~ 3500 BCE - Data determines food distribution
Sumerian priests distribute crops based on the data from the Sumerian accounting system, which records daily events with a formalized writing system called cuneiform. (Krebs & Krebs 2004:152)

~ 1000-500 BCE - The abacus: first calculating aid
The exact origins of the abacus are unknown, but it may have been simultaneously developed by several civilizations and then refined over time. By 500 BCE, ancient Egyptians construct a counting frame made with beads and wire, and the abacus is also involved in Silk Road commerce around the second century BCE. (Krebs & Krebs 2004:173)

150-100 BCE - Antikythera mechanism: first "analog computer"
Sponge divers in 1901 find this ancient Greek instrument composed of 37 gear wheels in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece. The device was used to predict solar and lunar eclipses over an 18-year span and has been called an "ancient analog computer." [1]

600-1000 - Knot-based binary code finds economic trends
The Inca of South America use quipu - a system of knot-tying - to find trends and patterns in their farming, and as a shared system of record-keeping for use throughout the Inca domain. Quipu has been called "a three-dimensional binary code" [2] similar to the language of today's computers.

1441 - Regions standardize systems to make financial decisions
King Sejong of Korea uses standardized rain gauges to measure the rainfall in different regions. Villagers determine their potential harvest based on the results, and from these calculations, tax percentages are decided. [3]

1666 - Government planning helped by data collection
In the first census in Quebec, all information is personally collected by Jean Talon to help plan the colony of New France. He counts 3,215 inhabitants and records their age, sex, marital status, and occupation. [4]

1801 - Technology aids textiles industry
Joseph Jacquard revolutionizes the weaving industry by introducing an automated weaving process. This forms the basis of the computing punch cards that Herman Hollerith later uses to calculate the U.S. census results.[5]

1841 - At least 35,000 pencils used to count UK population
The United Kingdom census uses 35,000 male enumerators with pencils and records 16 million people. [6]

1871 - Canadian census takes two years to publish by hand
After the first national Canadian census, 35 to 50 clerks unaided by machines of any kind compile the results and publish them in five bilingual volumes in 1873. [7]

1880 - US census takes seven years to analyze
The United States census takes nine years to compile - full statistical analysis takes seven years. [8]

1884 - First business intelligence-related patent
Herman Hollerith, a census bureau employee, files a patent for "the art of compiling statistics". (Kidwell & Creuzzi 1994:46)

1887 - Mortality rates analyzed by machine
Herman Hollerith uses equipment related to his 1884 patent to tabulate mortality stats for the city of Baltimore. Soon after, he also analyzes the data from New Jersey and New York, and exhibits his equipment at the 1889 World Fair in Paris. (Kidwell & Creuzzi 1994:46)

1890 - Punch cards speed up census process
Herman Hollerith uses his punch card system to help tabulate the US census results of 1890. [9]

1924 - Punch card inventor forms company
Herman Hollerith joins his business - Tabulating Machine Company - with a few other companies, and in 1924 they become International Business Machines Company (IBM). [10]

1920s and 30s - Computer designed to read and write secret messages
The Enigma, a German-designed computer, encrypts and sends messages using an electric signal passed through a series of circuits and transmitted by radio. (Kidwell & Creuzzi 1994:52)

1945 - Need for BI in department stores recognized
Vannevar Bush writes 'As We May Think', an article about the future of computing devices. He cites the need in department stores for a streamlined process and envisions instruments that give people access and command over knowledge, though the technology does not yet exist. [11]

1945 - ENIAC: first large-scale computer completed
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the "first successful general-purpose electronic computer" (Kidwell & Creuzzi 1994:64), is funded by the army, costs $500,000 each, and requires six full-time technicians to run. Its first calculations include ballistics work and numerical weather predictions.

1950 - Mathematician cites need for computer feedback
Mathematician Norbert Wiener writes a book about a computing device that gives 'feedback': "the ability of a machine to use the results of its own performance as self-regulating information and to adjust itself as part of an ongoing process." (Roszak 1993:9)

1952 - Computer predicts election win on television
The first Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC) becomes famous during a live broadcast of the 1952 presidential election. CBS had predicted Stevenson the winner based on a sample of votes, and UNIVAC chose a landslide victory for Eisenhower. CBS announced Eisenhower would win by a small margin, but later admitted that UNIVAC had been right. (Krebs & Krebs 2004:71)

1956 - 40,000 missing people found by Canada Post
The Canada Census Enumeration process of 1956 involves a postal check of 60% of Canadian households by letter carriers in 170 urban areas. A follow-up of missed addresses adds over 40,000 persons to the total population count. [12]

1962 - Mainframe computers standardized; reports created
The release of IBM System/360 creates a global standard for mainframe computers, which had been using a variety of processors, programs, and connections to periphery devices. This means that large companies can develop management info systems and provide managers with structured, periodic reports. [13] (Krebs & Krebs 2004:73)

1963 - The "birth" of computer graphics
Sketchpad becomes the first program to interactively create line drawings on a computer screen. [14]

1966-67 - Washers and dryers play role in decision-making research
Scott Morton creates an experiment with managers making key decisions using a management decision system (MDS) to coordinate production planning of laundry equipment. This showcases the relationship between computers, analytical models, and managerial decisions. [15]

1969 - LANPAR: budgeting application for big companies
LANguage for Programming Arrays at Random, an electronic spreadsheet-type application, is used for budgeting by Bell Canada, AT&T, Bell operating companies, and General Motors. [16]

1970 - Codd proposes relational databases
In his paper 'A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks', E.F. Codd outlines ways to use relational calculus and algebra so non-technical users can store and retrieve large amounts of information. Codd later invents the term OLAP. [17] [18] [19]

