EDSAC

The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer. Inspired by <a href="/facts/John_von_Neumann/aUk6urof">John von Neumann</a>'s seminal <a href="/facts/First_Draft_of_a_Report_on_the_EDVAC/CQBHmxoe">First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC</a>, the machine was constructed by <a href="/facts/Maurice_Wilkes/2RJ58EKc">Maurice Wilkes</a> and his team at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Cambridge_Mathematical_Laboratory/Dd9unFtw">University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory</a> in England to provide a service to the university. EDSAC was the second electronic digital <a href="/facts/Stored-program_computer/CwcIk5S8">stored-program computer</a>, after the <a href="/facts/Manchester_Mark_1/S8wpt6U5">Manchester Mark 1</a>, to go into regular service.
Later the project was supported by <a href="/facts/J._Lyons_and_Co./MM23zWoF">J. Lyons & Co. Ltd.</a>, intending to develop a commercially applied computer and resulting in Lyons' development of the <a href="/facts/LEO_(computer)/V9PBt9qA">LEO I</a>, based on the EDSAC design. Work on EDSAC started during 1947, and it ran its first programs on 6 May 1949, when it calculated a table of <a href="/facts/Square_number/jfakASPK">square numbers</a> and a list of <a href="/facts/Prime_number/L20FLkgn">prime numbers</a>. EDSAC was finally shut down on 11 July 1958, having been superseded by <a href="/facts/EDSAC_2/Q2vqMPul">EDSAC 2</a>, which remained in use until 1965.

EDSAC open-in-new

EDSAC