PrefaceThe demand for computing devices arises from the need to perform calculations and process data efficiently. There have been many different factors that have influenced the history of computing, but none as majorly as the US Census. The US Census required efficient data processing due to the large numbers and various types of data processed. The US census was the catalyst for the information technology boom. Its effects are still felt to this day. History of the United States Census The United States Census was initially established as a mandate of the Constitution to determine each state's representation in the House of Representatives in Congress. The first US census was taken in 1790. A counting system was used to enumerate the population until 1890. This form of manual data processing was too slow and cumbersome to account for the population explosion of the United States. After 1880 the U.S. census processed much more data than previous censuses due to the influx of immigration and the expansion of the U.S. borders. From 1790 to 1880 the census went from 3.9 to 50.2 million people respectively. The 1880 census took 9 years to complete. The counting system was ineffective and took too long; it was feared that the next census would not be completed in less than 10 years (Shelburne). In 1888, the US Census Bureau held a competition for a more effective and faster way to process census data. Three competitors presented their projects (Census History Staff). A young engineer named Herman Hollerith swept the competition. His machine, called the Hollerith Electric Tabulator System, won the competition by a landslide in terms of the time it took to tabulate the entire... center of the paper... acquard." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia .com, 2004. Web . 31 October 2011. .O'Connor, J. J. and E. F. Robertson "Hollerith Biography." Mark. "Herman Hollerith: The World's First Statistical Engineer." Web 31 October 2011. Shelburne, Brian J. "The 1890 Census, Hermann Hollerith and the origins of IBM". The Constitution of the United States at the University of Wittenberg, 2007. Web. 31 October 2011. "Thomas J. Watson Web. 2011. .