Where does this come from, and can I check it?

In June 1948 a small experimental machine executed 52 instructions held in a cathode ray tube memory. The figure is taken from Computer History Museum, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a technology fact?

Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The first stored program ran on the Manchester Baby

In June 1948 a small experimental machine executed 52 instructions held in a cathode ray tube memory The Small Scale Experimental Machine, nicknamed the Baby, was built at the University of Manchester by Freddie Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill. Its memory was a Williams tube, a cathode ray display that held bits as charged spots on the screen. The first program searched for the highest factor of two to the power of eighteen and ran until a valve failed. It sits in Mondo's technology collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Computer History Museum

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: computing-history, manchester, memory

The first stored program ran on the Manchester Baby: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: In June 1948 a small experimental machine executed 52 instructions held in a cathode ray tube memory. The figure is taken from Computer History Museum, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.