| Year | Event |
|---|
| 1837 | Charles Babbage first purposed the Analytical Engine, which was the first computer to use punch cards as memory and a way to program the computer. |
| 1932 | Gustav Tauschek developed drum memory in 1932. |
| 1942 | John Atanasoff successfully tests the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) which was the first computer to use regenerative capacitor drum memory. |
| 1946 | Freddie Williams applies for a patent on his CRT (cathode-ray tube) storing device on December 11, 1946. The device that later became known as the Williams tube or more appropriately the Williams-Kilburn tube. The tube stored only stored 128 40-bit words and was the first practical form of random-access memory. |
| 1946 | Jan Rajchman began his work on developing the Selectron tube that was capable of storing 256 bits. Because of the popularity of magnetic core memory at the time, the Selectron tube was never put into mass production. |
| 1947 | Freddie Williams memory system known as the Williams-Kilburn tube was in working order in 1947. |
| 1947 | Frederick Viehe files a series of some of the first patents relating to magnetic-core memory. Others who helped with the development of magnetic-core memory and magnetic drum memory include An Wang, Ken Olsen and Jay Forrester. |
| 1949 | Jay Forrester and other researchers came up with the idea of using magnetic-core memory in the Whirlwind computer in 1949. |
| 1950 | The United States government received the UNIVAC 1101 or ERA 1101. This computer was considered to be the first computer that was capable of storing and running a program from memory. |
| 1951 | Jay Forrester applies for a patent for magnetic-core memory, an early type of random access memory (RAM) on May 11, 1951. |
| 1952 | In his master’s thesis, Dudley Allen Buck describes Ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) that was not developed until the 1980s and early 1990s. |
| 1953 | In July 1953 a core memory expansion was added to the ENIAC. |
| 1955 | Konrad Zuse completes the Z22, the seventh computer model and the first computer that used magnetic storage memory. |
| 1955 | MIT introduced the Whirlwind machine on March 8, 1955, a revolutionary computer that was the first digital computer with magnetic core RAM. |
| 1955 | An Wang was issued U.S. patent #2,708,722 on May 17, 1955, for the invention of the magnetic “Pulse Transfer Controlling Device,” which made magnetic core memory a reality. |
| 1955 | Bell Labs introduced its first transistor computer. Transistors are faster, smaller, and create less heat than traditional vacuum tubs, making these computers more reliable and efficient. |
| 1964 | John Schmidt designed a 64-bit MOS p-channel Static RAM while at Fairchild in 1964. |
| 1964 | Kenneth Olsen was issued U.S. patent #3,161,861 on December 15, 1964, for magnetic core memory. |
| 1968 | On June 4, 1968, Dr. Robert Dennard at the IBM T.J. Watson Research center was granted U.S. patent #3,387,286 describing a one-transistor DRAM cell. DRAM will later replace magnetic core memory in computers. |
| 1969 | Charles Sie publishes a dissertation at Iowa State University where he described and demonstrated Phase-change memory (PRAM). Although PRAM has still never been commercially practical, it was still being developed at companies like Samsung. |
| 1969 | Intel released its first product, the 3101 Schottky TTL bipolar 64-bit static random-access memory (SRAM). In the same year, Intel released the 3301 Schottky bipolar 1024-bit read-only memory (ROM). |
| 1970 | Intel released its first commercially available DRAM, the Intel 1103 in October 1970. Capable of storing 1024 bits or 1 kb of memory. |
| 1971 | While at Intel, Dov Frohman invented and patented (#3,660,819) the EPROM in 1971. |
| 1974 | While at Intel, Federico Faggin was granted patent #3,821,715 on June 28, 1974, that describes a memory system for a multichip digital computer. |
| 1978 | George Perlegos with Intel developed the Intel 2816, the first EEPROM in 1978. |
| 1983 | Wang Laboratories created the single in-line memory module (SIMM) in 1983. |
| 1984 | Fujio Masuoka invented flash memory in 1984. |
| 1993 | Samsung introduced the KM48SL2000 synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) and quickly became an industry standard in 1993. |
| 1996 | DDR SDRAM began being sold in 1996. |
| 1999 | RDRAM became available for computers in 1999. |
| 2003 | DDR2 SDRAM began being sold in 2003. |
| 2003 | XDR DRAM began being sold in 2003. |
| 2007 | DDR3 SDRAM began being sold in June 2007. |
| 2014 | DDR4 SDRAM began being sold in September 2014. |
