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The Conversation USA

How the US census led to the first data processing company 125 years ago – and kick-started America’s computing industry

  • Written by David Lindsay Roberts, Adjunct Professor of Mathematics, Prince George's Community College
imageThis electromechanical machine, used in the 1890 U.S. census, was the first automated data processing system.Niall Kennedy/Flickr, CC BY-NC

The U.S. Constitution requires that a population count be conducted at the beginning of every decade.

This census has always been charged with political significance, and continues to be. That’s clear...

Read more: How the US census led to the first data processing company 125 years ago – and kick-started...

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