A Brief History of Computing
One of the best resources for learning about the history of computers, is the history of the Unix machine! Classy name, right?
Computers started by reading punchcards; though eventually a language was developed to make their processes more automated. That language was C, or the seed that would grow into the C language. The system it was designed to build and maintain was call Unix.
A gentleman named Bill Gates soon started developing another system using the BASIC language; and this is how Microsoft as we know it, began.
It is important to note that C and Unix were originally created through the funding of Bell South Atlantic Labs and various US Universities researching computer engineering. Through a few coincidences, and convenient mishaps, C & Unix were made open-source; anyone could read the source code!
Early on, Microsoft differentiated itself from this trend, opting to be built on proprietary, or closed-source, code. And now open-source software is a growing norm, with open-source software available for most any application one might like to pursue. While the use of computers so common that a new problem has arisen.
Curiously enough during a lull in Unix development, while lawyers were deliberating, and individual named Linux Torvald created the Linux kernal; based on the original BSD Unix kernal, though entirely open-source.
And so, Linux was born spawning variants used across the world and the world's most prominant base for servers, and cloud computing.