The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, known as SSEM, or
the "Baby", was designed and built at
The University of Manchester,
and made its first successful run of a program on June 21st 1948.
It was the first machine that had all the components now classically regarded
as characteristic of the basic computer. Most importantly it was the first
computer that could store not only data but any (short!) user program
in electronic memory and process it at electronic speed.
From this Small-Scale Experimental Machine a full-sized
machine was designed and built, the
Manchester Mark 1, which by April 1949 was
generally available for computation in scientific research in the University.
With the integration of a high speed magnetic drum by the Autumn (the ancestor
of today's disc) this was the first machine with a fast electronic and magnetic
two-level store. It in turn was the basis of the first commercially available
computer, the
Ferranti Mark 1, the first machine off the production
line being delivered in February 1951.
These pages tell the story of the Baby and the Mark 1,
and give a record of the 50th anniversary
celebrations for the Mark 1, and the machines that followed it.
The highlight of the 1998 Celebrations was the construction of a
working replica of the Baby now on display at the
Museum of Science
and Industry in Manchester
(see Galleries > 1830
Warehouse > Baby Computer).
Apex Computing Computer Services Manchester
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