On Dec. 9, 1968, engineer Douglas Engelbart introduced the computer mouse at a product demo, bringing one of the essential elements of the personal computer to the public. The Onion looks back at the development of the computer mouse on its 50-year anniversary.
1506:
Leonardo da Vinci sketches rudimentary plans for a trackball.
1970:
Xerox unveils a computer mouse the size of an entire room.
1980:
The invention of the optical mouse is suppressed by the rubber ball industry.
1985:
Steve Jobs resigns from Apple in a rage after a heated argument over whether they’re called “mice” or “mouses.”
1991:
The world’s first wireless mouse is bought and immediately lost.
1996:
Last worthwhile thing clicked.
1998:
Those mice with the big-ass red-and-black trackballs came out, and everyone had one for two or three years.
1999:
Microsoft’s new LED mouse devastates the thriving mousepad industry.
2018:
Coworker with stupid fancy ergonomic chair announces plans to buy dumbass vertical mouse.
