The first computer mouse was one of many breakthrough innovations originating at SRI. Engelbart conceived of the mouse in the early 1960s while exploring the interactions between humans and computers. Bill English, then the chief engineer at SRI, built the first prototype in 1964. A replica of the original computer mouse—a carved block of wood with a single red button -- is on display in the lobby of SRI's headquarters in Menlo Park, CA. Designs with multiple buttons soon followed. A single wheel or a pair of wheels was used to translate the motion of the mouse into cursor movement on the screen. Engelbart was the inventor on the basic patent for what was then called the "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System." The patent was filed in 1967 and issued in 1970. (see patent #3,541,541)

For Engelbart, the mouse was one part of a much larger technological system whose purpose was to facilitate organizational learning and global online collaboration.

When Engelbart was a graduate student in electrical engineering, he began to imagine ways in which all sorts of information could be displayed on the screens of cathode ray tubes, and he dreamed of "flying" through a variety of information spaces. In early 1959, he pursued his visionary ideas further into the formulation of a theoretical framework for the co-evolution of human skills, knowledge, and organizations. At the heart of his vision was the computer as an extension of human communication capabilities and a resource for the augmentation of human intellect.

By 1968, Engelbart had formed and was directing SRI's Augmentation Research Center. With this group of young computer scientists and electrical engineers, he staged a 90-minute public multimedia demonstration at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. It was the world debut of personal and interactive computing when a computer mouse controlled a networked computer system to demonstrate hypertext linking, real-time text editing, multiple windows with flexible view control, cathode display tubes, and shared-screen teleconferencing.

It changed what is possible. The 1968 event, which has been called the "mother of all demos", presaged many of the technologies we use today, from personal computing to social networking. The demo embodied Engelbart's vision of solving humanity's most important problems by using computers to improve communication and collaboration.

View highlights of the demonstration here, or see the complete 90-minute version on Stanford University's MouseSite.

SRI licensed the computer mouse technology to Apple, Xerox, and other companies. The mouse became commercially viable in 1984, three years before the patent’s expiration. This is just one indication of how far ahead of the rest of the world Engelbart and his Augmentation Research Center team at SRI were in the ideas they developed.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton honored Engelbart with the National Medal of Technology. The Medal is the nation's highest technology honor, recognizing innovators who have made lasting contributions to enhancing America's competitiveness and standard of living and whose solid science has resulted in commercially successful products and services.

Forty Years On: A Special Commemoration

On December 9, 2008, SRI presented a 40th anniversary celebration of the historic 1968 demo. The public event was held at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium.