Previous: 1971 / Next: 1973
Intro and links to the other years in the timeline |
| TECHNOLOGY -
-
The first public demonstration of ARPANET takes place during the International Conference on Computer Communications in Washington, DC. Two of the organizers of the demonstration are Robert Kahn from BBN and Larry Roberts, director of ARPA’s Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO). Researchers from around the world leave the conference excited about the network’s possibilities. -
In 1972 many of the key people involved with the development of computer networks participate in a film called, “Computer Networks: The Herald of Resource Sharing.” (Related Video: “Computer Networks.” Posted on Google Video.) -
The software for PLATO, an early computer time-sharing system at the University of Illinois at Urbana, is ported to a more powerful mainframe platform that will allow support for hundreds of simultaneous users. -
A group is formed to develop standards for the growing ARPANET computer network. The International Network Working Group (INWG) creates various Internet protocol documents. They appoint Vinton Cerf as their chairman. - The Texas Instruments TI-2500 Datamath calculator is formally introduced. It performs addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
- The Atari company introduces PONG, one of the first coin-operated computerized arcade games. (See also: “History of Video Games, 1972-2007.” Posted on YouTube.)
| | THE MEDIA - During the early 1970s newspaper newsrooms begin replacing their typewriters with computer front-end systems that include video display terminals (VDTs) and cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Among the first newspapers to use front-end systems in the early 1970s are (Cocoa) Today and the Daytona Beach Journal.
Other papers that soon added computers include:
The Detroit News, St. Petersburg Times, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. - Two reporters from The Philadelphia Inquirer create a computer database for a news story they are researching about the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Donald Barlett and James Steele’s computer-assisted database uses IBM punch cards and a mainframe computer. Phil Meyer from the Knight Newspapers Washington bureau designs and writes the database coding scheme and analysis program. (The final story is published in February 1973.)
- The commercial version of the Dialog database service is started.
(Source: 2003 Searcher history article: part one and two)
Also in 1972, the System Development Corporation, which created the National Library of Medicine’s ELHILL database retrieval program in 1969, launches a commercial version of the ORBIT online service. -
Additional Resources |
Support high-integrity, independent journalism that serves truth and democracy. Make a gift to Poynter today. The Poynter Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and your gift helps us make good journalism better.
Donate
Poynter program gives April 2025 participants personalized guidance so they return to their newsrooms ready to lead
The social media platform joins X, Meta and YouTube in big tech’s push toward crowdsourced fact-checking
Instead of letting the AP back into the press pool, the White House eliminated the guaranteed spot for wire services altogether
Generative AI is changing journalism. Audiences have clear expectations for how it’s used.
El Salvador's president and Trump officials misrepresented Abrego Garcia’s case, his protections, and a Supreme Court order to return him
Back to News
