1947: World’s First Computer Bug

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• Background Info
• Vocabulary

• Audience versions of this page: Family

  On September 9, 1947, computer scientist Grace Hopper reported the world’s first computer bug. A bug is a flaw or glitch in a system. Thomas Edison reported “bugs” in his designs as early as the 1800s, but Hopper was the first to identify one in a computer. 

   

  In Hopper’s case, it was literally a bug. Her coworkers at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found that their computer was delivering consistent errors. When they opened the computer’s hardware, they found . . . a moth. The trapped insect had disrupted the electronics of the computer. 

   

  Today, software bugs can impact the functioning, safety, and security of computer operating systems. “Debugging” and bug management are important parts of the computer science industry.

• Term	Part of Speech	Definition	Encyclopedic Entry
  bug	Noun	mistake or flaw in a computer program.
  computer	Noun	device designed to access data, perform prescribed tasks at high speed, and display the results.
  computer science	Noun	study of the design and operation of computer hardware and software, and the applications of computer technology.
  consistent	Adjective	maintaining a steady, reliable quality.
  deliver	Verb	to transfer or hand over.
  disrupt	Verb	to interrupt.
  electronics	Noun	devices or tools that use electricity to work.
  engineer	Noun	person who plans the building of things, such as structures (construction engineer) or substances (chemical engineer).
  error	Noun	mistake.
  flaw	Noun	mistake or error.
  function	Verb	to work or work correctly.
  glitch	Noun	defect.
  hardware	Noun	computer machinery.
  identify	Verb	to recognize or establish the identity of something.
  impact	Verb	to influence or have an effect on something.
  industry	Noun	activity that produces goods and services.
  insect	Noun	type of animal that breathes air and has a body divided into three segments, with six legs and usually wings.
  inventor	Noun	person who creates a new idea, machine, product, device, or process.
  literally	Adverb	exactly what is said, without exaggeration.
  machinery	Noun	mechanical appliances or tools used in manufacturing.
  operating system	Noun	collection of software that directs and controls a computer's overall operation. Also called an OS.
  security	Noun	safety or stability.
  software	Noun	electronic programs of code that tell computers what to do.
  system	Noun	collection of items or organisms that are linked and related, functioning as a whole.