multics logo Multics > History
10 Feb 2025

Dates

Items in italics are non-Multics events included for historical context.

For more historical information, see Multics History. The site timeline is a graphical presentation of Multics site histories.

Multics Chronology

1944

Whirlwind, 1944 [MIT Libraries]

1944
Whirlwind flight trainer at MIT: high-speed digital computer: core memory (Jay Forrester), SAGE.

1956


1956
GE established a computer dept in Phoenix for the Bank of America ERMA project.

1957


1957
Sputnik I.

MIT Computation Center running IBM 704 (vacuum tubes, core memory).

1958


1958
US DoD ARPA established; MIT President J R Killian Presidential Science Advisor.

1959


1959
MIT Prof. John McCarthy proposes time-sharing in memo to Prof. Philip M. Morse, director of the MIT Computation Center.

1961


1961
Burroughs B5000 (Algol, dual CPUs, drum, segmentation).

11/61
MIT Computation Center running IBM 709 (vacuum tubes, core memory). Corby's team demonstrated 4-user tape CTSS time-sharing.

1962

J.C.R. Licklider

1962
MIT Computation Center running IBM 7090 (transistors, core memory), Spring 1962.

05/62
Paper on CTSS (Corbató, Daggett, Daley) presented at 1962 Spring Joint Computer Conference.

08/62
MIT Computation Center upgraded to IBM 7090. CTSS running on new hardware.

08/62
First Paper on Internet Concept by J. C. R. Licklider & Welden Clark, "On-Line Man Computer Communication".

09/62

10/62
Cuban Missile Crisis showed that US military systems needed improvement. ARPA IPTO established.

11/62
MIT Project MAC suggested by J. C. R. Licklider, IPTO director.

12/62
Manchester/Ferranti Atlas (transistors, drum, paging) (12/7/62).

1963

Corby, 1963 [WGBH]
R. M. Fano, 1960s [MIT Museum]

1963
GE announces 600 line.

Atlas 2 (Titan) delivered to Cambridge University (time-sharing, core).

01/63
Project MAC proposal submitted to ARPA by MIT Prof. R.M. Fano.

03/63
Project MAC authorized & funded by ARPA IPTO. (3ドル million contract).

04/63
MIT Computation Center installed second 32K memory, RPQs, 1302 disk, 7750 on IBM 7090.

05/63
Corby demonstration of CTSS on WGBH-TV.

05/63
Initial JOSS timesharing service on JOHNNIAC at RAND.

06/63
Time-Sharing running at SDC on (IBM) AN/FSQ-32 (funded by ARPA).

07/63
MIT Project MAC summer study, using CTSS on Computation Center IBM 7090, attended by many computer scientists.

09/63
Project to build a time-sharing system at Dartmouth begun by John Kemeny and Tom Kurtz.

10/63
Project MAC IBM 7090 (red machine) installed at Tech Square running CTSS, later upgraded to IBM 7094 II.

1964

C. Walker Dix, 1960s
E. E. David, Jr., 1960s

1964
GE-635 group moves to Phoenix from Syracuse.

GE buys Machines Bull.

03/64
Passwords required on CTSS accounts (Corbató, 3/26/64).

04/64
IBM announces System/360 (4/7/64).

05/64
DTSS brought up at Dartmouth on a GE-225/DATANET-30. (05/01/64, 4AM).

06/64
Corby's computer systems research group moved to Project MAC 5th floor 545 Tech Square.

08/64
General Electric selected as supplier for MAC GE-645 research machine, contract signed.

11/64
Bell Labs joins Multics project with MIT and GE. Leaders: Fano, David, Dix.

1965

GE-645 block diagram
Vic Vyssotsky, 1982 [BTL video]
Multics Reunion: Peter Neumann [THVV]

1965
First inter-computer communication, between Lincoln Labs TX-2 and SDC Q-32 (Marill and Roberts).

NSA RYE time-sharing system on Univac 494: provided multilevel security.

Multics programmers using Project MAC CTSS to develop Multics code and documentation.

04/65
First shipments of GE-635.

06/65
Week-long planning meeting in Holmdel for Fall Joint Computer Conference papers.

