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The First Computer Bug Was an Actual Bug
In 1947, engineers working on the Harvard Mark II computer found a moth trapped in a relay, causing a malfunction. Grace Hopper taped the moth into the logbook with the note 'First actual case of bug being found,' popularizing the term 'debugging.'
Why It’s Fascinating
The original logbook with the moth is preserved at the Smithsonian. While the term 'bug' was already used informally in engineering, this incident cemented it in computing vocabulary forever. Every time a programmer 'debugs' code, they reference a dead moth from 1947.
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