Dev Tools · 1h ago
The First Computer Bug Was a Literal Moth in a Relay
On September 9, 1947, engineers found a moth trapped in a relay of Harvard's Mark II computer, causing errors. They taped it into the logbook with the note 'First actual case of bug being found.' The story highlights the importance of checking hardware when debugging embedded systems.
Meridian48 take
The moth didn't coin 'bug,' but it's a vivid reminder that IoT faults often live in the physical layer, not just software.
computer-historydebugging