Computers: where does the expression "bug" for computers come from?

We talk about a bug when a device does something wrong or a program crashes. Most of the time, it's annoying but not too serious. But sometimes the consequences are more serious. On June 4, 1996, the very first Ariane 5 rocket exploded in midair after 36 seconds, the fault of a computer bug. Moreover, according to a study, companies around the world spend around 50 billion euros to solve these bugs!

The very first to use the word "bug" was Thomas Edison, who discovered a fault in his phonograph and compared it to an imaginary insect that parasitized his invention. And "insect" is called "bug" in English. But the expression was really popularized on September 9, 1947. That day, at Harvard University, something abnormal happened on a supercomputer, the ancestor of our PCs today: a short- circuit has just caused its breakdown.

Grace Hopper, computer scientist in charge of the machine, seeks its cause. At this time, computers are huge bazaars that take up considerable space and entire rooms where the heat is sweltering. To cool it all down, there is no choice but to open the windows. And that's exactly where the problem came from.

"The moth effect"

Grace Hopper, after snooping, discovers a moth, stuck between two electrical relays of the computer. A real bug for once, at the origin of this short circuit. The image of Thomas Edison had become a reality! So the expression "bug" really went down in history that day thanks to Grace Hopper. And the funniest thing about all of this is that Grace Hopper sounds like grasshopper, the English word for a "grasshopper". Definitely bugs!

>> Oh yeah ? From Monday to Friday, Florian Gazan answers in one minute all the essential, existential, sometimes completely absurd questions that cross your mind. Very useful or totally useless knowledge to shine in society, absolutely incredible anecdotes to share, amazing stories to tell. And each time, you will say to yourself "Ah yeah?". An RTL Originals podcast.