Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 4: Digital Era (1960s)
1964
Doug Engelbart Designs the First Computer Mouse
Doug Engelbart, a computer engineer, conceived the first computer mouse, which his engineer Bill English built from wood with one button. Engelbart’s invention was a significant contribution to the development of modern computing and the tools that would enable digital art. It revolutionized the way users interacted with computers, making it easier and more intuitive to navigate through graphical user interfaces.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Bill English, Douglas Engelbart
Movements
digital art
Filed under
- Ideas
- digital art, tools
- Technologies
- computer mouse, graphical user interface (GUI), Human-Computer Interaction
- People
- Bill English, Douglas Engelbart
Echoes across time
- 1983 · Apple’s Lisa: Early Personal Computer with GUI
- 1982 · The First Touchpad Introduced
- 1982 · Ernest Edmonds Founds HCIRU Research Group
Le Random editorials
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt I (1960s) with Dr A Michael Noll — listen with transcript on Le Random (07 Sep 2023, 60 min). Chapter 4’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt II (1960s) with Michael Spalter — listen with transcript on Le Random (21 Sep 2023, 77 min). Chapter 4’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify