Museum History

CHM History, 1979

1979

The Digital Computer Museum opens inside Digital Equipment Corporation's office in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
CHM History, 1984

1984

The Computer Museum, dropping "Digital" from its name, relocates to Museum Wharf in the heart of downtown Boston. Please see the The Computer Museum historical website (http://tcm.computerhistory.org/) for all the talks, exhibits, and publications.
CHM History, 1987

1987

The Computer Museum begins its Fellow Awards program and names Grace Hopper as the first recipient.
CHM History, 1990

1990

The Computer Museum expands its exhibits with a two-story walkthrough computer and other innovative educational displays for school-age children.
CHM History, 1991

1991

The major permanent exhibition People and Computers: Milestones of a Revolution opens, featuring many unique and important computers including the MIT Whirlwind, UNIVAC 1, IBM 360/30, Cray-1, DEC PDP-8, and Apple-1.
CHM History, 1996

1996

The Computer Museum moves the unused historical collection west to Moffett Field in Mountain View, California and enters a new phase with the establishment of The Computer Museum History Center.
CHM History, 1999

1999

The Computer Museum in Boston closes and moves some of the exhibits into Boston’s Museum of Science. The remainder of the historical collection of world-class artifacts travels to The Computer Museum History Center in Mountain View, which incorporates as a new independent California 501(c)3 non-profit.
CHM History, 2000

2000

Independent of a progenitor institution which no longer exists, The Computer Museum History Center is renamed the Computer History Museum.
CHM History, 2002

2002

The Computer History Museum purchases a landmark building in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Now with a permanent home, the Museum opens its Visible Storage exhibit (now only on the web).
CHM History, 2005

2005

The Museum opens a new exhibit on the history of computer chess: Mastering the Game (now only on the web). The exhibit was a prototype of the exhibit development process that used rich content and advanced technologies to create an engaging visitor experience.
CHM History, 2006

2006

In December, the Web History Center joins the Computer History Museum to preserve the history of the web and make it available to everyone. The mission is to identify and secure records from Web pioneers, companies, and other sources to preserve the Web's collective memory.
CHM History, 2007

2007

The Museum buys a modern climate-controlled storage facility in Milpitas, California to store the 90% of its collection which is not on display at any given time.
CHM History, 2008

2008

The Museum opens the Babbage Difference Engine #2 exhibit. The Difference Engine #2 is a 5-ton Victorian era calculating machine with 8,000 parts. Babbage never saw it work. You can learn more about the Difference Engine #2 in our online exhibit.
CHM History, 2010

2010

In November, the Museum begins a major renovation of its building.
CHM History, 2011

2011

In January, the Museum reopens with a new lobby, café, gift store and signature exhibition called Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing. Revolution is a look back at computers through the ages — from the abacus to the smartphone — and the amazing human stories they tell.