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unusual facts about Difference engine


Johann Helfrich von Müller

Johann Helfrich von Müller (January 16, 1746 – 1830) was an engineer in the Hessian army who conceived the Difference Engine in 1786, an idea that later evolved into modern computers.


Computer: A History of the Information Machine

It follows the history of "information machines" from Charles Babbage's Difference Engine through Herman Hollerith's Tabulating Machines to the invention of the modern electronic digital computer.

King George III Museum

It counted among its collections the unfinished prototype of the Difference Engine No. 1, designed by Charles Babbage, considered a "father of the computer".


see also

Mechanical calculator

In 1855, Per Georg Scheutz completed a working difference engine based on Babbage's design.

In 1855, Georg Scheutz became the first of a handful of designers to succeed at building a smaller and simpler model of his difference engine.