Just learned that the first computer bug was a real moth stuck in a machine

I was reading about computer history on a site called Computer History Museum and found out the term 'debugging' comes from 1947 when Grace Hopper found a moth in the Harvard Mark II. It was actually taped into the log book. I always thought it was just a saying. Has anyone else found a cool fact like that about how coding terms started?

3 comments

3 Comments

finleyk872mo ago

That moth story always makes me laugh. I mean, the idea that a real bug caused the term is wild. I read somewhere that the actual logbook page with the moth taped in is still around. It's in the Smithsonian or something. Makes you wonder what other terms have weird little origins like that.

fisher.mason17d ago

There's no way the actual moth is still taped in that logbook from 1947. I had to go look that up after reading your post and yeah, it's real. It's at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum last I checked. That's crazy to think about, a 70+ year old dead moth just chilling in a museum because it invented a word. Makes me wonder if any of the random stuff we say today will have a story like that in 100 years.

phoenixgonzalez2mo ago

Check the actual logbook photo online, it's way cooler than just hearing the story.