IBM General Knowledge Facts

International Business Machines Corporation  is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, with headquarters in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and markets computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. The company was founded in 1911 as the Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR) through a merger of three companies: the Tabulating Machine Company, the International Time Recording Company, and the Computing Scale Company. IBM's current "8-bar" logo was designed in 1972 by graphic designer Paul Rand. Security analysts nicknamed IBM Big Blue in recognition of IBM's common use of blue in products, packaging, and logo. IBM has 12 research laboratories worldwide and, as of 2013, has held the record for most patents generated by a company for 20 consecutive years. Its employees have garnered five Nobel Prizes, six Turing Awards, ten National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science. Famous inventions by IBM include the automated teller machine (ATM), the floppy disk, the hard disk drive, the magnetic stripe card, the relational database, the Universal Product Code (UPC), the financial swap, SABRE airline reservation system, DRAM, and Watson artificial intelligence. IBM was among the first corporations to provide group life insurance (1934), survivor benefits (1935) and paid vacations (1937). IBM was recognized as one of the "Top 20 Best Workplaces for Commuters" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2005.  In 2012, Fortune ranked IBM the #2 largest U.S. firm in terms of number of employees (433,362). IBM also holds the SmartCamp program globally. The program searches for fresh start-up companies that IBM can partner with to solve world problems. IBM holds 17 SmartCamp events around the world. Since July 2011, IBM has partnered with Pennies, the electronic charity box, and produced a software solution for IBM retail customers that provides an easy way to donate money when paying in-store by credit or debit card.  Extreme Blue is a company initiative that uses experienced IBM engineers, talented interns, and business managers to develop high-value technology. The project is designed to analyze emerging business needs and the technologies that can solve them.  On April 7, 1964 IBM announced the first computer system family, the IBM System/360. In 2006, IBM launched Secure Blue, encryption hardware that can be built into microprocessors. On March 1, 2011, IBM announced the Smarter Computing framework to support Smarter Planet. In 2005, the company sold its personal computer business to Lenovo, and in the same year, agreed to acquire Micromuse.