The First Computer Bug Was an Actual Bug
In 1947, computer pioneer Grace Hopper found a moth trapped in a relay of the Harvard Mark II computer. She taped the insect in the logbook with the note: “First actual case of bug being found.” While the term “bug” for technical problems existed before this incident, this literal bug helped popularize the term in computing. Hopper’s moth remains preserved at the Smithsonian Institution today.