08/65
GE-635 delivered to Project MAC, 6.36 simulator running MRGEDT jobs from CTSS.

08/65
IBM announces TSS/360.

08/65
MAIL command available to MIT CTSS users.

11/65
MIT Computation Center bringing up second CTSS on blue 7094 in MIT Building 26.

11/65
Hardware transient on 7094, Northeast Blackout.

11/65
Special Multics session at Fall Joint Computer Conference, 6 papers presented.

1966

Jerry Saltzer; Multics Picnic 1975 [THVV]
Ed Vance, 1979 [THVV]

1966
GE Cambridge Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) opened in 545 Tech Square.

06/66
Flag Day (06/14/66).

1967 3 sites

Karolyn Martin, Don Widrig, GE 645, Apr 1968 [THVV]

1967
WYLBUR and ORVYL developed at Stanford on 360/67.

EPL compiler developed by Doug McIlroy and Bob Morris at BTL after Digitek failed to produce.

01/67
GE-645 delivered to Project MAC and BTL. (Segmentation and paging.)

01/67
CP-40/CMS running at IBM Scientific Center on 360/40.

03/67
GE-635 removed from Project MAC.

03/67
milestone phase .5 (file system on GE-645 simulator).

04/67
CP-67/CMS in service on 360/67 at Lincoln Labs.

05/67
MTS in service on 360/67 at Michigan.

05/67
TENEX begun at BBN.

10/67
Release 1 of TSS/360 on 360/67.

12/67
milestone phase 1 (single process boot on GE-645). (Noel Morris, Tom Van Vleck)

1968 3 sites

Dave Stone, Corby, Nancy Webber, Steve Webber; first Multics Picnic, Webber's, Jul 68 [THVV]
Claude Shannon, John McCarthy, Ed Fredkin, Joe Weizenbaum, Apr 1968 [CSAIL]

1968
GE Large Systems Department moves to Phoenix from Syracuse.

03/68
milestone A3 - 3 processes (Bob Rappaport).

04/68
IBM decommits TSS/360.

05/68
IBM releases CP-67 version 1 to 8 sites.

06/68
MIT Urban Systems Lab running CP-67/CMS.

07/68
First Multics picnic in Groton MA.

08/68
RADC GE-645 installed.

10/68
Demonstrable Initial Multics milestone (8 users).

12/68
Multics self-hosting, console sessions in Tech Square.

12/68
MIT returned Computation Center's 7094 (blue machine) to IBM.

12/68
MIT moved MAC 7094 (red machine) to MIT IPC, building 39.

1969 3 sites

MIT Dome, 1960s [THVV]

01/69

01/69
Limited Initial Multics milestone (12 users).

01/69
Integrated mini-GIM & TTY DIM into system.

04/69
Bell Labs drops out of Multics development.

04/69
Unix begun on PDP-7 at Bell Labs.

04/69
IBM un-decommits TSS/360.

05/69
file system 2.0.

06/69
milestone 3.0.10.

07/69
Experimental MIT use of Multics (Cambridge Project).

10/69
MSS 4.0: new PL1 compiler, new traffic control.

10/69
Multics public at MIT for paying customers.

10/69
First ARPANet connection UCLA-SRI (10/29/69).

12/69
MSS 5.0 - Support for DSU270 (10 MB disk).

1970 3 sites

Don Perna at the RADC Multics machine, building 3, 1970s [David Sharp]

1970
GE CISL moved to 575 Tech Square.

03/70
MSS 6.0 - Revised command loop MSS 7.0 - page control rewrite.

03/70
DEC announces PDP-11 (3/28/70).

05/70
First Multics talk at GESHUA XI in Seattle (Van Vleck).

06/70
MSS 8.0 - pre-paging and post-purging.

06/70
TENEX on the air (6/15/70).

08/70

08/70
Multics installed on RADC system.

10/70
MSS 10.0 - new ttydim.

10/70
Honeywell buys GE computer division: the "merger".

11/70
MSS 11.0 - new init.

12/70
MSS 12.0 - Support for DSU170s.

12/70
MSS 13.0 - Associative Memory fix.

12/70
Unix ported to PDP-11 at Bell Labs.

