Like most modern communication technologies, the computer had its origins in the military. However, the idea of a calculating machine had been around since the Chinese invented the abacus 2000 years ago, Blaise Pascal made an outline for a "digital calculating machine" in 1642 and Charles Babbage designed an automatic mechanical calculator in the early 19th century. Despite these early prototypes, it was not until WORLD WAR II and developments in the modern corporation and social welfare states in the early part of the 20th century that the first modern electronic computers were developed and used. Computers were first used in WWII, initially by the German military and shortly thereafter by the British and American militaries, as a means of breaking secret codes.