_{Part of Babbage's Difference engine, built in 1879 by his son. Exhibit at the Whipple Museum, University of Cambridge}

Ok... what was the first computer? By that I mean a manmade device you can ask a question of that will give you the answer without any further input from you.

J.H. Muller came up with the idea of a mechanical calculator in 1786, but it wasn't until 1822 that Charles Babbage took the idea a step further and proposed making one, which he called 'The Difference Engine'.

The machine was to use a decimal number system and be powered by cranking a handle. Everyone thought this was a great idea, and Babbage got funding from the British government to begin making 'the Difference Engine'. But he never made it, instead redesigning it over and over again, and ultimately throwing his lot in with a design for another machine called 'The Analytical Engine'.

In 1855 that Pehr George Scheutz began making Difference Engines based on Babbages designs. both the British and American governments bought one, and they were used for creating logarithmic tables.

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