‘Baby’ computer is invented
Witness History

‘Baby’ computer is invented

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 22, 202610 min
  • Documentary

In June 1948, the ‘Baby’ was invented. It was the first stored-program computer, meaning it was the first machine to work like the ones we have today. It was developed in England at the University of Manchester. The computer was huge; it filled a room that was nearly six metres square. The team who made it are now recognised as the pioneers of modern computing. Gill Kearsley has been looking through the archives to find out more about the 'Baby'. This programme was first broadcast in 2024. Witness History is a short BBC Worl...

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Today I'm taking you back to June 21st 1948, to England and the birth of modern computing.

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1:20

Today I'm taking you back to June 21st 1948, to England and the birth of modern computing. Manchester University, where anyone who urgently wishes to know whether 2 to the power of 127 minus 1 is a prime number or not, can be given the answer by an electronic brain in 25 minutes instead of by a human brain in 6 months. And while you try and work out that calculation, here's more about that electronic brain, which is a very early computer.

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