THE RECORD
What changed
The US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945; ENIAC was unveiled in 1946 as an electronic general-purpose computer.
EVIDENCE
What remains
Radiation data, state files, survivor testimony, ENIAC hardware, programs and women programmers' records survive.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Humanity institutionalized powers to destroy itself and calculate complex worlds at the same time.
OPEN QUESTION
Where interpretation begins
Calling ENIAC the sole first computer hides Colossus, Z3 and ABC; claims about nuclear necessity remain disputed and civilian suffering central.