As Philadelphia celebrates its role in the founding of the United States, tech enthusiasts note that 2026 also marks a big year for the region\u2019s role in computing history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This Sunday marks the 80th anniversary<\/a> of the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC), the first electronic, programmable and general purpose computer. The ENIAC, which was developed and unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania, is widely considered the start of modern computing<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re kicking off the 80th anniversary of the launch of the computer age.\u201d<\/p>\n Jim Scherrer, Philly\u2019s Compuseum<\/p>\n Thanks to the country\u2019s 250th anniversary, as well as various global and national sporting events and conventions, Philadelphia is expecting a million visitors this year<\/a>. Tourists should know that not only are they visiting the birthplace of the nation, but also the birthplace of modern computers, said Jim Scherrer, a founder of Philly\u2019s Compuseum<\/a>, a nonprofit dedicated to sharing the region\u2019s computer history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call it a second revolution,\u201d Scherrer told Technical.ly. \u201cThe 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence [is] on July 4, but here on February 15, we\u2019re kicking off the 80th anniversary of the launch of the computer age.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact of the ENIAC is simply the fact that computers are part of our everyday lives now, said Bill Mauchly, son of ENIAC creator John Mauchly.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time, Mauchly\u2019s father\u2019s idea to build a general purpose, programmable computer was crazy, he said. However, the timing lined up because the US Army was willing to fund the project. World War II was underway, and they wanted a machine that would create ballistic tables<\/a>, reference charts that help predict where bullets will go.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why the ENIAC was unique for the time\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The ENIAC is just one of several innovations that came out of the Philadelphia region<\/a>, noted Scherrer, the Compuseum founder.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s undeniable how important technology is to us, because we carry around a cell phone,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wraps around you all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n