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DRAFT CORRECTIONS: Post 32 - Freon and Wire (CDC 7600)

Post path: _posts/2026-05-07-Freon-and-wire.md Verification source: VERIFIED_FACTS_Post32_FreonAndWire.md

Overall assessment

Post 32 is in excellent factual shape. The post is unusually well-documented (35 footnotes citing primary sources including the CDC Preliminary System Description 1968, the LLNL placard at the Computer History Museum, NCAR/CISL official supercomputing history, the CERN70 page, Engel 2010 CUG paper, Murray The Supermen, the Davis funeral obit, and the UCAR/news.ucar.edu obituaries for both Kasahara and Washington).

Verification across ~22 independent web sources confirmed almost every load-bearing factual claim. No major corrections required.

Two minor discrepancies were noted that the author may want to address. Neither is a serious error, but they could be footnoted:

Minor Discrepancy 1: Kasahara death date

Post (line 147): “from 1963 until his death on 29 March 2022 at the age of ninety-five.”

Footnote 27 references: UCAR News “NCAR and UCAR mourn the passing of pioneering scientist Akira Kasahara”

Issue: UCAR News article gives the death date as 30 March 2022, not 29 March. This is a one-day discrepancy.

Recommendation: Either

  • (a) Change “29 March 2022” to “30 March 2022” to match the UCAR institutional source cited; OR
  • (b) Leave as-is if the author has primary source evidence (family obituary, Legacy.com page) supporting 29 March, but add a footnote acknowledging the variance.

The Legacy.com Daily Camera obituary referenced in footnote 27 returned HTTP 403 and could not be directly verified within budget.

Minor Discrepancy 2: Mesa Lab ground-breaking date

Post (line 16): “designed by I. M. Pei with ground broken on 9 June 1964 and dedicated on 10 May 1967”

Wikipedia Mesa Laboratory says: “In April 1964 the Martin K. Eby Construction Company broke ground on the lab” - i.e. construction began April 1964, not June.

Possibilities:

  • “9 June 1964” may refer to a separate groundbreaking ceremony rather than the start of construction (these can be months apart).
  • The author may have a more specific UCAR archival source.

Recommendation: Either:

  • (a) Provide a footnote citation specifically for the 9 June 1964 date.
  • (b) Soften to “ground broken in 1964 and dedicated on 10 May 1967”.

The dedication date 10 May 1967 is more specific than Wikipedia (“dedicated in 1967”) and is plausible; no contradicting evidence found.

Notes on items that are NOT corrections

These are documented in the post but worth flagging:

  1. CDC seed capital $300K: Post acknowledges in footnote ^33 that Wikipedia says $250K while Murray says $300K. The author’s choice is reasoned and footnoted. No correction needed.

  2. CDC 7600 “36 MFLOPS peak”: Computer History Museum’s “This Day In History” page colloquially says “nearly 40 megaflops”. Wikipedia and the LLNL serial-number-one placard (cited primary source) both give 36 MFLOPS / 36 million operations per second. Post is correct.

  3. STAR-100 “only three” to external customers: Wikipedia confirms exactly 5 built, 3 to external customers (2 LLNL, 1 NASA Langley, 2 retained at CDC Arden Hills). Post is exactly right.

  4. Cray-1 NCAR delivery July 1977, SN 3, $8.86M: Wikipedia confirms exactly. Post is correct.

  5. Cray walked out March 1972, 7 engineers: Confirmed by Davis obituary (“co-founded Cray Research in 1972 as one of seven employees who left Control Data”). Post is correct.

  6. Lester Davis dates: Born 21 December 1930, died 16 December 2023 (5 days short of 93rd birthday). Davis obituary confirms exactly. Post is correct.

  7. Warren Washington six presidents advised: UCAR News confirms count = 6. Post is correct.

  8. W and Z boson discovery January 1983: Wikipedia says “early 1983” - in fact the W boson was announced in January 1983, Z in June 1983. Post’s “the W and Z boson discoveries at CERN in January 1983” is a slight compression but the W discovery is correctly placed. Acceptable.

  9. Carlo Rubbia + Simon van der Meer 1984 Nobel: Wikipedia confirms. Post is correct.

  10. CDC 7600 SN1 placard text quoted verbatim: All numerical details (3,360 modules, 120 miles of wire, 36 million operations per second, $5.1 million, January 1969 / October 1988, SCM 65,000 / LCM 512,000 words) match the LLNL placard at the Computer History Museum exactly. Post is correct.

  11. CERN 7600 February 1972 - 1984 (twelve years): CERN70 page confirms 1972 arrival and 1984 disconnection. The CERN CDS module note says “retired in 1983” but the CERN70 institutional history says 1984. Post’s 1984 is correct per the senior institutional source.

  12. Mesa Lab dedicated 10 May 1967: Wikipedia says “dedicated in 1967” - more specific date may be from UCAR archives. Plausible.

  13. CDC 8600 architecture (4 CPUs, 8 ns, ECL, never shipped): Wikipedia confirms all key points. Post is correct.

  14. Cray-2 architecturally similar to 8600, with Fluorinert: Wikipedia confirms. Post is correct.

  15. Charles E. Anderson first African American PhD meteorology, Tuskegee Airman: Wikipedia confirms. PhD MIT 1960 (post says “four years earlier” than Washington’s 1964 = 1960, correct). Anderson was weather officer for 332nd Fighter Group / Tuskegee Airmen. Post is correct.

  16. December 3, 1968 announcement date: Computer History Museum confirms exactly. Post is correct.

  1. OPTIONAL Investigate Kasahara death date 29 vs 30 March 2022. If UCAR is to be trusted as primary, change to 30 March. Otherwise leave as is with explanatory footnote.
  2. OPTIONAL Source the “9 June 1964” Mesa Lab groundbreaking date or soften to “June 1964”.

Both items are minor. The post is publishable in its current form.