 "Residents try to use mobile phone to call their missing relatives as they search for survivors amongst the rubble of a collapsed building in China's Sichuan Province on May 15, 2008. File image/AP")
Earthquakes have always had a devastating effect across the world. One of the worst earthquakes of all time was the one that occurred on May 12, 2008, in China’s Sichuan province.
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On this day in 1941, the world’s first programmable and fully automatic computer, the Z3, was officially presented in Berlin by German engineer Konrad Zuse.
Here is all that took place across the world on this day.
Sichuan earthquake of 2008
One of the worst earthquakes in the world took place on May 12, 2008, in the Sichuan province of China. The quake killed over 87,000 people, many of whom were trapped in collapsed school buildings. The event led to injuries affecting nearly five million individuals and the displacement of more than 15 million residents from their homes.
Measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, the earthquake struck at 2:28 pm local time, with its epicentre in Wenchuan County, about 80 kilometres northwest of Chengdu. The deadliest quake in China since 1976, it caused widespread destruction across 10 provinces, levelling buildings, roads and infrastructure. Entire urban areas were reduced to a state of ruin. Of particular concern was the collapse of inadequately constructed school buildings, which ignited widespread public outcry concerning deficient construction standards and the accountability of governmental bodies.
If this was not all, aftershocks followed the earthquake with some of them registering above six magnitude. This turn complicated rescue efforts and deepened trauma. Massive landslides triggered by the quake buried communities and blocked rivers, creating dangerous “quake lakes” that threatened to flood entire regions unless urgently drained.
China launched an enormous rescue and relief operation , mobilising troops, medical teams, and volunteers from across the country. The Sichuan earthquake is important as it prompted a re-examination of building codes and emergency preparedness in China. It also led to massive investment in rebuilding efforts, particularly in rural and mountainous regions.
The world’s first programmable computer presented
History was created on this day in 1941, with the presentation of the world’s first programmable and fully automatic computer , the Z3, by German engineer Konrad Zuse. The Z3 marked a significant milestone in the evolution of computing, laying foundational principles for modern computers.
The Z3, developed in the period between 1938 and 1941, employed electromechanical relays and operated at a frequency range of approximately 5 to 10 Hertz. Notably, it possessed the capability for floating-point arithmetic and exhibited Turing completeness, implying its theoretical ability to solve any computational problem given adequate time and memory. Input for basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division was provided automatically through punched film.
Zuse designed the Z3 to assist in engineering calculations for aircraft design at the German Research Institute for Aviation. It proved especially useful for solving complex equations and performing repetitive calculations faster and more accurately than human computation. Unlike earlier mechanical calculators, the Z3 operated fully automatically once a program was loaded, making it the first truly programmable computer.
Due to the secrecy of the project and the ongoing World War II, the Z3 remained largely unknown outside Germany during its time. Unfortunately, the original Z3 was destroyed during a bombing raid in 1943, but a working replica was later built and is now on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Zuse’s innovation remained underrecognised until decades later, when historians acknowledged the Z3’s place in computing history. The Z3 is recognised as the first step toward the powerful digital computers we use today.
This Day, That Year
On this day in 1937, King George VI of the United Kingdom was crowned following the abdication of Edward VIII.
English nurse Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy on this day in 1820.