The idea of “the first computer” depends on what you mean by computer —mechanical, electronic, or modern-style programmable machine.

Super quick answer

  • Ancient mechanical “computer”: Antikythera mechanism, built around 100–200 BCE.
  • First design of a general-purpose computer: Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine (1822) and Analytical Engine (1830s), never fully built in his lifetime.
  • First working programmable electronic computers (WWII era):
    • Colossus (1943) – electronic, programmable, used for codebreaking.
* ENIAC (1945/46) – first fully functional general‑purpose electronic digital computer.

So if someone asks, “When was the first computer made?” most historians will answer: mid‑1940s , with Colossus and ENIAC, while noting earlier mechanical ancestors.

What counts as the “first computer”?

People and sources use “computer” in different ways:

  • Mechanical calculators that automatically compute (gears, wheels, no electricity).
  • Electro‑mechanical or electronic machines that follow instructions (programs).
  • General‑purpose machines (can be reprogrammed for many tasks) vs. special‑purpose (built for one kind of calculation).

That’s why you see several “firsts” instead of one clean date.

Key milestones (with years)

Here are the big “first computer” candidates, each from a different angle.

  1. Antikythera mechanism (c. 100–200 BCE)
    • Ancient Greek mechanical device that predicted astronomical events like eclipses.
 * Often called the earliest known mechanical analog computer.
  1. Babbage’s machines (1820s–1830s)
    • Difference Engine (1822) : Designed as an automatic calculating engine to compute tables.
 * **Analytical Engine (1830s)** : A design that looks remarkably like a modern computer conceptually—memory, a processing unit (“mill”), and programmable via punched cards.

 * They were not fully built in his lifetime, which is why people hesitate to call them the “first” _made_ computer.
  1. Early programmable and digital machines (1930s–1940s)
    • Z1 (1936–1938) by Konrad Zuse: Electro‑mechanical, binary, programmable—often called the first functional modern‑style computer.
 * **Turing machine concept (1936)** : A theoretical model by Alan Turing that underpins modern computing, not a physical machine but fundamental to how we define “computer.”

 * **ABC – Atanasoff–Berry Computer (1937–1942)** : Electronic, used vacuum tubes and binary math; a judge later ruled it was the first electronic digital computer design.
  1. Colossus and ENIAC (1940s)
    • Colossus (first working 1943) : Electronic, programmable, built in Britain to decrypt German messages in WWII. Often cited as the first electronic programmable computer, though it was special‑purpose.
 * **ENIAC (completed 1945, unveiled 1946)** : Room‑sized, electronic, general‑purpose digital computer. Many popular histories treat ENIAC as _the_ first computer, because it was fully functional and broadly known.

If your question is about the kind of computers that launched the digital age, you’re usually looking at 1943–1946.

How people usually answer this today

In modern articles, textbooks, and online discussions, you’ll typically see something like:

  • “The first electronic programmable computers appeared during World War II, especially Colossus (1943) and ENIAC (1945).”
  • “The concept of a general‑purpose computer goes back to Charles Babbage’s designs in the 1800s.”
  • “The earliest known mechanical computer is the Antikythera mechanism from around the 2nd century BCE.”

So the “right” answer depends on whether you’re thinking ancient mechanism, 19th‑century design, or 20th‑century working electronic machine.

If you need a one‑line date for your post

For most general readers and search queries like “when was the first computer made,” a practical, defensible line is:

The first modern electronic computers were built in the mid‑1940s , especially Colossus (1943) and ENIAC (completed 1945, publicly unveiled 1946).

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Learn when the first computer was made, from ancient mechanical devices to Babbage’s 1800s designs and the WWII‑era machines like Colossus and ENIAC that launched modern computing.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.