Most of us have used the term "computer bug", but have you ever wondered where it comes from, and who coined the expression?
The first computer bug was said to be found at Harvard University in 1947, and it was an actual bug. At the time, computers were the size of a small room with plenty of space for insects to crawl into the warm machinery. A moth had done just that, and gotten crushed in a relay point, causing problems with the computing.
But while this was the first documented case of finding an actual computer bug, it was not the first case of the word being used. The first time it was recorded was in a letter written by Thomas Edison, dated March 3, 1878:
You were partly correct, I did find a "bug" in my apparatus, but it was not in the telephone proper. It was of the genus "callbellum". The insect appears to find conditions for its existence in all call apparatus of telephones.
So the next time you use the term "computer bug", remember to say a little thanks to Edison.