Disability History Factoid: Herman Hollerith

Disability History Factoid of the Day: Herman Hollerith (Monday, October 10, 2011)

Modern data processing began with the inventions of American engineer, Herman Hollerith, a person with learning disabilities.

Can a mining engineer who received poor grades in bookkeeping find success in the data processing industry? Herman Hollerith did--he invented the industry. Herman Hollerith (1860-1929), a person with learning disabilities, was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. In 1890 he devised a punch card system to help tabulate the U.S. Census. He went on to found the Tabulating Machine Company which later became known as International Business Machines or IBM.

For his tabulation machine he used the punch card invented in the early 1800s, by a French silk weaver called Joseph-Marie Jacquard. Jacquard invented a way of automatically controlling the warp and weft threads on a silk loom by recording patterns of holes in a string of cards. Hollerith's punch cards and tabulating machines were a step toward automated computation. His device could automatically read information which had been punched onto a card. Punch card technology was used in computers up until the late 1970s. Computer "punched cards" were read electronically; the cards moved between brass rods and the holes in the cards created an electric current where the rods would touch.

Herman Hollerith, IBM Archives: http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html

More information on Herman Hollerith: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith

About the Facts

The Disability History Daily Factoids are presented each weekday in October to celebrate "Persons with Disabilities History and Awareness Month" in Texas. HB 3616, passed during the 82nd Legislative session, encourages public schools and state agencies to celebrate the accomplishments of people with disabilities. To learn more about Disability History, go to http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/resources/disability_history/.

Past Facts

For daily factoids from previous days, visit our archive: http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/resources/history_and_awareness_month_factoids