Computer memory history

YearEvent
1837Charles Babbage first purposed the Analytical Engine, which was the first computer to use punch cards as memory and a way to program the computer.
1932Gustav Tauschek developed drum memory in 1932.
1942John Atanasoff successfully tests the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) which was the first computer to use regenerative capacitor drum memory.
1946Freddie 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.
1946Jan 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.
1947Freddie Williams memory system known as the Williams-Kilburn tube was in working order in 1947.
1947Frederick 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.
1949Jay Forrester and other researchers came up with the idea of using magnetic-core memory in the Whirlwind computer in 1949.
1950The 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.
1951Jay Forrester applies for a patent for magnetic-core memory, an early type of random access memory (RAM) on May 11, 1951.
1952In his master’s thesis, Dudley Allen Buck describes Ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) that was not developed until the 1980s and early 1990s.
1953In July 1953 a core memory expansion was added to the ENIAC.
1955Konrad Zuse completes the Z22, the seventh computer model and the first computer that used magnetic storage memory.
1955MIT introduced the Whirlwind machine on March 8, 1955, a revolutionary computer that was the first digital computer with magnetic core RAM.
1955An 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.
1955Bell 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.
1964John Schmidt designed a 64-bit MOS p-channel Static RAM while at Fairchild in 1964.
1964Kenneth Olsen was issued U.S. patent #3,161,861 on December 15, 1964, for magnetic core memory.
1968On 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.
1969Charles 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.
1969Intel 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).
1970Intel released its first commercially available DRAM, the Intel 1103 in October 1970. Capable of storing 1024 bits or 1 kb of memory.
1971While at Intel, Dov Frohman invented and patented (#3,660,819) the EPROM in 1971.
1974While at Intel, Federico Faggin was granted patent #3,821,715 on June 28, 1974, that describes a memory system for a multichip digital computer.
1978George Perlegos with Intel developed the Intel 2816, the first EEPROM in 1978.
1983Wang Laboratories created the single in-line memory module (SIMM) in 1983.
1984Fujio Masuoka invented flash memory in 1984.
1993Samsung introduced the KM48SL2000 synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) and quickly became an industry standard in 1993.
1996DDR SDRAM began being sold in 1996.
1999RDRAM became available for computers in 1999.
2003DDR2 SDRAM began being sold in 2003.
2003XDR DRAM began being sold in 2003.
2007DDR3 SDRAM began being sold in June 2007.
2014DDR4 SDRAM began being sold in September 2014.