History of Computer There were various computing devices used before the computer was created but, the abacus was one of the more often used calculation devices. The first mechanical computer, created by Charles Babbage in 1822. Charles Babbage, an English polymath, is often thought of as “the man who invented computers”. The idea of an electronic computer was first conceived by the English mathematician Charles Babbage, but it took until 1991 for a data processor to be physically constructed.