1st Generation 1946-58

First-generation computers used vacuum tube technology to store data, and were used between 1946 and 1958. In 1944, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, professors at the University of Pennsylvania, built the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). It is considered the grandfather of digital computers, and filled a 20 foot by 40 foot room, using 18,000 vacuum tubes. By 1946 Mauchly and Presper received funding from the United States Census Bureau to build the UNIVAC, the first commercial computer for business and government applications. The UNIVAC was manufactured by Remington Rand, and was commercially successful. It was delivered to 46 institutions, including the U. S. Census Bureau, Prudential Insurance Co. and General Electric Co. Although the cost and reliability of vacuum tubes limited the use of first-generation computers, this technology marked the transition from mechanical to electronic computing. It was also during this time period that Grace Hopper developed the first programming language, in 1953, known as COBOL and one year later FORTRAN programming language was developed by John Backus and IBM.