Keywords: IBM SSEC block diagram.jpg SSEC Designed starting in late 1944 it was demonstrated in January 1948 It was the first computer to be able to treat its own insrtuctions exactly as data However most of its memory was in the form of relays and punched tapes so the capability was not used except rarely It was the last large electro-mechanical calculator built Figure 1 from US Patent 2 636 672 Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator F E Hamilton R R Seeber R A Rowley and E S Hughes January 19 1949 Issued April 28 1953 Joseph Robbins was patent attorney for IBM 1949-01-19 PD-USGov IBM mainframe computers 1948 events Images from US patents |