ENIAC

ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, was long thought to have been the first electronic computer designed to be Turing-complete, capable of being reprogrammed by rewiring to solve a full range of computing problems. It was preceded in 1941 by the fully tape-programmable but still mechanical Z3 designed by Konrad Zuse in Germany and by the all-electronic rewire-to-reprogram but not fully general purpose British Colossus computer. Both ENIAC and Colossus used thermionic valves, that is, vacuum tubes, while Z3 used mechanical relays. The requirement to rewire to reprogram ENIAC was removed in 1948.

Related Topics:
Computer - Turing-complete - 1941 - Z3 - Konrad Zuse - Colossus computer - Thermionic valve - Vacuum tube - 1948

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ENIAC was developed and built by the U.S. Army for their Ballistics Research Laboratory with the purpose of calculating ballistic firing tables. ENIAC was conceived of and designed by J. Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly of the University of Pennsylvania. Mauchly borrowed ideas from the first electronic computer - Atanasoff Berry Computer. A patent infringement case (Sperry Rand Vs. Honeywell, 1973) voided the ENIAC patent as a derivative of John Atanasoff's invention. Atanasoff was quite generous in stating, "there is enough credit for everyone in the invention and development of the electronic computer." Eckert and Mauchly received most of the credit for inventing the first electronic-digital computer. Historians now say that the Atanasoff-Berry computer was the first.

Related Topics:
U.S. Army - Ballistics Research Laboratory - J. Presper Eckert - John William Mauchly - University of Pennsylvania - Atanasoff Berry Computer

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The computer was commissioned on May 17, 1943 as Project PX, constructed at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering from mid-1944, and formally operational from February 1946 having cost almost $500,000. It was then shut off on November 9, 1946 for a refurbishment and a memory upgrade. ENIAC was unveiled on February 14, 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania and was transferred to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland in 1947. There, on July 29 of that year, it was turned on and would be in continuous operation until 11:45 PM on October 2, 1955.

Related Topics:
May 17 - 1943 - Moore School of Electrical Engineering - 1944 - February - 1946 - November 9 - February 14 - Aberdeen Proving Ground - Maryland - 1947 - July 29 - October 2 - 1955

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