EDSAC
The EDSAC ('Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer) ran its first program May 6, 1949, and was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at Cambridge University, based on the EDVAC design report by John von Neumann.
This was not the first stored program computer (see the Manchester Baby), but rather the first practical stored program computer. As soon as it was constructed, it immediately began serving the University's research needs. None of its components were experimental. It used mercury delay lines for memory, and derated vacuum tubes for logic. In 1953, David Wheeler, returning from the University of Illinois, designed an index register as an extension to the original EDSAC hardware.
The project was supported by J. Lyons & Co. Ltd., a British firm, who were rewarded with the first commercial computer, LEO I, based on the EDSAC design.
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Referenced By
1949 | CPU architecture | Central Processing Unit | Computing timeline 1950-1979 | Computing timeline 500 BC-1949 | Delay line memory | ENIAC | Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer | LEO I | Leo Computers | List of computer scientists | Maurice V. Wilkes | Maurice Vincent Wilkes | Maurice Wilkes | Timeline of computing 1950-1979 | Timeline of computing 500 BC-1949
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