Volume 12–4 (Low Res).pdf - U&lc

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On South Walnut Street, just around the corner from Independence
Hall in Philadelphia, the lights dimmed on the evening of February
13, 1946 heralding another declaration of independence . . . this
from the analog world of computing. ENIAC, the brilliant child of
brilliant parents, began to take the first baby steps toward computing
as we know it today.
Weighing 30 tons, Mauchley and Eckert's baby sported 18,000 vacuum
tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 1,500 relays, 6,000
manual switches and the usual number of fingers and toes. Something
of a watt hog, she was powered by the equivalent of a small
power house! That's why those city lights recorded the birth of
ENIAC, an aquarian at that.
And now the old girl is enjoying her fortieth, or her vanity obtaining,
her second thirty-ninth birthday. Pres Eckert will tell us about the
good old days. Kay Mauchley will talk about the women who "programmed"
and "debugged" ENIAC in the Moore School Nursery.
And there will be baby pictures! Where? At the beautiful new Computer
Museum in Boston on the night it all began forty years ago.
Celebrate with us. Call Big Birthday Party Reservations at The
Computer Museum (617) 426-2800 to get your invitation.
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