The mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Institute in 1963 after extensive usability testing. It was also called the bug, but eventually this was dropped in favor of mouse. It was one of several experimental pointing devices developed for Engelbart’s on-Line System (NLS), which was both a hardware and software system. The other devices were designed to exploit other body movements; for example, head-mounted devices attached to the chin or nose, but ultimately, the mouse won out because of its simplicity and convenience.
The first mouse was bulky, and used two gear wheels perpendicular to each other: the rotation of each wheel was translated into motion along one axis in the plane. Engelbart received patent US3541541 on November 17, 1970 for an “X-Y Position Indicator For A Display System”. At the time, Engelbart intended that users would hold the mouse continuously in one hand, and type on a five-key chord keyset with the other.
Invention of The Computer Mouse
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