Two radio telescopes, one in the foreground and one silhouetted in the background. Texty reads 'View showing Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope...Photographed August, 1966'
Jodrell bank's radio telescope, made by Ferranti, in August 1966. At the time it was completed, it was the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope and is still used to observe space. Photograph @sciencemuseum.org.uk (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). #SpaceHistory
An astronaut in a buggy travelling on the surface of the moon. The wheel arches have been coloured yellow and there is a mountain to his left. The rest of the image is grey, white and black.
Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan in 1972. Cernan and his crewmate Harrison Schmitt spent three days exploring the Taurus-Littrow valley, collecting a record 115 kg (249 pounds) of lunar samples. To date, he is the last human to walk on the moon. Photograph thanks to NASA. #SpaceHistory
An astronaut stood on a piece of machinery in space. The earth can be seen behind them.
Astronaut Franklin R. Chang‑Diaz works with a grapple fixture during EVA on the International Space Station 9 June 2002. STS‑111's first spacewalk installed the fixture for the station's robotic arm on P6 truss. Photograph thanks to NASA #SpaceHistory
A vintage Apple-1 computer setup, featuring a wooden case with a built-in keyboard in the front. On top is an exposed monitor with visible wiring and circuit components.
#OnThisDay 50 years ago, Apple Computer Company was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. They launched their first product, the Apple I computer, a few months later.
You can see the Apple I on display in our Making the Modern World gallery: https://bit.ly/4sNNULJ
A white man with dark curly hair, wearing a dark jumper and light collared shirt, holding a radio receiver in one hand. Behind him is a brick built building, with satellite dishes and aerials on.
Professor Sir Martin Sweeting receiving Digitalker signals from UoSAT-1, a British amateur radio satellite. Built at the University of Surrey, it launched into low Earth orbit on October 6, 1981.
#SpaceHistory
The iconic Jodrell Bank radio telescope, crafted by UK tech giant Ferranti in 1966. Discover Ferranti's legacy here 👉️ archivesit.org.uk/iconic-compa...
Photo courtesy of Science Museum Group Collection Online. (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
@jodrellbank.bsky.social @sciencemuseum.org.uk #TechHistory
A white woman with long pale hair, wearing a dark jumper and a light coloued, collared shirt, sat at a bench in a factory setting. She is holding a soldering iron in her hands and is using it to work on a large piece of equipment, likely a circuit board.
Here's a glimpse of a factory worker inspecting circuits on computer equipment at the DEC Galway plant in 1972, just in time for St. Patrick's Day! 🍀 Big thanks to DEC Galway for the image. #StPatricksDay #TechHistory
A 1945 photo from the Express & Star Archive at Wolverhampton Archives shows a woman inspecting electrical parts at the Stafford factory. By the 1950s, English Electric began making computers and produced the DEUCE in 1955, one of the first commercial computers, based on Alan Turing's early design.
English Electric, formed after WWI by merging five UK companies, initially focused on aviation, trams, and electric locomotives. During WWII, they produced the Handley Page bomber and Comet tank, and continued making aircraft for the RAF, like the Canberra and Lightning.
If you shop online, please consider signing up to #Giveasyoulive for us this year.
Every time you make an online purchase, order a grocery delivery, book a trip or switch your energy providers, you can generate donations that support our work, for free 👍
👉 bit.ly/4skr65B
Find out more about DEC from oral history interviews recorded by Reading Museum and The National Museum of Computing archivesit.org.uk/dec/
A technician from DEC , testing heart monitors before dispatch. 💓
This photo, taken in the 1970s is thanks to DEC Galway.
Link to illuminating discussion IT professionals about how the industry responds to the Horizon scandal. Thanks to @archivesofit.bsky.social
archivesit.org.uk/horizon-less...
The Act meant Telecoms and the Post Office were separated and were no longer part of the UK government. In 1980, British Telecom, or BT as we know it today, was born. Many of our interviewees took part in the apprenticeship scheme advertised in this poster. Find out more: archivesit.org.uk/bt/
(2/2)
The poster is from the mid twentieth century and shows a white man with dark hair wearing an overall coat, fixing a telephone fuse box with a screwdriver. A stylised red telephone handset frames the image on the left. Words say: ‘An engineering career in the Post Office’ with a GPO logo bottom right.
