Mother of All Demos: Mouse and Hypertext Born
Douglas Engelbart unveiled the computer mouse, hypertext, and a bit-mapped graphical user interface during his legendary "Mother of All Demos" in 1968. This single presentation forced the tech industry to abandon command-line interfaces for the visual, interactive systems that define modern computing today.
December 9, 1968
58 years ago
Key Figures & Places
graphical user interface
Wikipedia
Douglas Engelbart
Wikipedia
NLS (computer system)
Wikipedia
hypertext
Wikipedia
The Mother of All Demos
Wikipedia
computer mouse
Wikipedia
Douglas Engelbart
Wikipedia
The Mother of All Demos
Wikipedia
Computer mouse
Wikipedia
Hypertext
Wikipedia
Graphical user interface
Wikipedia
NLS (computer system)
Wikipedia
San Francisco
Wikipedia
What Else Happened on December 9
Odoacer didn't just take Dalmatia — he bought it. The man who'd deposed Rome's last emperor five years earlier paid 2,000 pounds of gold to quiet rivals, then t…
The gates opened at dawn. Not a sword drawn, not a drop of blood. Belisarius walked into Rome with 5,000 men while the Ostrogothic garrison — outnumbered, under…
The gates stood open. No battle, no siege — just an empty city. Belisarius rode into Rome on December 9th with his Byzantine army, and the Ostrogothic garrison …
Al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah had crushed rebellions across three continents. Then he rode into the Caucasus foothills with 25,000 men and met the Khazars waiting in t…
Pope Martin V issued a papal bull establishing the Catholic University of Leuven, creating the first university in the Low Countries. This institution became a …
Švitrigaila's forces clash with Sigismund Kęstutaitis near Oszmiana, igniting the most violent phase of the Lithuanian Civil War. This battle fractures the Gran…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.