The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was one of the world’s first general-purpose electronic digital computers. Originally created to quickly calculate bomb trajectories during World War II, it wasn’t completed until the war was over, but it quickly found another purpose making nuclear fusion calculations.
When it was first demonstrated to the public in 1946, ENIAC appeared to be able to add up 5,000 numbers in 1 second with just a push of a button. What was hidden from the view of the reporters and public, however, were the six “computers” or human mathematicians who programmed the machine to perform its calculations using punch cards.
Kathleen McNulty, Frances Bilas, Betty Jean Jennings, Ruth Lichterman, Elizabeth Snyder, and Marlyn Wescoff, all women, were in charge of using the punch card equipment, wiring and configuring the computer, and fixing it when something went wrong. Sometimes, they even had to crawl inside the 1,500-square-foot machine in order to fix it.
These six women were the only ones who knew how to handle programming the machine and all of the complexities that came along with that, but it was a thankless task that earned them very little recognition. Without them, though, that world-famous computer would never have operated.
