‍IT Professionals Day & the long arc of history

Pumpkin spiced lattes are back on the menu and schools are in session. That means the big day is finally here. If you didn’t have it circled on your calendar, now’s the time to set a recurring reminder for the third Tuesday in September.

Y’see, today is National IT Professionals Day!

It’s a day to remember that person at your org that performed CPR on your laptop, restored your corrupted file, or got you back into that app in the nick of time. Everyone’s got a story about an unsung hero in IT. 

If you shot over a quick “thanks” the last time they saved the day for you, maybe today is the day to get them a latte.

A short history of information technology

This heady day got us thinking about the role that all those tech fixers, tinkerers, and their more modern descendants working on the IT help desk have played across the centuries. 

While the term Information Technology may have been coined in 1958 by Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas C. Whisler in the Harvard Business Review, IT has always been there, in one form or another. For example, 237 years ago on this day, September 17th, in 1787 when the US Constitution was signed there may not have been a smartphone in the room but those quill pens counted as high tech back then–and someone had to keep them shipshape.

So, in honor of National IT Professionals Day, let’s take a journey through time, celebrating the pivotal moments that shaped our world—and the IT heroes behind them.

Mesopotamia – 3000 BC

Nearly 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians invented the first written language, cuneiform. The very fact that we’ve been keeping records for this long is a testament to our need to share and store information. It makes you wonder—what were they troubleshooting back then? Broken clay tablets? Lost scrolls?

Ancient civilizations and the abacus

Fast forward a few centuries, and early computing took shape in ancient civilizations like China and Egypt with the invention of the abacus—the original calculator. If you’ve walked through a market in Asia, chances are you’ve run across an abacus. They’re still used today. These boards with beads are used by kids, helping them learn basic math skills.

The 19th century

Now, let's leap forward to the 19th century. IT innovation may have taken a back seat for a while, but the Industrial Revolution brought a wave of new devices that would shape the future. Enter the Jacquard machine, the first programmable device, weaving intricate patterns into textiles using punch cards. And of course, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, the first automatic calculating machine, laid the groundwork for the computing age.

The 20th century

The 20th century was the stage for the real IT explosion. In 1911, Herman Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which eventually became IBM—maybe you’ve heard of them. In the 1930s, we saw the birth of the first automatic electromechanical digital computer, followed by the first general-purpose computer in the 1950s. From there, cloud computing emerged in the 1960s, email in the 1970s, and by the 1990s, the World Wide Web connected us all. Who could forget Nokia’s iconic leap, putting the internet in the palm of our hands!

The 21st century and beyond

The foundation laid in the 20th century launched us into a fully connected world. With the rise of cloud computing, mass data storage, and smartphones, IT has become the backbone of every industry. The launch of Amazon Web Services in 2006 accelerated this, cementing technology’s place in every corner of our lives. Today, it’s hard to imagine a world without apps, Wi-Fi, or smart devices.

Back to today

That brings us back to the heroes of the day—our IT professionals. From ancient Mesopotamia to the rapid refresh cycle of smartphone apps today, IT pros have been the ones solving problems, driving progress, and making it all work. So, here’s to you: our guardians of information and the keepers of the keys to our connected world.

Happy National IT Professionals Day—from all of us at Fixify. We appreciate you, today and always.