UNIVAC

UNIVAC, short for Universal Automatic Computer, was a family of early commercial computers developed in the United States. The first model, UNIVAC I, was delivered in 1951 by Remington Rand and is widely regarded as the first commercially produced computer in the United States.

Development and features: The machine was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation and built after their work on ENIAC. Remington Rand acquired EMCC in 1950, enabling production of UNIVAC I. The system used vacuum tubes and decimal arithmetic, with memory implemented by mercury delay lines and expandable through peripheral devices. Input/output included magnetic tape drives, paper tape, a printer, and card readers. Programs were entered through punched cards or tapes and executed by the control unit.

Public impact and use: The UNIVAC I achieved notable public recognition, including a widely publicized forecast of the outcome of the 1952 U.S. presidential election, which demonstrated the potential of computing for data processing and forecasting in business and government contexts.

Legacy: The UNIVAC family spawned several later models, including UNIVAC II, and helped establish the market for business data processing machines. The line remained a core product through the 1950s and into the 1960s under Sperry Rand, contributing to the broader adoption of large-scale computers across industry and government.