Did you know? Programmers call problems in their code "bugs" — and once, the bug really was an insect!
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A moth in the relay
On 9 September 1947, the team working on the Harvard Mark II computer noticed it was misbehaving. When they looked inside, they found a moth stuck in one of its relays.
"First actual case of bug being found"
The team taped the moth into their logbook with the note "First actual case of bug being found". Engineers had already used the word bug for machine faults, but this was the first time it was a real insect. The story became famous because computing pioneer Grace Hopper, who worked with the Mark II, loved to tell it.
Where is it now?
The logbook page with the moth is kept at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Summary
- 9 September 1947 — Harvard Mark II
- A moth was found in a relay
- "Bug" already meant a fault, but this one was real
- The logbook is at the Smithsonian
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📚 Sources: Smithsonian NMAH · Computer History Museum · Britannica
