This Day in Tech June 1, 1890: Census Bureau & Birth of IBM

"1890: The U.S. Census Bureau uses a tabulating machine for the first time. Freed of the laborious process of hand-sorting its data, the bureau is able to produce a complete census within two years."

"Data for his tabulator was taken using a punch card, known as the Hollerith card. For ease of storage it was made the same size as paper currency and the machine employed spring-loaded needles capable of reading whether or not a hole had been punched."

"In the wake of this success, Hollerith established a company to market his machine. This company later merged with a couple of other firms and, eventually, IBM was born."

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/n.../dayintech_0601