IBM
International Business Machines
Founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) via Charles Flint's merger of four firms, and renamed International Business Machines in 1924 under Thomas J. Watson Sr.
Founded1911
HeadquartersEndicott, NY
IndustryComputing
IBM 704 electronic data processing machine, 1957 · Public domain · NASA via Wikimedia Commons
Overview
It became the dominant force in business computing.
Founders
Charles Flint and Thomas J. Watson Sr.
Founded June 16, 1911 as CTR; renamed IBM 1924
Landmark Achievements
- Built on Herman Hollerith's punch-card tabulator, which processed the 1890 U.S. Census and pioneered data processing.
- Its System/360 mainframe (1964) became the world's dominant computing platform; by the 1960s IBM produced 70% of the world's computers.
- Launched the IBM Personal Computer in 1981, whose architecture remains the basis of most PCs sold today.
IBM's place in the story
Continue through the chronicle — the builders of American technology, in founding order.