The first all-electronic, general-purpose computer ever developed, the machine was designed and constructed for the Army Ordinance Department at the Moore School and is capable of solving scientific problems so complex that previous methods of solution were considered impractical. · "Our Eny," as the computer was dubbed by her creators, is without doubt the seminal achievement to emerge from Penn's Engineering School, and perhaps the single most important invention made at any of Penn's schools. The debate over who, exactly, deserves credit for inventing the first computer remains a lively one among academics -- and, being largely an issue of definition, is unlikely to be resolved in the near future. But there is no doubt that ENIAC was both a seminal engineering achievement and an invention of ground-breaking significance. The University and ENIAC's two inventors, John Mauchly and Presper Eckert, largely failed to benefit from their historic invention. But as computers have become household items, revolutionizing the way we live and interact, history has not forgotten that the age of electronic computers began in a basement at the corner of 33rd and Walnut.
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