Who developed the earliest stored-program computers, that was funded and purchased from Ferranti in the UK instead?
Manchester Mark 1 The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester from the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or "Baby" (operational in June 1948). It was also called the Manchester Automatic Digital Machine, or MADM. Work began in August 1948, and the first version was operational by April 1949; a program written to search for Mersenne primes ran error-free for nine hours on the night of 16/17 June 1949.
Programmed Data Processor Programmed Data Processor (PDP), referred to by some customers, media and authors as "Programmable Data Processor, is a series of minicomputers made and marketed by the Digital Equipment Corporation from 1957 to 1990. The name "PDP" intentionally avoids the use of the term "computer" because, at the time of the first PDPs, computers had a reputation of being large, complicated, and expensive machines, and the venture capitalists behind Digital (especially Georges Doriot) would not support Digital's attempting to build a "computer"; the word "minicomputer" had not yet been coined. So instead, Digital used their existing line of logic modules to build a "Programmed Data Processor" and aimed it at a market that could not afford the larger computers.