What is the history of the electronic spreadsheet?

Answer by  Xisco21 (110)

Visicalc is recognised as the first spreadsheet application, published in 1979 for the Apple II, and actually helped make the Apple II such a success. During the DOS era (1983 - mid 1990's) Lotus 1-2-3 was the dominant spreadsheet application. Helped by the success of Windows 95, Microsoft Excel became the most dominant application from the mid-90s onwards..

Answer by  Phil28 (379)

The word "spreadsheet" came from "spread" in its sense of a newspaper item that covers two facing pages, extending across the center fold. The compound word "spread-sheet" came to mean the format used to present book-keeping ledgers. Read the Wikipedia article on the subject for more detail.