1971 4 sites

ARPANet map, 1970

1971
Honeywell Software Factory for Level 64 installed on BCO GE-645.

Charlie Clingen becomes manager of Honeywell CISL Multics group.

01/71
MSS 14.0 - Moved processes from ring 32 to ring 4.

01/71
Multics Symposium at MIT Jan 21-22.

04/71
MSS 15.0 - retrofit.

04/71
DTSS simulator using Dartmouth BASIC added to Multics.

05/71
IBM decommits TSS/360 again.

09/71
MIT GE-645 Multics providing service on ARPANet (host #6) via GIMPSPIF.(RFC 0252).

09/71
RCA sells its computer division to Univac.

1972 6 sites

Installation team for Paris 645, 1972
My copy of Organick's book. [THVV]

1972
Paris GE-645 system installed at Bull on Av. Gambetta for Level 64.


10/72
Anderson Report published, led by Roger Schell.

11/72
System M "6090" (early 6180) installed.

11/72
MIT H6180 installed in MIT Building 39.

12/72
MSS 18.0. - ACL redo: CACLs eliminated.

1973 7 sites

Jordan, Roach, MIT 6180 machine room, MIT bldg 39, Dec 73 [THVV]

1973

01/73
Multics and H6180 products announced by Honeywell at Boston Museum of Science (01/17/73).

07/73
CTSS red machine turned off at MIT IPC (07/20/73).

11/73
AFDSC installed.

12/73
MIT 6180 Multics connected to ARPANet (host #44) by ABSI.

12/73
Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie present Unix paper at 4th ACM SOSP, Yorktown Heights NY.

1974 10 sites

Steve Webber, Charlie Clingen, Barry Wolman, Noel Morris; MCR Board meeting, CISL, 575 Tech Square, Mar 1974 [THVV]

1974
Honeywell CISL development machine installed.

01/74
MSS 22.0.

01/74
Ford installed.

05/74
GM Corporate (GMISCA) installed.

06/74
MR 1.0: First standard release. Compilers support EIS, BASIC, GCOS Simulator, DSS191. Enhanced PL/I, FORTRAN.

1975 11 sites

USL Comp Center building, 1977 [Ron Riedesel]

1975
RADC, BCO, System M upgraded to 6180s.


Bull Gambetta GE-645 deinstalled.

Honeywell/MIT/USAF Project Guardian begun.

USAF SCOMP project begun.

01/75
MR 2.0: CPU cache, NPS, 1600bpi tape, TN1200. Enhanced PL/I, FORTRAN, tape.

03/75
MR 2.1: iox_, probe, trace, debug, On-line T&D. Enhanced administration & metering, GCOS.

06/75
MR 2.2: Secure Mail. Enhanced PL/I, FORTRAN, BASIC, system tools.

09/75
MR 3.0: MCS, Scheduler, RCP, COBOL-74, SORT. Enhanced GCOS.

1975
Ford deinstalled.

07/75

1976 10 sites


1976
DCC benchmark at PMDC.

DCC, USGS Reston installed.

02/76

03/76
MR 3.1: AIM, DTSS Simulator, HEALS, 4 FNPs. Enhanced PL/I, FORTRAN, COBOL, ALM, commands.

07/76
MR 4.0: New storage system, MRDS, MSU0451, MERGE, 16MB SCUs. Enhanced PL/I, FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, SORT, Graphics system, mail.

09/76
MR 4.0.1: Reconfiguration & Operator Interfaces.

12/76
MR 5.0: 4MW SCUs. Enhanced MCS, COBOL, FORTRAN, MRDS.

1977 14 sites


1977

Honeywell-MIT research collaboration ends.

USGS Menlo Park and Denver installed.



Joe Osanna passed away.

01/77
Apple Computer founded (01/03/77).

10/77
MR 6.0: tape, ESD, salvager, RJE, WORDPRO, 7 CPUs, multiple tape controllers. Enhanced PL/I, FORTRAN, COBOL, MRDS, reliability & damage recovery.

1978 18 sites


1978

Ford installed again.

INRIA/Rocquencourt installed.

University of Grenoble installed.

VPI installed.

University of Calgary (UC) installed.

