Technology · 2

What name was given to the first general-purpose electronic digital computer, completed at the University of Pennsylvania in 1945?

Answer

ENIAC

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was completed in 1945 at the University of Pennsylvania by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert. It weighed 30 tons and used nearly 18,000 vacuum tubes, and is widely recognised as the first general-purpose programmable electronic digital computer.

💡 Did you know?

ENIAC consumed roughly 150 kilowatts of power — a load so large that legend holds it dimmed the lights across West Philadelphia when switched on.

Other options people guess

  • UNIVAC
  • Colossus
  • EDVAC

Topics

  • computing
  • history
  • 1940s
  • hardware

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