In the era of vacuum tube, department store-sized electronic computer of the early 1900's, there was a British version whose sole purpose was to help speed up the process of cracking or deciphering German secret codes.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of that machine - Colossus C, designed by Tommy Flowers. The objective of the Colossus Mark 1 was to decipher the sophisticated encryption method Nazi leader Adolph Hitler was using to communite with his generals during World War II. The Colossus was hailed as the first electronic computer but was kept secret from the world for 30 years. It was 7-feet high, 17-feet wide, weighed a ton, consumed 8,000 Watts of power, and read and write 5,000 characters per second.
Read more at the Dialy Mail UK.
Photo from CNN.
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