineer”.

Read more about the founding of D-INFK

 

 

1983

ARPANET and the Defense Data Network officially change to the TCP/IP standard, enabling different computer networks to communicate with each other and creating the Internet.

1984

Niklaus Wirth wins the Turing Award for developing several innovative programming languages, including Pascal.

VIS (the Association of Computer Science Students at ETH Zurich) is founded.

Read an interview with the first VIS President Fredi Schmid

Prof. em. Niklaus Wirth
Niklaus Wirth, pictured here with the personal computer Lilith, received the 1984 ACM Turing Award, also known as the “Nobel Prize of Computing”. Photo: Niklaus Wirth

 

 

1985

The first dot-com domain name (Symbolics.com) is registered.

 

 

1987

The .ch domain is entered into the Domain Name System. ethz.ch is one of the first .ch domain names.

1988

Niklaus Wirth and Jürg Gutknecht introduce the programming language and operating system Oberon.

ETH purchases the supercomputer Cray X-MP/28. Today, its distinctive yellow processing unit can be seen (and sat upon) in the CAB building.

Watch a 1988 TV programme about the supercomputer, featuring Carl August Zehnder

The supercomputer Cray X-MP/28 is being installed in the Computing Centre. Photo: ETH Library
The supercomputer Cray X-MP/28 is being installed in the Computing Centre. Photo: ETH Library

1988

The IFW building, an expansion of the RZ Computing Centre, is opened. It serves as the new home of computer science at ETH Zurich.

Opening ceremony of the IFW building. Photo: ETH Library
Professor Carl August Zehnder (rightmost) attends the opening ceremony of the new computer science building, IFW. Photo: ETH Library

1989

After some pressure from Walter Gander and other researchers, ETH Zurich gets an internet connection.

Watch an interview with Walter Gander

Prof. em. Walter Gander. Photo: Pauline Lüthi for D-INFK
Professor emeritus Walter Gander, shown here in 2021, was one of the researchers recommending ETH get connected to the Internet. Photo: Pauline Lüthi for D-INFK
The world’s first web server. Photo: Robert Scoble, Creative Commons
The world’s first web server: Tim Berners-Lee used this NeXT workstation as the first-ever server when he created the World Wide Web at CERN in 1990. Photo: Robert Scoble, Creative Commons

1990

Tim Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web at CERN in Geneva, which is popularised in 1993 due to Marc Andreessen's Mosaic web browser.

1991

ETH students receive email accounts for the first time, also on Walter Gander’s initiative.

Read more about early internet and e-mails at ETH Zurich

Enlarged view: The screenshot shows the routing of an e-mail from ETH to Stanford via CERN and Berkeley in 1987. Image: Walter Gander
The screenshot shows the routing of an e-mail from ETH to Stanford via CERN and Berkeley in 1987. Image: Walter Gander

1993

“Frauenförderung”, a student organisation to support women in computer science, is founded. Today, it is known as CSNOW.

 

 

1995

The programming language Java, designed by James Gosling, is released by Sun Microsystems.

IBM’s Deep Blue computer. Photo: Pedro Villavicencio, Creative Commons
IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to win a chess game against a reigning world champion. Photo: Pedro Villavicencio, Creative Commons

1997

The reigning chess World Champion Garry Kasparov is defeated by IBM's Deep Blue computer.

 

 

1998

Larry Page and Sergey Brin found Google.

2000

D-INFK now comprises 19 faculty members.

2000

The dot-com bubble bursts, triggering a sharp but short-lived decline in the number of new computer science students at D-INFK.

Screenshot of the Wikipedia homepage on December 20, 2001
Screenshot of the Wikipedia home page on December 20, 2001, almost a year after its founding in January of the same year. Photo: Wikipedia users, Creative Commons

2001

Wikipedia is launched.

2003

The graduate course undergoes changes to conform with the Bologna Accord, replacing the previous five-year engineer’s diploma with today’s Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

 

 

2005

YouTube is launched.

2005

D-INFK begins the move from the IFW building to its current main hub, CAB.

CAB building. Photo: Sandra Herkle for D-INFK
The CAB building at Universitätstrasse 6 is the department's main hub today. Photo: Sandra Herkle for D-INFK
Steve Jobs. Photo: Blake Patterson and Arnold Kim, Creative Commons
Steve Jobs presents the first iPhone in January at the Macworld Conference & Expo held in San Francisco, California. Photo: Blake Patterson and Arnold Kim, Creative Commons

2007

Apple releases the first iPhone.

2010

external page DisneyResearch|Studios is opened  in Zurich and becomes the first and only research laboratory run by the Walt Disney Company at a university in continental Europe.

Professor Markus Gross. Photo: ETH Zürich/Philippe Hollenstein
Professor Markus Gross at the opening of DisneyResearch|Studios in Zurich, which he directs to this day. Photo: ETH Zürich/Philippe Hollenstein

2013

D-INFK now comprises 30 faculty members.

2014

The Institute for Machine Learning is founded by Joachim Buhmann, Andreas Krause and Thomas Hofmann.

2017

D-INFK introduces the new Master’s programme in Data Science.

2019

D-INFK introduces the new Master’s programme in Cyber Security.

Brochures for the Data Science and Cyber Security Master's programmes.
Between 2017 and 2019, D-INFK introduced two new Master’s programmes, in Data Science and Cyber Security. Photo: D-INFK
D-INFK 40th anniversary logos

2021

D-INFK celebrates its 40th anniversary. Over 800 new Bachelor’s and Master’s students begin their studies in the Autumn Semester. Over 40 faculty members teach and conduct research at the department.

40 years D-​INFK

In 1981, the computer science curriculum was introduced at ETH Zurich. At the same time, the IIIC division was established, which was the foundation for today's Department of Computer Science. On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, we present people and stories that have influenced the department over the past four decades.

Anniversary website

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