03/78
MR 6.1.

09/78
MR 6.5: Video Terminals, DN6670, IBM 3780, 4 FNPs, run units, resource reservation, remote station TTFs. Enhanced communication, FORTRAN optimizer.

11/78
Palyn Report presented to Honeywell management.

12/78
MR 6.5a: remote station TTFs. Enhanced G115 protocol.

12/78

1979 25 sites

Bender, Mullen, Kaiser, 1978 [THVV]

1979
EOP benchmark at PMDC.

ASEA, INRA, Renault, Bell Canada (Toronto and Dorval) installed.

01/79
Unix setuid patent issued (01/16/79).

01/79
Honeywell CNO installed (01/22/79).

03/79
MR 7.0: GTSS Simulator, TP, MSU0500, Tape Archive, T&D, tape archive, audit facility, T&D subsystem, 32 new terminal types. Enhanced PL/I, FORTRAN, communications, bulk I/O.

06/79
MR 7.0a: L6 Concentrator, MTU0610 9 Track tape, Emacs, polled VIP7760. Enhanced APL.

09/79
MR 7.0b: Enhanced FIPS COBOL, WORDPRO.

09/79
Bristol & Bath (Avon) installed.

1980 36 sites


1980
Stratus formed, many Multicians leave CISL.

NWGS Level 68 development system installed at US Naval War College.

ASU, Dir. Prevision, EPSHOM, INSEE, IRT installed.

03/80
MR 8.0: VIP7801/7804, IBM 3270, Process Preservation, MSS0500, ORION support, Bulk Store removed. Enhanced communications, Emacs, GCOS TSS, COBOL, WORDPRO, MRDS, tape interface to PPS.

03/80
Site N (Flagship) installed 03/27/80.

12/80
MR 8.2: MSU0500/501. Enhanced: T&D, COBOL, PL/I, FORTRAN, BOS.

1981 44 sites


1981
VW (USA) installed in Honeywell space.

INSEE/Paris, CERAM, CICB, Culture, CICT, INRIA/Sophia installed.

01/81
US DoD National Computer Security Center (NCSC) created at NSA

08/81
IBM PC announced (8/14/81).

09/81
St Johns installed.

10/81
MR 9.0: DPS 8/70M CPUs, 8 FNPs, Executive Mail, CSU6601, MSP0611/0612, MTP0611. Enhanced BOS, COLTS/MTAR, COBOL, MRDS, WORDPRO.

12/81
Shutdown of Virginia Polytechnic Institute system.

1982 51 sites


1982

DND Halifax installed (dual L68).

Bull Systeme X installed at Louveciennes (L68/DPS-8).

CIRIL, CNET, INRIA/Rennes, Mainz, HLR, SCSI installed.

VW shut down, deal canceled by VW corporate.

03/82
MR 9.1: Enhanced: T&D, HASP, Emacs, FORTRAN, Tape.

06/82
STC installed.

07/82
Honeywell PMDC moved from Camelback to DVCP in Phoenix.

10/82
MR 10.0: 4 IOMs, IOM Paged Mode, Dial-out, X.25, Forum, MTU0630. Enhanced HDLC & BSC to 72KB, record stocks, system recovery, forum command.

11/82
Cardiff (CJCC) installed.

12/82
Formal B2 security evaluation of Multics begun at US DoD NCSC

1983 63 sites

sign containing the word DOCKMASTER [THVV]

1983
SNECMA, CICRP, INNPPP, Credit Lyonnais, SOZAWE, ONERA/CERT, ELF, LUT, Brunel, INPPP installed.

USGS Menlo Park shut down.

01/83
Honeywell CNO upgraded to 8/70M.

03/83
UBCC installed.

04/83
CCVR installed.

06/83
Canada DND (DDDS) installed.

08/83
Orange Book published by US DoD NCSC.

09/83
Honeywell CISL moved from Tech Square to Cambridge Center.

10/83
MR 10.1: Printers 901/1201, X.25 LAPB, Subsystem Utilities, EURCs 8001/8002/8004. Enhanced Video, tape, mail, MRDS, FNP memory.

10/83
Calgary ACTC installed.

