Milestones:
1903 Born October 4, 1903 in Hamilton, New York
1939 Atanasoff developed the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC) with Clifford Berry
1973 U.S. Court declares that the ENIAC computer is a copy of the ABC computer
1995 Died June 15, 1995 in Frederick, Maryland
CAPs: Atanasoff, John Vincent Atanasoff, ABC Computer, Atanasoff Berry Computer, Clifford Berry, ENIAC, John Mauchly, J Presper Eckert, ARYS, computer, history, biography, inventor, ABC computer, electronic digital computer, SIPS: inventor of, history of, who invented, invention of, fascinating facts.

The Story:
In 1925, Atanasoff received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida. He held the distinction of receiving this grade with straight A"s as an undergraduate. He continued his education at Iowa State College and in 1926 earned a master"s degree in mathematics. He completed his formal education in 1930 by earning a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Wisconsin with his thesis, The Dielectric Constant of Helium.

Upon completion of his doctorate, Atanasoff accepted an assistant professorship at Iowa State College in mathematics and physics. At Iowa, Atanasoff was interested in a method by which many computations could be made in a robust manner. Atanasoff"s interest in this topic was reportedly developed in responce to the inadequate computation aids available to him while he was writing his doctoral thesis, a computationally-intensive paper. To this end, in 1939 he developed the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC) with Clifford Berry. The ABC used binary math to solve differential equations. The ABC had no central processing unit (CPU), but it did employ vaccuum tubes and other components similar to those used in later electronic computers.

In 1941 John Mauchly came to visit Atanasoff in Iowa to see the ABC. John Mauchly"s construction of ENIAC, the first Turing-complete computer, with J. Presper Eckert in the mid 1940s has has led to controversy over who was the actual inventor of the computer. This controversy was partially resolved on October 19, 1973, when U.S. District Judge Earl R. Larson overturned the patent of the ENIAC held by Mauchly and Eckert ruling that the ENIAC derived many basic ideas from the Atanasoff Berry Computer. While a legal victory, Atanasoff"s victory was incomplete as the ENIAC, rather than the ABC, is still widely regarded as the first computer.

In 1970, Atanasoff was invited to Bulgaria by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, so the Bulgarian Government could confer upon him the Cyrille and Methodius Order of Merit First Class. Having always emphasized his Bulgarian roots, he was very proud that Bulgaria was the first country to recognize his work. In 1981, he received the Computer Pioneer Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Finally, in 1990, President George H. W. Bush awarded Atanasoff the United States National Medal of Technology