Burroughs Corporation

Burroughs Corporation was an American business-equipment and computer manufacturer whose history followed the transformation of office calculation from mechanical bookkeeping machines to electronic data processing and large-scale computing. William Seward Burroughs established the American Arithmometer Company in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1886 to manufacture and sell an adding machine of his design. The machine incorporated features intended to improve calculation accuracy and auditability, including a regulated operating lever and printed calculation records. These characteristics helped establish the company in commercial offices, where dependable accounting and transaction processing were central requirements. Following Burroughs's death, the company relocated to Detroit in 1904 and adopted the name Burroughs Adding Machine Company. It became one of the leading American suppliers of adding machines. Its product range expanded from basic hand-operated machines to models capable of subtraction, dual totals, bookkeeping functions, visible printing, portability, and limited programming through carriage settings. The company also broadened its portfolio through acquisitions and product development, adding electric calculators, comptometers, typewriters, accounting systems, printers, and other office equipment. The company began a decisive transition toward electronic computing in the 1950s. In 1953 it changed its name to Burroughs Corporation, reflecting an ambition that extended beyond adding machines. In 1956 it acquired ElectroData Corporation of Pasadena, California, a company with experience in digital computers and links to the scientific and engineering community. The resulting business produced the B205 and subsequent systems, initially emphasizing banking, accounting, communications, and other transaction-intensive applications. Burroughs became particularly influential in banking technology. It worked with the Federal Reserve on magnetic-ink character recognition and supplied check-processing readers, sorters, and related systems. Its equipment was commonly connected to Burroughs medium and large computer systems, helping the company build a durable position in bank automation. The company also developed branch terminals, printers, storage equipment, and communications products, allowing it to offer integrated systems rather than isolated calculating machines. Its best-known computing contribution was the Large Systems family, beginning with the B5000 in 1961. These computers used a language-oriented architecture designed to support high-level programming, especially ALGOL and related systems languages. Their stack-based architecture, hardware-supported protection, modular expansion, and Master Control Program operating system were technologically distinctive. Later members included the B5500, B6500, B6700, B7700, and the A Series. Burroughs also produced B2500-series medium systems optimized for commercial COBOL workloads, B1700 small systems with microprogramming capabilities, B700 processors and controllers, defense systems, airline-reservation computers, and personal computers such as the B20 and B25. During the 1960s Burroughs was one of the principal American computer companies, competing with IBM, Honeywell, NCR, Control Data, Digital Equipment, RCA, General Electric, and Sperry Rand. IBM's scale made it the market leader, but Burroughs maintained important positions in banking, government, communications, and other sectors requiring reliable transaction processing. Its technology was also used in communications infrastructure, including early switching systems associated with SWIFT's interbank messaging network. By the 1970s and 1980s, the company's proprietary mainframe business faced pressure from IBM's dominant System/360 and System/370 families, the growth of superminicomputers, and changing customer preferences. Burroughs continued to develop large systems, commercial computers, office products, and personal computers, but industry economics increasingly favored broader standards and scale. In September 1986, Burroughs merged with Sperry Corporation, the owner of the UNIVAC computer business, to form Unisys. The combined company initially retained Burroughs-derived A Series and Sperry-derived V Series products, while the Burroughs corporate identity ceased to exist as an independent company. American Arithmometer Company was an early American manufacturer of mechanical calculating equipment, focusing on arithmometers and adding machines for commercial and office use. The company was later renamed Burroughs Adding Machine Company and subsequently developed into one of the predecessors of Burroughs Corporation, giving it a place in the history of the transition from mechanical calculation devices to commercial computing equipment. Reliable, verifiable information is currently insufficient to state its exact founding date, founder, headquarters, product models, or ownership changes. By the 1970s and 1980s, its proprietary mainframe business faced pressure from IBM's dominant System/360 and System/370 families, the growth of superminicomputers, and changing customer preferences. Burroughs continued to develop large systems, commercial computers, office products, and personal computers, but concluded that greater scale and a broader installed base were necessary. In September 1986 it merged with Sperry Corporation, owner of the UNIVAC business, to form Unisys. Burroughs-derived A Series systems continued within the new company, but Burroughs itself became a historical corporate identity rather than an independent operating enterprise.

