Douglas Engelbart

Inventor of the computer mouse[14]

What is Douglas Engelbart known for?

Born on January 30, 1925, in Portland, Oregon, Douglas Carl Engelbart was a luminary figure in the fields of engineering and invention. After his early education at Franklin High School in Portland, Engelbart furthered his studies at Oregon State University and the University of California, Berkeley. His contributions to human-computer interaction are still admired today.

Engelbart is most celebrated for his innovation of the computer mouse, a device that has become integral to personal computing. His genius, however, extends beyond this popular invention. While at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, Engelbart spearheaded the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to graphical user interfaces, technologies that underpin the digital world we live in today.

His groundbreaking work was showcased in 1968 at "The Mother of All Demos", where Engelbart presented futuristic concepts like the computer mouse, bitmapped screens, and hypertext. The demonstration's profound influence on the tech industry remains evident even today. "Engelbart's law", named in his honor, encapsulates his observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential.

Despite encountering resistance in the later part of his career, Engelbart remained committed to his forward-thinking vision. In 1988, he and his daughter Christina launched the Bootstrap Institute, later known as The Doug Engelbart Institute, which continues to promote his innovative ideas.

Engelbart's precedence-setting work in the field of technology did not go unrecognized. He received the National Medal of Technology in 2000, the highest technology award in the U.S. Furthermore, his contributions were celebrated again in 2008 on the 40th anniversary of "The Mother of All Demos".

Engelbart passed away on July 2, 2013, leaving behind a legacy that continues to shape the landscape of technology and human-computer interaction to this day. Check out his personal website here to know more about his life and work.