Today is the 60th birthday of 'Baby', the University of Manchester experimental computer some claim to be the first stored programme digital computer.

"It was designed and built at the University by the late Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams," said University spokesman Alex Waddington. "On June 21, 1948, shortly after 11am, the Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) - nicknamed The Baby - executed its first program."

As part of the celebrations, hundreds of school pupils from across the UK will arrive on campus to see the winners of the UK Schools Computer Animation Competition announced.

This evening, the surviving pioneers from the Baby design and development team: Geoff Tootill, Dai Edwards and Alec Robinson and Tommy Thomas will each be awarded The University of Manchester's Medal of Honour and also a Medal of Honour from The British Computer Society.

The ceremony will be followed by the inaugural Kilburn Lecture, delivered by Professor Steve Furber CBE from The School of Computer Science on 'The Relentless March of the Microchip'.

Baby, which is arguably the first stored programme digital computer, is 60 today. From the left, pictured are computer pioneers Dai Edwards and Alec Robinson. Next is Chris Burton who built the Baby replica in the background, followed by Geoff Tootill who was on the original's design team.