The First Stored-Program Computer(s)

• · Early 1940s, Mauchly and Eckert began to design the EDVAC - the Electronic Discreet Variable Computer.
• John von Neumann's influential report in June 1945:
• "The Report on the EDVAC"
• British scientists used this report and outpaced the Americans.
• Max Newman headed up the effort at Manchester University
• Where the Manchester Mark I went into operation in June 1948--becoming the first stored-program computer.
• Maurice Wilkes, a British scientist at Cambridge University, completed the EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) in 1949--two years before EDVAC was finished.
• Thus, EDSAC became the first stored-program computer in general use (i.e., not a prototype).