Long before you could whip out your smartphone to calculate tip, ancient populations devised an ingenious invention to help with computing: the abacus. Today, this old school calculator has been relegated to the realm of children's playthings, but 2,000 years ago, it was cutting-edge. Learn more about the technology that developed between the advent of the abacus and the iPhone at the Computer History Museum, located only 10 minutes away from Brookside Park.

The museum is dedicated to all things technological, and its Revolution exhibit gives a sweeping overview of computing over the past two millennia. For a look specifically at the first computer, check out The Babbage Engine exhibit. It tells the story of the earliest computer, which was actually designed (but not built) in 1834 under the name Difference Engine No. 2. Charles Babbage's dream came to fruition when tech experts built the Difference Engine No. 2 in 1991—and it worked just like he said it would. Self-driving vehicles, IBM's game-changing data processing system, and the massive 1959 mini-computer that enthralled early hackers are also topics of exploration at the Computer History Museum. Even if you're not a techie, you're still likely to be wowed by this place.

Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View, CA 94043
(650) 810-1010
www.computerhistory.org
www.yelp.com/biz/computer-history-museum-mountain-view

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