Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith
Born	February 29, 1860 (1860-02-29) Buffalo, New York
Died	November 17, 1929 (aged 69) Washington, DC
Occupation	statistician, inventor, businessman

Herman Hollerith (Buffalo, New York, February 29, 1860 – Washington, D.C., November 17, 1929) was a German-American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards in order to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. Leap years Although the modern calendar counts a year as 365 days a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting Buffalo (ˈbʌfəloʊ is the second largest city in New York State. Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method form device or other useful means A businessperson (also businessman or businesswoman) is someone who is employed at usually a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically someone Buffalo (ˈbʌfəloʊ is the second largest city in New York State. Leap years Although the modern calendar counts a year as 365 days a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. German Americans ( German: Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of Ethnic German ancestry Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. See also Unit record equipment The tabulating machine was a machine designed to assist in Tabulations.

Personal life

Hollerith entered the City College of New York in 1875 and graduated from the Columbia University School of Mines with an "Engineer of Mines" degree in 1879. The City College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as the City College of New York or simply City College, CCNY, or colloquially as History Original charter of 1754 and the establishing of a school of engineering Included in the original charter for Columbia In 1880, he listed himself as a mining engineer while living in Manhattan, and he completed his Ph. Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York D. in 1890 at Columbia University. Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. In 1890, on September 15, he married Lucia Beverley Talcott (December 3, 1865 – August 4, 1944) of Veracruz, Mexico, and they had six children (three sons and three daughters). Events 668 - Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse Italy. Events 1800 - War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden, French Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that constitute the republic of Mexico. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. ^[1] Other than his inventions, Hollerith "was said to cherish three things: his German heritage, his privacy and his cat Bismarck. "^[2] He also "liked good cigars, fine wine, Guernsey cows, and money. . . . He disliked property taxes and hard-driving salesmen. "^[3]

He died in 1929 of a heart attack and was buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Electronic tabulation of statistical data

At the urging of John Shaw Billings^[4], Hollerith developed a mechanism to make electrical connections trigger a counter to record information. Oak Hill Cemetery is a twenty-two Acre (9 ha) historic Cemetery and Botanical garden located in Georgetown Washington D Georgetown is a Neighborhood located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington D John Shaw Billings ( April 12 1838 – March 11 1913) was a Librarian and Surgeon best known as the modernizer of the A key idea was that data could be coded numerically. Hollerith saw that if numbers could be punched in specified locations on a card, in the now familiar rows and columns, then the cards could be counted or sorted mechanically. On January 8, 1889, he was issued U.S. Patent 395,782 , claim 2 of which reads:

The herein-described method of compiling statistics, which consists in recording separate statistical items pertaining to the individual by holes or combinations of holes punched in sheets of electrically non-conducting material, and bearing a specific relation to each other and to a standard, and then counting or tallying such statistical items separately or in combination by means of mechanical counters operated by electro-magnets the circuits through which are controlled by the perforated sheets, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. Events 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Inventions and businesses

Hollerith built machines under contract for the US Census Bureau, which used them to tabulate the 1890 census in only one year. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census ^[5] The 1880 census had taken eight years. Hollerith then started his own business in 1896, founding the Tabulating Machine Company. Most of the major census bureaus around the world leased his equipment and purchased his cards, as did major insurance companies. To make his system work, he invented the first automatic card-feed mechanism and the first key punch (i. A key punch is a device for entering data into Punched cards by precisely punching holes at locations designated by the keys struck by the operator e. a punch that was operated from a keyboard), which allowed a skilled operator to punch 200–300 cards per hour. There are many types of keyboard, usually differentiated by the Switch technology employed in their operation He also invented a tabulator. See also Unit record equipment The tabulating machine was a machine designed to assist in Tabulations. The 1890 Tabulator was hardwired to operate only on 1890 Census cards. See also Unit record equipment The tabulating machine was a machine designed to assist in Tabulations. To execute instructions a Computer 's Processor must generate the control signals used to perform the processor's actions in the proper sequence A wiring panel in his 1906 Type I Tabulator allowed it to do different jobs without having to be rebuilt (the first step towards programming). A plugboard, or control panel, was a device used to direct the operation of Unit record equipment, some cypher machines and some early computers These inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry.

In 1911, four corporations, including Hollerith's firm, merged to form the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation (CTR). The Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation (CTR was incorporated on June 15 1911 in Endicott New York a few miles west of Binghamton ^[6] Under the presidency of Thomas J. Watson, it was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924. Thomas John Watson Sr ( February 17, 1874 &ndash June 19, 1956) was the American president of International Business Machines International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology

See also

• Tabulating machine
• Punched card
• Hollerith constant

References

Notes

External links

Hollerith's grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D. Oak Hill Cemetery is a twenty-two Acre (9 ha) historic Cemetery and Botanical garden located in Georgetown Washington D C.

• Hollerith's patents from 1889: U.S. Patent 395,781  U.S. Patent 395,782  U.S. Patent 395,783 
• Computer History Museum: Hollerith 1889 patent
• IBM Archives: Herman Hollerith
• IBM Archives: Tabulating Machine Co. plant
• Early Office Museum: Punched Card Tabulating Machines
• Hollerith page at the National Hall of Fame
• Map to his gravesite
• Columbia University Computing History: Herman Hollerith
• O'Connor, John J. & Robertson, Edmund F. , “Herman Hollerith”, MacTutor History of Mathematics archive 
• The Norwegian Historical Data Center: Census 1900 Includes a description of the use of Hollerith machines ("complicated, American enumeration machines"), together with illustrations. The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive is an award-winning website maintained by John J
• Library of Congress holds the Papers of Herman Hollerith, spanning 1850-1982. finding aid