Computer 50th Anniversary: Small Scale Experimental Machine

Tom Kilburn was heavily involved the 50th anniversary celebrations of the University of Manchester' s 'Baby' or Small Scale Experimental Machine running the first stored program in 1948. A number of high-profile events were held in Manchester in June 1998. These greatly raised the profile of Tom Kilburn's work with the general public and was in some ways belated recognition of the work that Williams, Kilburn and their team had carried out in 1948. Although Kilburn had previously been modest about the achievements of the SSEM and had not sought to be a public face of British computing, he threw himself into these events, which included conferences and a rebuild of the SSEM, which ran the original program.