☎️ In this poster from BT Group Archives, a career in telephone engineering is being advertised by the General Post Office. Wondering why? Telecommunications and the Post Office came under the same government department until the Post Office Act in 1969.
(1/2)
Archives of IT is delighted to be collaborating with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds @rspb.bsky.social Big Schools' Birdwatch with complementary lesson plans.
Big Schools’ Birdwatch submissions open today and offer a fun way to incorporate nature and data handling into curriculums.
Together we have raised £14,352 with the @biggiveorg Christmas Challenge! 🤩 Thank you to the AKO Foundation and all our generous supporters. There is still time today to donate to our work and get us closer to our target!
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...
Wow! Thanks to your amazing support, we’ve reached £12,790 — that’s 76% of our goal! And because of the #ChristmasChallenge, every donation has been doubled. 💚
We’re not done yet! There’s still time to double your difference by donating before midday tomorrow, Tuesday 9 December bit.ly/4iF44Tj ✨ 🙏
🚀 We’re halfway through the Big Give #ChristmasChallenge! 🎁🎁
Thanks to your generosity, we’ve raised £5,650 so far & every penny has been doubled. 💚
There’s still time to make double the impact before 9 December.
For more information & to donate see: bit.ly/4iF44Tj ✨ 🙏
Two Christmas elves with similar facial features, brown skin and black hair wearing green and red jackets and elf hats. They are working in a Christmas Santa's workshop tying parcels with red ribbon. White text says Double the difference at the top. At the bottom is Christmas Challenge, white tex on a red triangle and BigGive, white text on a black triangle.
The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge begins! For one week donations to us on the Big Give site will be matched £1 for £1, doubling your impact. Our aim? £16,800 to support our mission 'Capturing the past to inspire the future.' Thanks to pledgers and The AKO Foundation
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...
An office space divided by temporary walls into cubes. Each cube contains a desk with a PC and files, documents and books.
🧊 Early cube offices at the Digital offices in Galway, Ireland. DEC's first plant outside the USA opened there in 1971 and closed in 1993. Today, open plan offices are popular. Anyone remember working in a cube?
Image thanks to Digital Galway.
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social
It’s great to be included in The National Archives’ Year in Archives 2025 for the work we completed publishing interviews with former workers of the Digital Equipment Corporation in collaboration with @readingmuseum.bsky.social and The National Museum of Computing. #AYearinArchives #OralHistory
Adrian, our Public Relations and Communications Manager, has selected this conversation with Eva Pascoe, a cybercafe trailblazer. Remember them? Discover the reasons behind his choice and learn about the well-known personalities she introduced to the digital world!
A festive image with Archives of OT's logo and the Big Give's logo on a red and white background. An image shows two reindeers standing face on with red noses. They are surrounded by snow and trees.
We’re excited to join Big Give’s #ChristmasChallenge from 2–9 December. Your donation to Archives of IT will be doubled, enhancing our efforts to preserve tech heritage and inspire future STEM leaders. 💚 Thanks to our Pledgers and Big Give Champion, AKO Foundation, for their support.
Our trustee Martin Campbell-Kelly highlights his top oral history interview from the last decade. Hint: He unveiled Colossus's vital role in computing history. #ComputingHistory #OralHistory
In celebration of our decade milestone, our archivist Stephanie shares her top oral history interview. Hint: it's all about shopping and finding great deals! 🤩 🛍️ 💳
Since 2015, we've been capturing the stories of tech trailblazers. Trustee Tim Gregory's top pick is the memorable chat with legendary innovator Sir Clive Sinclair 🎙️
To celebrate our decade milestone, CEO Tola Sargeant shares why her top pick is our interview with tech innovator Duane Jackson 🎤
Trustee Mike Short's top pick from our archives is the oral history chat with UK space tech expert Prof. Sir Martin Sweeting. 🌌 #SpaceInnovation
