The Manchester Baby was the first modern computer to run a program, paving the way for the digital age, though it was criticised for just being a prototype or a toy computer.
It laid the foundation for future machines by running a test to find the highest factor of a number, and demonstrated that computers could be more than just complex calculators, say advocates of the von Neumann architecture.
There was a worldwide programming contest in 1998 to celebrate the rebuild of the Baby, which was won by a countdown timer dressed as a kitchen timer, ignoring the output and just enjoying the soup.
This article highlights not only the roots of modern computers but also the incredible minds behind their development. Science fiction (as a genre) has often served as both an inspiration and a symptom of modern technological evolution; for instance, android technology may well have been boosted by the popularity of robot characters in TV and films.
