Designed by Howard Aiken and IBM, the Harvard Mark I debuts to the public in a ceremony at Harvard University. It was powered by a five horsepower electric motor, weighed five tons, and measured two feet by fifty one feet. It was slower than other machines being developed at the time because it was not electronic. The Mark I was originally known as the ASCC, and was described as sounding like a roomful of ladies knitting. It captured the media and public attention, encased in glass and stainless steel. Intend for use as a general purpose calculating device, it winds up being used exclusively by the U.S. Navy for ballistics testing & calculation. It was later replaced by the Mark II.
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