History of GIS

From the early days in Canada to the high tech world of internet mapping, the field of GIS is older than you may think. Significant events in GIS and geospatial technology are listed here in reverse chronological order.  This list is very much a work in progress; to propose an event or achievement for consideration on this list, send an email to editor@gislounge.com.  For historial cartography and mapping see Mapping Through the Ages.

2000

ArcGIS is released by Esri.

1992

Esri releases ArcView, the company’s first desktop GIS software.

1982

Esri releases ARC/INFO, the first commercial GIS software package.

1981

First annual Esri International User Conference was held with 16 attendees.

1969

Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), a GIS software company that makes ArcGIS, is founded by Jack Dangermond.

1960s

Roger Tomlinson, the widely acknowledged “Father of GIS” coins the term Geographic Information Systems.  Data for Decision is a three part video that overviews the Canada Land Inventory Geo-Information System where Tomlinson worked.

More Resources

Article on the GIS History Project
Article on the events behind the establishment of the GIS History Project.

Do Maps Have Morals?
Piece by MIT Technology Review detailing the dispute on the origins of GIS between its more benign academic beginnings and the more sinister military origins.

ESRI Company History
History of ESRI from its beginnings in 1969 to the development of the annual International User Conference which pulls in 12,000 attendees each year.

GIS History Project
Launched in 1996 the GIS History Project seeks to foster research and documentation of the evolution of GIS.

Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization
Michael Friendly and Daniel J. Denis, who are both Psychology Professors (Friendly at York University in Ontario, Canada and Denis at The University of Montana), have put together a comprehensive timeline showing “Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization.” The dynamic timeline categorizes significant events and achievements as cartography, technology or statistics and graphics. Each milestone is clickable with a summary and a link to further information. The timeline can be dragged left and right to either go back in time or forward.

National Academy Press
Timeline of significant past events and forces in GIS. From The Future of Spatial Data and Society (1997).

Map History
All kinds of great information about the history of maps and map-making. Find out about globes, paper maps and atlases.