The Unexpected Role of Punch Cards in Textile Production

I always thought punch cards were used solely for programming early computers, but I recently discovered that this is not the case. During my visit to the National Museum of Scotland, I encountered the Jacquard loom, invented by French weaver Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1804. I learned that this production of patterned textiles was automated using punch cards, demonstrating their use as far back as the 1800s. I was surprised to find out about this historical application of punch cards.