10/83
US NSA DOCKMASTER site installed.

10/83
Noel Morris passed away.

1984 64 sites


1984
RAE benchmark at PMDC.

USGS Reston, Dir. Prevision, INSEE shut down.

Honeywell Flower project started, new Multics machine.

01/84
MR 10.2: Satellite 6M, LINUS. Enhanced operator interface, crash analysis, EURC, APL, FIPS FORTRAN, GCOS simulator, MRDS, ARPANet, X.25.

02/84
ACTC becomes additional development site (2/3/84).

06/84
Special project for Canada DND: IO reconfiguration.

1985 60 sites

black armband from HLSUA, 10/85 [THVV]
button: I am secure! You would B2 with Multics, 1985 [THVV]

1985
Almost 100 sites (Gintell ACM speech).

ASU, STC, USGS Denver, INRA, Renault, ELF shut down.

ONERA/Paris installed.

DND-H upgraded to triple 8-70M.

Bull System H (Hounslow) installed.

02/85
Flower canceled by Honeywell.

06/85

06/85
MR 11.0: B2 security, 32k Cache, FAMIS, Executive Forum, PC Support, Bootload Multics; 2741, 1050, and ARDS support removed. Enhanced IOM reconfiguration, disk interface, video, FORTRAN, BASIC, mail, dump analysis.

08/85
Orange Book B2 rating awarded to MR 11.0+ by NCSC (08/29/85).

10/85
Black armbands at HLSUA.

10/85
Multics Company spin-off (based on Flower) proposed at HLSUA.

10/85
Initial study for NOS (Opus) with MOD-400 group.

11/85
Multics Company spin-off dismissed by Honeywell.

12/85

1986 55 sites


1986
EPSHOM, IRT, CERAM, INRIA/Sophia, Mainz, Credit Lyonnais shut down.

SEP installed.

North American Honeywell Bull integrated into Groupe Bull.

01/86
Opus (NOS/VS3) IPR-0 review at Honeywell. (Multics-like OS on Level 6)

05/86
Honeywell CISL closed (5/22/86), Opus team to Honeywell Billerica.

07/86
NWGS DPS 8/70(M) installed at US Naval War College. Level 68 moved to SDF, Moorestown NJ, and got SMS workstations.

12/86
MR 12.0: BOS eliminated, IMU, FIPS tape & disk, C compiler.

1987 51 sites


1987
Shutdown of SNECMA, CICT systems.

Bull Systeme X moved to Rocquencourt.

US Naval War College TTGL (Dam Neck VA) and TTGP (San Diego) sites installed.

Honeywell System M moved from Camelback to DVCP location in Phoenix.

11/87
Bull takes over Honeywell computer division.

12/87
Shutdown of CNO system (12/11/87).

1988 48 sites

Karger, Van Vleck, Padlipsky, Dunten, 1988 [THVV]

1988
Shutdown of INRIA/Rennes, CICB, Culture, CIRIL, CNET, INNPPP, ONERA, INPPP, SOZAWE systems.

01/88
Shutdown of MIT Multics (system MSS 38.3), hardware sent to McDonnell (01/02/88).

04/88
Multics development transferred to ACTC (Calgary).

04/88
Opus canceled by Bull.

05/88
Shutdown of AFDSC system T (05/31/88).

07/88
Shutdown of Brunel University system.

09/88
Shutdown of CICRP, Grenoble, Rennes systems.

10/88
Project MAC 25th Anniversary celebration at MIT Kresge Auditorium.

11/88
MR 12.2 released: lint and make; TCP/IP support and inter-system mail.

10/88
Shutdown of Bristol & Bath (Avon) system (10/10/88).

1989 35 sites


09/89
Shutdown of St Johns (SJU) system (09/14/89).

09/89
Shutdown of RADC system (09/30/89).

09/89
Shutdown of UBCC system.

12/89
MR 12.3 released.

1990 30 sites


1990
Shutdown of Oakland University system.

Shutdown of Bell Canada Toronto, CCVR, SEP system.


01/90
Shutdown of ENWGS-SDF system.

05/90
Shutdown of University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) system.

06/90
J. C. R. Licklider passed away.

10/90
Ted Glaser passed away.

