1. What is Microprocessor?

A microprocessor is a component that performs the instructions and tasks

involved in computer processing. In a computer system, the
microprocessor is the central unit that executes and manages the logical
instructions passed to it.
A microprocessor may also be called a processor or central processing
unit, but it is actually more advanced in terms of architectural design and is
built over a silicon microchip.

2. What is Microcontroller?
A microcontroller is a computer present in a single integrated circuit which
is dedicated to perform one task and execute one specific application.

It contains memory, programmable input/output peripherals as well a

processor. Microcontrollers are mostly designed for embedded applications
and are heavily used in automatically controlled electronic devices such as
cellphones, cameras, microwave ovens, washing machines, etc.

3.
A microprocessor generally does not have RAM, ROM and IO pins. It
usually uses its pins as a bus to interface to peripherals such as RAM,
ROM, Serial ports, Digital and Analog IO. It is expandable at the board
level due to this.

A microcontroller is 'all in one', the processor, ram, IO all on the one chip,
as such you cannot (say) increase the amount of RAM available or the
number of IO ports. The controlling bus is internal and not available to the
board designer.

This means that a microprocessor is generally capable of being built into

bigger general purpose applications than a microcontroller. The
microcontroller is usually used for more dedicated applications.

All of these are very general statements. There are chips available that blur
the boundaries.

4. History of Microprocessor and Microcontroller

History of Microcontroller
It was during 1970 and 1971 when Intel was working on inventing the
world’s first microprocessor, that Gary Boone of Texas Instruments was
working on quite a similar concept and invented the microcontroller. Boone
designed a single integrated circuit chip that could hold nearly all the
essential circuits to form a calculator; only the display and the keypad were
not incorporated. Surprisingly, this exceptional breakthrough in the field of
electronics and communication was rather given a mundane name of
TMS1802NC; however, the device wasn’t ordinary. It had five thousand
transistors providing 3000 bits of program memory and 128 bits of access
memory!! So, it was possible to program it to perform a range of functions

History of Microprocessor
Fair child semiconductors (founded in 1957) invented the first Integrated
Circuit in 1959 that marked the microprocessor history. In 1968, Gordan
Moore, Robert Noyce and Andrew Grove resigned from the Fair child
semiconductors and started their own company: Integrated Electronics
(Intel). In 1971, the first microprocessor Intel 4004 was invented. A
microprocessor is also known as a central processing unit in which
numbers of peripherals’ are fabricated on a single chip. It has ALU
(arithmetic and logic unit), a control unit, registers, bus systems and a clock
to perform computational tasks.
References:
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2874/microprocessor
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/3641/microcontroller
http://www.circuitstoday.com/microcontroller-invention-history
https://www.elprocus.com/microprocessor-history-and-brief-information-about-
its-generations/
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/1092/whats-the-difference--
between-a-microcontroller-and-a-microprocessor