Professor Sir Frederic Williams (1911-1977) Known as ‘Freddie’ to his friends. Born in Romiley near Stockport. Educated at The University of Manchester, gaining BSc and MSc degrees in Engineering. Carried out research in electronics and published 20 papers before joining the Tele-communications Research Establishment (TRE). Knighted in 1976. Professor Tom Kilburn Born in 1921 in Dewsbury, Yorkshire. Educated at Cambridge University, gaining BA and MA degrees in Mathematics. Took a crash course in electricity, magnetism and electronics at City & Guilds in London before reporting to the Tele-communications Research Establishment (TRE).

Frederic Williams led a team of engineers working on radar cuircuit techniques at the TRE in Malvern during the second world war. After a crash course in electronics, the young Tom Kilburn was assigned to him to work on advanced radar systems. In 1946, after the war, Williams returned to The University of Manchester as Professor of Electrotechnics to concentrate his research on the use of Cathode Ray Tubes for data storage. Shortly afterwards, Tom Kilburn joined him as his research assistant. Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams at work on the original 'Baby' at The University of Manchester The first step on the road to history was to perfect the Cathode Ray Storage Tube system. Claims that this research had "no future" were impressively refuted in 1947, when the Williams and Kilburn CRT store achieved an amazing 2048 bit memory. The Baby machine was conceived by the need to prove it in practice. The Manchester 'Baby' was designed and built incorporating the Williams Tube in under 9 months. On the 21st June 1948, just after 11 am, the world's first computer program ran successfully, and the world's first stored-program computer was born. Its birth cry a series of light dots on a display tube, its legacy the computer revolution. So next time you pass through a checkout, withdraw money from a cash machine or surf the net, remember that the Manchester Baby was the father of them all. "..the spots on the display tube entered a mad dance....But one day it stopped, and there, shining brightly in the expected place, was the expected answer. It was a moment to remember...and nothing was ever the same again" Freddie Williams "....the most exciting time was June 1948 when the first machine worked. Without question. Nothing could ever compare with that." Tom Kilburn, Autumn 1992. Professor Williams continued working on enhancements to the Baby machine and was also involved in its first commercially produced version. He contributed to the circuit design for other Manchester computers. Kilburn obtained his doctorate in 1948 and was later appointed Professor. He continued his pioneering research at Manchester and became the inaugural Professor of Computer Science in 1964.