The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester from the Small-Scale Experimental Machine. Work began in August 1948, and the first version was operational by April 1949; a program written to search for Mersenne primes ran error-free for nine hours on the night of 16/17 June 1949. The machine's successful operation was widely reported in the British press, which used the phrase "electronic brain" in describing it to their readers. The Mark 1 was initially developed to provide a computing resource within the university, to allow researchers to gain experience in the practical use of computers, but it very quickly also became a prototype on which the design of Ferranti's commercial version could be based. Development ceased at the end of 1949, and the machine was scrapped towards the end of 1950, replaced in February 1951 by a Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer. The computer is historically significant because of its pioneering inclusion of index registers, an innovation which made it easier for a program to read sequentially through an array of words in memory. Many of the ideas behind its design were incorporated in subsequent commercial products such as the IBM 701 and 702. The chief designers, Frederic C. Williams and Tom Kilburn, concluded from their experiences with the Mark 1 that computers would be used more in scientific roles than in pure mathematics.
Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Mark_1> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1095: At the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade, declaring holy war against the Muslims who had occupied the Holy Land and were attacking the Eastern Roman Empire. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Clermont> 1815: As specified by the Congress of Vienna, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland was signed for the newly recreated Polish state that was under Russian control. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland> 1895: Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel> 1971: The Soviet space orbiter Mars 2 became the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars when it malfunctioned and crashed onto the planet's surface. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_2> 2005: French oral and maxillofacial surgeon Bernard Devauchelle performed the world's first partial face transplant on a living human, replacing Isabelle Dinoire's face after her Labrador retriever mauled her. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/face_transplant> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: wallflower (n): 1. Any of several short-lived herbs or shrubs of the genus Erysimum with bright yellow to red flowers. 2. A person who is socially awkward, especially one who does not dance at a party due to shyness <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wallflower> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: Flow in the living moment. — We are always in a process of becoming and NOTHING is fixed. Have no rigid system in you, and you'll be flexible to change with the ever changing. OPEN yourelf and flow, my friend. Flow in the TOTAL OPENESS OF THE LIVING MOMENT. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo. --Bruce Lee <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
