In 1946, the University of Pennsylvania unveiled the first fully electronic, general-purpose computer. The creation of ENIAC, which stood for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer," signaled the birth of what would become the modern computing industry.
Construction
ENIAC was originally created under the code name "Project PX" at the University of Pennsylvania and financed by the U.S. Army. It took nearly three years to build and cost around $500,000.
Uses
Even though ENIAC was originally designed designed to calculate artillery firing tables, the Los Alamos National Laboratory became so involved in the creation of ENIAC that the first test problem involved computations for the hydrogen bomb.
Technology
ENIAC used more than 19,000 vacuum tubes -- components that resembled light bulbs -- to perform calculations. Vacuum tubes have been completely replaced by transistors in modern computers.
Problems
On top of the incredible amount of power that the system required, which was around 500 times the amount required by a modern desktop computer, ENIAC's vacuum tubes would burn out periodically, causing the entire system to stop until the faulty tube could be found and replaced.
Decommissioning
Due to the speed at which computer technology advanced in the years after ENIAC's unveiling, it was shut down after nine years. Panels and other parts from the machine can be seen today in a variety of museums, including the Smithsonian and the Computer History Museum in California.
