LEO gets a birthday bash, 75 years after clocking in
Cambridge museum celebrates the world's first business computer with films, family activities, and a little Python
This November, Cambridge's Centre for Computing History celebrates the 75th anniversary of LEO, the pioneering computer that kickstarted the business computing industry. LEO@75, held from November 28th 10am to 5pm, offers a variety of activities including film screenings, historical displays and interactive experiences for children aged 5-16.
Admission supports the museum's preservation efforts, while student and concession tickets cost £10, with family tickets starting at £15. The celebration also commemorates Mary Coombs, the first female commercial programmer, who began working with LEO in 1952. LEO's design was influenced by Cambridge University's EDSAC, developed by a team led by Sir Maurice Wilkes.
EDSAC, in turn, was inspired by John von Neumann's First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, published in 1945. This report laid the foundation for the von Neumann architecture, which revolutionized computer design. Preceding EDSAC was the Manchester Baby, the world's first practical stored-program computer, which ran its first program in 1948.
LEO began its commercial operations in 1951, just a few years after the US Census Bureau adopted Eckert and Mauchly's UNIVAC I.
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- LEO gets a birthday bash, 75 years after clocking in theregister.com
