Systems

UNIVAC I

Also Known As Universal Automatic Computer I

Commercial Computer

Citation Formats

General Reference

Computing Atlas. "UNIVAC I." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/systems/univac-i.

APA Style

Computing Atlas. (n.d.). UNIVAC I. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/systems/univac-i

BibTeX

@misc{computingatlas-univac-i,
  author = {Computing Atlas},
  title = {UNIVAC I},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/systems/univac-i},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The UNIVAC I, the Universal Automatic Computer I, was the first general purpose electronic digital computer for business applications produced in the United States. Designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the builders of ENIAC, the first UNIVAC was accepted by the United States Census Bureau on 31 March 1951. On election night 1952 it predicted, against the polls, that Eisenhower would win in a landslide over Stevenson at odds of 100 to 1, the moment a computer first entered American public life.

Facts

Year

1951 1

Accepted by the United States Census Bureau on 31 March 1951.

Significance

The first American commercial computer for business applications, and the machine whose 1952 election night prediction introduced computers to the American public. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

In Field

Computer Architecture

Invented By

J. Presper Eckert

John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, ENIAC's designers, founded the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and went on to design UNIVAC I, the first commercially produced computer in the United States.

Source Wikipedia: J. Presper Eckert

John Mauchly

John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, ENIAC's designers, founded the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and went on to design UNIVAC I, the first commercially produced computer in the United States.

Source Wikipedia: John Mauchly

Preceded By

ENIAC

UNIVAC I was designed principally by Eckert and Mauchly, the builders of ENIAC.

Source Wikipedia: UNIVAC I

Sources

1. Wikipedia: UNIVAC I

Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction and Market Positioning sections

Quote, Introduction and Market Positioning sections

The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) was the first general-purpose electronic digital computer for business applications produced in the United States.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia: UNIVAC I

Wikimedia FoundationMarket Positioning section

Quote, Market Positioning section