ENIAC

First electronic general-purpose digital computer

Science & Technology

ENIAC — Image via Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia.

Overview

What happened

1941: Z3 Computer Presentation in Berlin, Germany, where Konrad Zuse unveiled the world's first working programmable computer

Date

May 12, 1941

Location

Berlin, Germany

Key people

Konrad Zuse

Why it matters

This article provides a detailed account of the May 12, 1941 presentation of Konrad Zuse's Z3 computer, drawing on primary sources such as Zuse's memoirs and the Vossische Zeitung's...

What was ENIAC?

ENIAC (; Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, completed in 1945. Other computers had some of these features, but ENIAC was the first to have them all. ENIAC was Turing-complete and able to solve "a large class of numerical problems" through reprogramming. ENIAC was designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory (which later became a part of the Army Research Laboratory). However, its first program was a study of the feasibility of the thermonuclear weapon. ENIAC was completed in 1945 and first put to work for practical purposes on December 10, 1945.

Background and consequences

ENIAC was formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania on February 15, 1946, having cost $487,000 (equivalent to $7,000,000 in 2024), and called a "Giant Brain" by the press. It had a speed on the order of one thousand times faster than that of electro-mechanical machines. ENIAC was formally accepted by the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps in July 1946.

Glenn A. Beck (background) and Betty Snyder (foreground) program ENIAC in BRL building 328. (U.S. Army photo, c. 1947–1955)

Related on thisDay

Z3 Computer Presentation — May 12, 1941

Konrad Zuse unveiled the Z3, world's first programmable computer, in Berlin, Germany in 1941, revolutionizing technology completely

Sources and further reading

Use the dated article for the day-specific account; use these references to check the event record and explore its wider historical context.

Date article: Z3 Computer Presentation — May 12, 1941 Wikipedia source

Cite this page

MLA

“ENIAC.” thisDay, thisday.info/history/eniac/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

APA

ENIAC. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://thisday.info/history/eniac/

Chicago

“ENIAC.” thisDay. Accessed October 19, 2026. https://thisday.info/history/eniac/.

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