Digital 60 Manchester - 60 years of the Modern Computer

Explore Digital 60

The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), nicknamed Baby, was the world's first stored-program computer.

Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams in front of The BabyDeveloped by Frederic C. Williams and Tom Kilburn at the University of Manchester, it ran its first program on June 21, 1948.

 

Diary

Help us celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the birth of the Baby at the following Digital 60 events:

Date 20th June

Kilburn Lecture
Friday June 20th 2008
The Relentless March of the Microchip by Prof Steve Furber

View all Digital 60 events


 
The Baby pioneers

Pioneers Reunited

Dai Edwards, Alec Robinson, Chris Burton and Geoff Tootill celebrate 60 years of the modern computer.

Black and white still from BBC video

The Manchester Baby makes the headlines

BBC news footage first broadcast 1949 when the first stored program successfully ran on the ‘Baby’.

Chris Burton

Re-making history

Chris Burton talks about why the Baby was so important and his motivations for rebuilding it.

Early manchester computerEarly Manchester computers

The pioneering work on ‘Baby’ led to the development of many computers in Manchester.


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