Lesson plan

Computing Machine Laboratory

The Computing Machine Laboratory at the University of Manchester in the north of England was established by Max Newman shortly after the end of World War II, around 1946. The Laboratory was funded through a grant from the Royal Society, which was approved in the summer of 1946. He recruited the engineers Frederic Calland Williams and Thomas Kilburn where they built the world's first electronic stored-program digital computer, which came to be known as the Manchester Baby. Their prototype ran its first program on 21 June 1948.

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Article summary

The Computing Machine Laboratory at the University of Manchester in the north of England was established by Max Newman shortly after the end of World War II, around 1946. The Laboratory was funded through a grant from the Royal Society, which was approved in the summer of 1946. He recruited the engineers Frederic Calland Williams and Thomas Kilburn where they built the world's first electronic stored-program digital computer, which came to be known as the Manchester Baby. Their prototype ran its first program on 21 June 1948.

Key claims

  1. date of establishment: 1946 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of establishment is "1946". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1229505380

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.