1976 - Relational database system released
The first commercially available relational database system is released by Honeywell in June of 1976. [20]

1979 - First "interactive visible calculator"
VisiCalc, the first personal computer application, launches - providing many business people with an incentive to purchase a personal computer or an HP calculator. [21]

1980 - US president changes approach based on insight from numbers
Ronald Reagan adjusts his vocabulary, speech, and tone based on calculations from nation-wide public opinion polling. His tone becomes calmer, he begins using 'peace' and 'a margin of safety' more, and referring to war and the arms race less. (Roszak 1993:187)

1981 - Debut of the mouse
The Xerox Star 8010 information system launches - the first work station with a built-in mouse for input. [22]

1982 - Executive information system: first dashboard
MIT coins the term EIS in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Initially designed to present key corporate data in a visual package to decision makers, EIS pulls mainframe data from financial systems and simplifies it - quickly and easily delivering integrated information from a variety of sources. [23][24][25]

1983 - Spreadsheet software gets serious
Lotus 1-2-3 makes spreadsheets easy to use with integrated charting, plotting and database capabilities, and establishes spreadsheet software as a major data presentation package as well as complex calculation tool. [26]

1985 - Business intelligence plants roots in retail
Metaphor Computer Systems builds a decision support system linking sales information with retail scanner data for Proctor & Gamble. [27]

1985 - First version of Excel
Microsoft launches Excel 1.0 - the first combination of a graphical user interface with pulldown menus and mouse-driven point-and-click capabilities for the 512K Apple Macintosh. [28]

1988 - Precursor to Crystal Reports: Quik Reports
Crystal Services launches Quik Reports in November, a DOS-based reporting add-on for ACCPAC accounting. Four years later, this company releases Quik Reports for Windows, and changed the product's name to "Crystal Reports for Windows). [29]

1989 - Term "business intelligence" invented
"Business intelligence" is first used, describing the set of concepts and methods to improve business decision-making by using fact-based support systems. [30][31]

Early 1990s - ERP bridges gap
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) emerges - linking the gap between huge databases of corporate information and client/server technologies. ERP describes the integrated, multimodule software packages which serve and support multiple business functions - such as the selling process, customer service, human resources, finance and purchasing. [32][33]

1990 - Business Objects is born in Paris
"Business Objects was born out of an idea, out of hope, and out of great motivation. We wanted to build something that mattered - a product that would change the way information is used."
- Bernard Liautaud, chairman of the board and chief strategy officer of Business Objects [34]

1992 - Crystal Reports launches
The first Windows report writer launches, allowing the creation of reports capable of retrieving and formatting a result set from a database or other data source.

1993 - OLAP coined by Codd
E.F. Codd invents the term On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) to describe multidimensional analysis. [35]

1995 - Business intelligence meets the Web
Web-based and Web-enabled decision support systems become feasible, as well as the first Internet database applications. [36][37]

1996 - BI meets OLAP
BusinessObjects 4.0 launches - the first tool to provide seamless multidimensional and relational reporting from desktop cubes dynamically built from relational data. [38]

1997 - "Analytic applications" coined
Henry Morris defines analytic applications as the family of programs which provide guidance in the decision-making process by accessing time-based data from multiple sources. [39]

1997 - First interactive Web reporting tool: Web Intelligence
Business Objects launches Web Intelligence, the first application to provide an interactive enterprise query, reporting, and analysis solution for the Web, with report creation via a browser. [40][41]

1998 - First supply-chain extranet
Owens & Minor pioneers a powerful supply-chain extranet - the first of its kind - to track sales and manage inventory, helping the company gain over $60 million in new business. [42]

1999 - Predictive analysis debuts
Future business conditions are forecasted by analyzing data - changing the way retailers, marketers, financial institutions, and organizations of all kinds do business. [43]

2000 - BI goes mobile
InfoView - the first interactive, wireless BI portal - launches in March by Business Objects, making personalized BI accessible anywhere, anytime. [44]

2001 - Coffee chain uses risk analysis to minimize claims
Using an internet-based service called Risk Intelligence, Zurich U.S. analyzes its insurance data to help big-liability clients like Starbucks manage and minimize its claims. The company is able to determine which locations with a certain foot-traffic pattern have a high rate of spilled coffee, and recommend changes based on the results. [45]

2002 - Terabytes of data recorded every day
A University of California at Berkeley study states that "humankind will record more information in just the next three years than it has since the dawn of civilization." [46]

2002 - First dashboard
Lands' End, a leading direct retailer, deploys one of the first executive dashboards - monitoring merchandise and inventory levels, including seasonal flow. [47]

2004 - Flexible supply-chain management weathers hurricane
7-Eleven's "centrally decentralized" supply chain allows managers tracking Hurricane Isabel to adjust their orders based on the path of the storm. [48]

2005 - Reporting tool increases Juneau safety
Weekly automated reports on bear incidents help the Juneau Police Department determine when bear sightings become a risk for its citizens. [49]

2005 - First analysis of RFID data
Graniterock becomes the first company to analyze radio frequency identification data from its tagging system, which tracks inventory and supply movement, like the arrival and departure of trucks at loading locations. [50]

2006 - Predictive analysis helps couples find love
An online dating service uses predictive analysis to identify variables for its operational models and improve the algorithms used to match people together, resulting in an increased success rate. [51]

2006 - BI helps allocate emergency room resources
By identifying the ER's peak times, hospitals can manage their resources - such as number of nurses and bed allocations - for improved clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. [52]

2007 and on - The future of BI
"The future of BI involves a dramatic shift in end-user consumption... [d]ata will come from all sources of structured and unstructured information, both inside of the enterprise and outside - including personally created information stores of emails, spreadsheets, documents, and messaging."
- Bernard Liautaud, chairman of the board and chief strategy officer at Business Objects