Computing Atlas

How Computing Was Built
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Manchester Baby

Also Known As Small-Scale Experimental Machine
Early Computer

The Manchester Baby, also called the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, was the first electronic stored program computer: the first machine to hold its own program in the same memory as its data, which is the organization every modern computer uses. It was built at the Victoria University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill, and ran its first program on 21 June 1948, a date this atlas treats as the birthday of software as a thing a machine can hold. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year
1948 1
Significance
The first electronic stored program computer; it ran the world's first stored program on 21 June 1948. 1
Connections

In Field

Computer Architecture, Fields

Invented By

Frederic C. Williams, Pioneers

Verified en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Baby: "It was built at the Victoria University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Tootill." Geoff Tootill is not yet a live pioneer entity in this atlas.

Tom Kilburn, Pioneers

Verified en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Baby: "It was built at the Victoria University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Tootill." Geoff Tootill is not yet a live pioneer entity in this atlas.

Predecessor Of

EDSAC, Systems
Source Wikipedia: EDSAC
Manchester Mark 1, Systems

Once the Baby had proved the stored-program concept workable, the University of Manchester developed it into the full-scale Manchester Mark 1.

Source Wikipedia: Manchester Baby
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Manchester Baby
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Opening section
    The Manchester Baby, also called the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), was the first electronic stored-program computer.
  • Predecessor Of: Manchester Mark 1, Lead section
    As soon as the Baby had demonstrated the feasibility of its design, a project was initiated at the university to develop it into a full-scale operational machine, the Manchester Mark 1.
View the Source
Wikipedia: EDSAC
Wikimedia FoundationPredecessor Of: EDSAC, Lead section
Quote, Predecessor Of: EDSAC, Lead section
the 1948 Manchester Baby computer predated EDSAC as a stored-program computer
View the Source
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