When was punched-card equipment used for the first time to process the British census?
In 1911 punched-card equipment used for the first time to process the British census
A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to contain digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Digital data can be used for data processing applications or, in earlier examples, used to directly control automated machinery.
Punched cards were widely used through much of the 20th century in the data processing industry, where specialized and increasingly complex unit record machines, organized into semiautomatic data processing systems, used punched cards for data input, output, and storage. Many early digital computers used punched cards, often prepared using keypunch machines, as the primary medium for input of both computer programs and data.
While punched cards are now obsolete as a storage medium, as of 2012, some voting machines still use punched cards to record votes.