The SAGE Computer System, begun in the 1950's and made operational by the early 1960's was the largest computer system ever built. The SAGE system was a continental air-defense network commissioned by the U.S. military. SAGE stood for "Semi-Automatic Ground Environment." SAGE was the most ambitious computer project ever undertaken, The Project required over 800 programmers and the technical resources of some of America's largest corporations. It was started in the 1950's and was operational by 1963. It remained in continuous operation until 1983, over 20 years. The total project cost is estimated to have been between 8-12 billion dollars (1964). Technical Description Size: CPU (50 x 150 feet, each); consoles area (25 x 50 feet) (total system=20,000 square feet) Weight: 250 tons (500,000 lbs) Architecture: duplex CPU, no interrupts, 4 index registers, Real Time Clock Word Length: 32 bits Memory: magnetic core (4 x 64K word); Magnetic Drum (150K word); 4 IBM Model 729 Magnetic Tape Drives (~100K words ea.); all systems with parity checking; Memory Cycle Time: 6us I/O: CRT display, keyboard, light gun, realtime serial data (teletype, 1300 bps modem, voice line) Performance: 75KIPS (single-address) Technology: vacuum tubes (60,000); diodes (175,000); transistors (13,000) Power Consumption: about 3 Megawatts

1928 (May 11) Television station WGY in Schenectady, New York, becomes the first station to provide regularly scheduled broadcasts. WGY showed programs three evenings a week.

 

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