Plate 0. The Question, 1943–1955

9 Sept 1947— Quotes & culture

The first actual bug

Engraving of First Computer Bug, 1945 — Engraving after a photograph by U.S. Naval Historical Center (NH 96566-KN), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Redrawn and re-inked for iown.si.

Operators of the Harvard Mark II tape a moth into the logbook with the note “first actual case of bug being found”.

Note on the date: The logbook date is widely cited as 9 Sep 1947; verify against the Smithsonian record.

Date confidence: medium

Sources

Software bug, Wikipedia secondary
First Computer Bug, 1947 (photograph of the logbook page, NH 96566-KN), U.S. Naval Historical Center via Wikimedia Commons primary

See it in the chronicle