July 8, 1946
Moore School lectures on electronic computers begin
The Moore School's summer course on electronic digital computers opened July 8, 1946 — the first taught curriculum spreading ENIAC and EDVAC stored-programA design where instructions and data share memory — programs can be loaded and changed without rewiring hardware. ideas worldwide.
What it was for
Forty-eight lectures by Eckert, Mauchly, Goldstine, von NeumannA computer architecture where programs and data share memory — the template for most modern computers., and others trained the generation that built Manchester Baby, EDSAC, and early commercial machines. Attendees carried blueprints and lecture notes back to the UK, US labs, and industry — bootstrapping the computer age.
People
- John von Neumann — researcher
- J. Presper Eckert — researcher
- John Mauchly — researcher
Why it's here
The Moore School course was computing's first formal knowledge transfer event.
Why it mattered
It turned a wartime secret project into an international research movement.
What it solved
Stored-programA design where instructions and data share memory — programs can be loaded and changed without rewiring hardware. computer know-how was trapped inside a handful of classified projects.
Media
ImageMoore School of Electrical EngineeringSwordsman1, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- von Neumann stored-program architectureJune 1945
- ENIAC formally dedicatedFebruary 15, 1946
- Manchester Baby runs first stored programJune 21, 1948