Ferranti F100-L microprocessor desk ornament

Ferranti Ltd desk ornament, containing a F100-L microprocessor. Launched in 1976, the F100-L was the first European microprocessor.

The Ferranti F100-L was the first microprocessor to be completely designed, developed and manufactured in Europe.

A microprocessor is a miniaturised Central Processing Unit – the “thinking” part of a computer. Before the 1970s, computers were almost inevitably large and expensive machines. The development of tiny microprocessors allowed people to build smaller and cheaper computers. They were the key technology that allowed the development of personal computers. There are 7,000 electronic elements connected by more than six feet of electrical connections on the surface of this microchip.

The F100-L was designed by Ferranti in Bracknell and manufactured at Gem Mill in Oldham. Their main uses were in military technologies, such as Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles, and they were designed be resistant to temperatures extremes and hardened against radiation. A few were also used in early personal computers.

This particular example is encased in plastic as a commemorative paperweight.