The Jacquard loom was the first automatic loom capable of weaving complex patterns such as tapestry, brocade, and damask. It was able to perform such difficult patterns with the use of punched cards that controlled its operation, although it did no computations based on the cards. Jacquard's mechanical loom used punched cards to program patterns that were output as woven fabrics by the loom. French silk-weaver and inventor Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) invented the loom, which eventually became known as the Jacquard loom, in 1801 when he placed cards on a rolling drum. Jacquard's system greatly improved on the punched-card technology that Jacques de Vaucanson earlier developed for use in his own loom during 1745. The Jacquard loom allowed complex patterns to be created quickly and efficiently for the first time by utilizing interchangeable punched cards that controlled the weaving of the cloth so that any desired pattern could...