Record #00201Technology archive
World's First General-Purpose Electronic Computer
Penn Engineering records that the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), originally announced on 14 February 1946, was the first general-purpose electronic computer.
ARCHIVE VISUAL / 01
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Achievement date
1946
1946-02-14
- Location
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Record status
- VerifiedReport an issue
Overview
Archive NoteConstruction of ENIAC began in July 1943, designed by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, Jr. for the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory to compute firing tables.
It was announced on 14 February 1946, and 15 February was proclaimed ENIAC Day by the Philadelphia City Council.
The machine weighed about 30 tons, occupied a room 30 by 50 feet, and used some 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and 500,000 soldered joints, consuming 150 kilowatts.
The six women who operated the machine became known as the ENIAC Six and were inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 1997.
Record history
1 Milestones- First achievementElectronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC)Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United StatesFirst achievement
Sources
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