jan 1, 1953 - Whirlwind Core Memory

Description:

In 1953, MIT’s Whirlwind becomes the first computer to use magnetic core memory. Core memory is made up of tiny “donuts” made of magnetic material strung on wires into a grid. Each core stored a bit, magnetized one way for a “zero,” and the other way for a “one.” The wires could both detect and change the state of a bit. Though several inventors were involved, it was MIT’s Jay Forrester who perfected the technology. In 1971, the introduction of the Intel 1103 DRAM integrated circuit signaled the beginning of the end for magnetic core memory in computers.

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