Fredrik Rosing Bull

Fredrik Rosing Bull was a Norwegian scientist and information technology pioneer known for his work on improved punched card machines. Born in Kristiania, now Oslo, in 1882, he finished his civil engineering studies at the Technical School of Kristiania in 1907. In 1916 he was hired as a technical inspector for the insurance company Storebrand, where he was sent abroad to study Herman Hollerith's systems, came back convinced that a cheaper and more efficient device could be built, and began developing his own punched card machine. He obtained a patent in 1919 for a design that describes a programmable tabulating machine, and the machine itself was completed in 1923. Bull continued to work until his illness worsened in the fall of 1924 and he died in 1925; his patent rights were then acquired by Oka, where his colleague Knutsen continued the improvement of the machine.