12/90
MR 12.4 released.

1991 25 sites


1991
Linux begun by Linus Torvalds.

Shutdown of ABB (formerly Industrial Nucleonics) system.

03/91
Shutdown of Cardiff Joint Computing Centre (CJCC) system (03/15/91).

07/91
Shutdown of Loughborough University system.

07/91
Shutdown of ASEA Brown Boveri system.

08/91
World Wide Web demonstrated (Tim Berners-Lee, CERN).

1992 20 sites


1992
Shutdown of Bull Systeme X and Honeywell BCO systems.

02/92
Shutdown of AFDSC system D (02/28/92).

03/92
Shutdown of INRIA system.

03/92
Shutdown of AFDSC system M (03/31/92).

06/92
Shutdown of last AFDSC machine, system Z (06/30/92).

09/92
Shutdown of Site N (Flagship) system.

11/92

1993 15 sites


1993
Shutdown of Bell Canada Montreal system.

04/93
USENET News group alt.os.multics started by Magnus Olsson.

06/93
Shutdown of U of Calgary (UC) system (06/16/93).

09/93
Shutdown of DDDS/ORAE (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) system (09/03/93).

11/93
Shutdown of Honeywell System M (Phoenix) (11/28/93).

1994 12 sites


1994
Multicians website begun by Tom Van Vleck with much help and advice from Bernie Greenberg.

1995 12 sites


12/95
Shutdown of McDonnell Douglas (12/22/95) system.

1996 8 sites

Bob Morris; Corby retirement, 1996 [THVV]

04/96
Shutdown of last NWGS system, at US Naval War College.

11/96
Corby's Retirement Party at Wellesley College.

1997 6 sites


04/97
Shutdown of Ford system (04/25/97).

1998 5 sites


03/98
Shutdown of DOCKMASTER system (03/31/98).

06/98
DEC acquired by COMPAQ.

10/98
Shutdown of GM system (10/20/98).

1999 3 sites

Bernie Greenberg, Tom Van Vleck, Sue Rosenbaum; MIT, Apr 1999 [THVV]

1999
PRHA no longer used?

04/99
Project MAC 35th Anniversary at MIT Kresge Auditorium.

06/99
DOCKMASTER hardware loaned by National Cryptologic Museum to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

2000 2 sites


07/00
Shutdown of CGI system (was Perigon (was ACTC)) (07/07/00).

10/00
Shutdown of last site DND-H system (17:08Z 10/30/00).

2003


10/03
Andre Bensoussan passed away.

2004

Bob Fano, Fernando Corbató, Hotel@MIT, 19 June 2004 [JAK]

04/04
Multics Reunion and Dinner Honoring Corby at MIT Stata Center and Hotel@MIT (organized by Paul Green and Bob Frankston).

2006


09/06
Allen Berglund passed away.

2007


08/07
John Couleur passed away.

11/07
Open Source for Multics is hosted at MIT, provided courtesy of Bull HN.

2011


10/11
Dennis Ritchie passed away.

10/11
Robert H. Morris passed away.

2012

Reunion participants, June 2012 [RMF]

06/12
Multics Reunion organized by Paul Green at MIT Architecture Dept.

09/12
Vic Vyssotsky passed away.

2014

Multics Reunion Panel: Gintell, Saltzer, Corbató [THVV]

05/14
Project MAC 50th Anniversary celebration at MIT Stata Center.

11/14

12/14

2016


07/16
Professor Robert M. Fano passed away at the age of 98.

2017

Raspberry Pi that runs Multics [Vince Scarafino]

06/17
Release 1.0 of the Multics simulator released, along with Multics MR 12.6f.

2019


2019
Bob Freiburghouse passed away.

07/19
Professor Fernando J. Corbató passed away at the age of 93.

09/19
Release 2.0 of the Multics simulator available.

2020


01/20
Bob Graham passed away.

2021


07/21
Multics Release 12.7 for the Multics simulator available.

2022

Charlie Clingen; CISL, Sep 1979 [THVV]

11/22
Release 3.0 of the Multics simulator available.

12/22
Charlie Clingen passed away.

2024


01/24
Harry Reed passed away.

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