Whirlwind I
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Whirlwind I is a vacuum-tube computer developed by the MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory for the U.S. Navy. Operational in 1951, it was among the first digital electronic computers that operated in real-
Whirlwind computer elements: core memory (left) and operator console
Circuitry from core memory unit of Whirlwind
Core stack from core memory unit of Whirlwind
Project Whirlwind core memory, circa 1951
The Semi-Automated Ground Environment was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image
Whirlwind I
…computer similar in capability to Whirlwind.) Its development led directly to the Whirlwind II design used as the basis for the United States Air Force SAGE air defense system, and indirectly to almost all business computers and minicomputers in the 1960s, particularly because of the mantra "short word…
![The 4-story SAGE blockhouses with 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of floor space "were hardened [for] overpressures of" 5 psi (34 kPa). A shorter adjoining buildin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/eb/Sage_typical_building.jpg/500px-Sage_typical_building.jpg)
The 4-story SAGE blockhouses with 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of floor space "were hardened [for] overpressures of" 5 psi (34 kPa). A shorter adjoining building (left) had generators below the 4 intake/exhaust structures on the roof. (DC-01 shown)
Module from a SAGE
The RCA #6499 Radechon tube was used for random-access memory in the computers.