ALPHA Timepoint is in alpha Talk to Us
Sign In Get Started
M

Manchester Baby First Successful Run

The Manchester Baby, the world's first stored-program computer, successfully executes its first program (a factoring algorithm) on June 21, 1948. Scientists Frederic Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff T

Setting

Small Physics Laboratory at the University of Manchester, a cramped and cluttered space filled with scientific equipment, chalkboards covered in equations, and makeshift workbenches. The room is dominated by the 'Baby' computer, a towering assembly of metal racks, vacuum tubes, and exposed wiring.

Characters

The figures in this scene as an entity network — co-presence links everyone in the moment; speakers who trade lines are bound tighter. Turn the resolution dial to reveal depth the engine actually computed.

TNGF
SELECTED
Frederic Williams
primary
A middle-aged man in his early 40s with a lean, wiry build, standing at average height. His face is angular with sharp cheekbones, framed by wire-rimmed spectacles that magnify his keen, observant eyes. His dark hair is neatly combed but shows signs of thinning, and he sports a carefully trimmed mustache. His hands are expressive, often gesturing when explaining complex concepts.
Tom Kilburn
primary
A lean man in his late 20s with sharp features, dark hair neatly combed back, and intense brown eyes behind round wire-framed glasses. His posture is slightly hunched from years of leaning over technical drawings and equipment.
Geoff Tootill
secondary
A lean young man in his mid-20s with short, neatly combed brown hair and wire-framed glasses. His face bears the focused intensity of a junior scientist fully absorbed in his work, with sharp features and a clean-shaven jawline. His posture suggests both deference to his seniors and quiet confidence in his technical abilities.
Lab Assistant
background
A young man in his early 20s, slight of build with short, neatly combed brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses. His face is clean-shaven, and his hands are delicate yet precise, accustomed to handling sensitive equipment.

Dialog

Frederic Williams Gentlemen, whereas the cathode potential remains stable—no, correction—exceeds our threshold by point-oh-two volts, we appear to have successful execution.
Tom Kilburn She's holding the store perfectly—look at those pulses!
Frederic Williams This flanking attack on the memory problem seems to have succeeded beyond our most optimistic projections.
Tom Kilburn Tube's cycling like clockwork—thirty-four microseconds per instruction, just as calculated.
Frederic Williams We've crossed the Rubicon into entirely new territory—a machine that remembers its instructions.
Tom Kilburn First proper computer in the world—and she's ours.

Chat with Characters

You've used your 3 free turns

Sign in to keep chatting with characters from this moment — unlimited turns.

Sign in to Continue
— Sign in for unlimited

Causal neighbors · 199 linked moments

M
Manchester Baby First Run
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby First Run
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby runs first stored-program program
1948 · contemporaneous
F
First Run of the Manchester Baby
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby First Successful Run
1948 · contemporaneous
F
First Execution of the Manchester Baby (SSEM)
1948 · contemporaneous
Manchester Baby First Program Run
Manchester Baby First Program Run
1948 · contemporaneous
First Successful Test of the Manchester Baby
First Successful Test of the Manchester Baby
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby First Run
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby First Run
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby runs first stored-program program
1948 · contemporaneous
F
First Run of the Manchester Baby
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby First Successful Run
1948 · contemporaneous
F
First Execution of the Manchester Baby (SSEM)
1948 · contemporaneous
Manchester Baby First Program Run
Manchester Baby First Program Run
1948 · contemporaneous
First Successful Test of the Manchester Baby
First Successful Test of the Manchester Baby
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby first program run
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Baby First Program Run
1948 · contemporaneous
M
Manchester Mark 1 First Program
1949 · same era
P
Publication of 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence'
1950 · same era
M
Manchester Mark 1 First Run
1949 · same era
M
Manchester Mark 1 First Program Run
1949 · same era
A
ACE Pilot Model First Program Run
1950 · same era
E
EDSAC becomes operational at the University of Cambridge
1949 · same era
F
First Program Run on the Pilot ACE
1950 · same era
E
EDSAC First Operation
1949 · same era
C
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
1953 · same era
C
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
1953 · same era
B
Blitz on London
1940 · same era
D
Death of King George VI
1952 · same era
1
1953 FA Cup Final
1953 · same era
T
Trooping the Colour 1953
1953 · same era
F
First Program Run on the Manchester Mark 1
1949 · same era
A
Alan Turing publishes 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence'
1950 · same era
Manchester Mark 1 Becomes Operational
Manchester Mark 1 Becomes Operational
1949 · same era
C
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
1953 · same era