This Day in History
Herman Hollerith
August 16, 1890
Census Bureau announces results using Herman Hollerith's machine
The US Census Bureau announces the U.S. population of 62,622,250, determined for the first time by using an automated method, the Hollerith Census Machine. The Hollerith machine sorted returns by completing an electrical circuit wherever a hole existed in a punch card and could process almost 10 times the number of census data than a human clerk
Census workers used the Punch Pantograph (shown to the left) to enter data
Hollerith formed the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896. This company merged with two others in 1924 to become the International Business Machines company or IBM
Hollerith died November 17, 1929.