devutilsFrançais · article non traduitGitHub An experimental memory system becomes a working machine
Manchester's account dates a successful stored-program run of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, or Baby, to 21 June 1948. It identifies Williams, Kilburn and Tootill and describes the machine as a test bed for the Williams-Kilburn storage tube.
A specific organizational milestone
Holding instructions electronically changes how a machine can obtain its next operation. This property is distinct from using transistors: the Baby belonged to a tube-based implementation context. An experimental run is also distinct from a later production system or widespread deployment.
Scope of the attribution
This entry follows the university's documented run date without adopting an unrestricted claim to the invention of every computer or every stored-program idea. The electronic-computing chapter places it beside relays, vacuum tubes, semiconductor devices and integrated processors. That chapter's invented accumulator program is a teaching example, not a translation of this run's actual instructions.
Verification record
- Sources assessed by Codex (assistant)
- No executable example check recorded
- Independent human review pending
Selected claims have been assessed against the passages below. This record does not certify every sentence or guarantee correctness.
Inspect claims, evidence and limitations
Source assessment: . 1 of 1 selected claims marked supported by the assessor. This is not a coverage percentage for the article.
On 21 June 1948, Manchester’s experimental machine executed a program held in electronic memory.
Assessor finding: supported · historical · Article passage
- University of Manchester, Baby’s 65th birthday — Main account, 21 June 1948 run and Williams/Kilburn/Tootill test-bed description
Passage read: Named passage inspected during the related chapter assessment in this session.
Selected documented milestone; no unqualified first-ever priority claim.
- University of Manchester, Baby’s 65th birthday — Main account, 21 June 1948 run and Williams/Kilburn/Tootill test-bed description
Reproducible checks
These historical or editorial claims have no executable truth test. Source assessment and human review remain separate.
Limits and open work
- Publication, experiment and deployment are distinguished; no historical hardware or software was executed for this event.
- Independent human review remains pending.
Independent human review
Pending. No independent human reviewer has signed off this version.
Content fingerprint: e9291cbb6ceb505b129ef5e571a62861fa4794be6507c46c9d5a4888d5b1ad59. An article change invalidates this assessment.
Sources
Published by devutils · Updated · Original explanatory text; sources retain their own terms.