On Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 6:55 PM John Cowan wrote: > On Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 6:25 PM Steffen Nurpmeso > wrote: > >> As not being hard-to-the-core i may have missed it, but also in >> 1951, in March, the wonderful Grace Hopper "conceives the first >> compiler, called A-O and later released as Math-Matic. Hopper is >> also credited with coining the term 'bug' following an incident >> involving a moth and a Mark II. >> > > Yes, but wrongly. The label next to the moth is "First actual case of bug > being found", and the word "actual" shows that the slang term already > existed then. Brief unexplained faults on telephony (and before that > telegraphy) lines were "bugs on the line" back in the 19C. Vibroplex > telegraph keys, first sold in 1905, had a picture of a beetle on the top of > the key, and were notorious for creating bugs when inexperienced operators > used them. (Vibroplex is still in business, still selling its > continuous-operation telegraph keys, which ditt as long as you hold the > paddle to the right.) > Indeed, the Vibroplex key is called a "bug". I suspect this has something to do with its appearance more than anything else, though (it kinda sorta looks like, er, a bug). - Dan C.