We think of punched cards as old-fashioned, but still squarely part of the computer age. Turns out, cards were in use way before they got conscripted by computers. Jacquard looms are one famous ...

In 2015, a mechanical engineer decided to use a two-week hiatus before a new job to re-examine his card collection. Sorting through his collectibles took longer than expected — 24 hours spread over ...