Burroughs began in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company in St. Louis, Missouri. Its founder, William Seward Burroughs, had developed a mechanical adding machine intended for commercial calculation. The machine's regulated operating mechanism and printed output addressed two practical office concerns: consistent operation and the ability to verify a calculation after it was made. After Burroughs died, the company moved to Detroit in 1904 and became the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. The Detroit company grew into a leading American adding-machine producer. Its early range included the hand-operated Class 1, a duplex model capable of maintaining two totals, and bookkeeping-oriented machines such as the Class 6. After acquiring the Pike Adding Machine Company, Burroughs introduced visible-printing models that allowed operators to observe the calculation record more readily. The company later offered portable Class 8 and Class 9 machines, ten-key models, comptometers, electrically assisted calculators, and increasingly capable bookkeeping equipment. Burroughs's accounting-machine business gradually incorporated semi-automatic and electronic functions. The Sensimatic used a programmable carriage and mechanical accounting features to maintain multiple ledger balances. Sensitronic systems added magnetic storage on ledger cards, allowing balances to be read into an accumulator during processing. Later E-series systems integrated card readers and punches, line printers, and broader data-processing functions. The company also manufactured typewriters and other office equipment, positioning itself as a supplier of complete business-machine environments. The strategic transition into computing accelerated after the company's 1953 renaming as Burroughs Corporation. In June 1956, Burroughs purchased ElectroData, a Pasadena-based computer company that had produced the Datatron 205 and was working on a successor. The combination led to products such as the B205 and gave Burroughs a platform for developing electronic systems for banks and other institutional customers. Burroughs also worked with the Federal Reserve on magnetic-ink character recognition and became a significant provider of check-processing readers, sorters, and related banking equipment. Burroughs's mainframe strategy was distinguished by several architectures. The Large Systems line began with the B5000 in 1961 and emphasized language-directed design, high-level programming, and protected execution. The B5500, B6500, B6700, and B7700 extended the family, followed by the A Series in the 1980s. These systems used stack-oriented processors and the Master Control Program operating system. Their modular designs allowed customers to expand processing, memory, input/output, and communications capacity, making them attractive for institutions that valued continuous operation and controlled transaction processing. The company also built B2500-series medium systems aimed at commercial COBOL workloads. These machines used decimal-oriented processing suited to business data. The B1700 line used microprogramming to support different virtual-machine environments, while B700 systems served as smaller computers, communications controllers, and disk-subsystem controllers. Burroughs produced special-purpose military and real-time computers, including the D825 family and compact D82 and D84 systems. It also worked with the University of Illinois on the highly parallel ILLIAC IV project. In the airline sector, Burroughs developed a real-time reservation system for Trans World Airlines. The system, known as George, suffered repeated failures under heavy load because of a disk-allocation problem. The technical problem was eventually corrected, but TWA cancelled the project, moved to IBM equipment and software, and litigated against Burroughs. The companies ultimately settled outside court. The episode illustrated both the ambition and the operational risks of large real-time transaction systems during the mainframe era. By the 1960s Burroughs ranked among the principal American computer manufacturers. It competed with IBM and other large vendors while supplying processors, storage, printers, terminals, communications equipment, paper, and ribbons. Its systems were especially prominent in banking. Burroughs-built switching equipment also supported early interbank communications associated with SWIFT, whose first message was sent in 1977. Market conditions became more difficult during the 1970s and 1980s. IBM's System/360 and System/370 families dominated the high end, while superminicomputers and other smaller systems changed the competitive structure. Burroughs responded with continued mainframe development, personal computers including the B20 and B25, and products for workgroup networking and business applications. Nevertheless, the company concluded that greater scale and a broader installed base were necessary. In September 1986, it merged with Sperry Corporation, owner of the UNIVAC business, to form Unisys. Burroughs-derived A Series systems continued within the new company, but Burroughs itself became a historical corporate identity rather than an independent operating enterprise. American Arithmometer Company was part of the early development of commercial calculating equipment in the United States. Its business was associated with mechanical arithmometers and adding machines used in commercial and office environments. The company later adopted the name Burroughs Adding Machine Company and became part of the corporate lineage that led to Burroughs Corporation. The available material supports this broad name and corporate-transition history, but is insufficient to reliably reconstruct its founding year, founding team, specific product models, manufacturing locations, or major operating events.

• 1986

  Merger with Sperry creates Unisys

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Burroughs merged with Sperry Corporation, ending its existence as an independent company and creating Unisys.

• 1982

  B20 and B25 personal computers introduced

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Burroughs entered the personal-computer market with Intel 8086/8088-based B20 and B25 systems.

• 1977

  SWIFT communications milestone

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Burroughs-built switching systems were associated with the early interbank communications infrastructure used by SWIFT.

• 1961

  B5000 introduced

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The B5000 established Burroughs's influential Large Systems architecture and language-oriented computing approach.

• 1956

  ElectroData acquired

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Burroughs acquired ElectroData and strengthened its digital-computer development capability.

• 1953

  Burroughs Corporation name adopted

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The new corporate name signaled the company's movement from adding machines toward electronic data processing.

• 1925

  Portable adding machines introduced

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Burroughs expanded its range with smaller Class 8 and Class 9 portable models.

• 1910

  Pike Adding Machine acquisition

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The purchase of Pike supported the introduction of visible-printing adding machines.

• 1904

  Move to Detroit and renaming

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The company moved to Detroit and became the Burroughs Adding Machine Company.

• 1886

  American Arithmometer Company founded

  [1]Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  William Seward Burroughs founded the company in St. Louis to manufacture and market his mechanical adding machine.

Enterprise transaction-processing and business-computing provider, with particular strength in banking automation, accounting systems, high-level-language mainframes, and dependable mission-critical data processing.

• Mechanical adding machine

  Class 1 adding machine

  The Class 1 was an early hand-operated adding machine. Its full keyboard, decade-based key arrangement, interlocking mechanism, regulated operating lever, and printed output were designed to make office calculations repeatable and verifiable. It established the basic product logic that allowed Burroughs to build a large commercial adding-machine business.

• Accounting machine

  Sensimatic and Sensitronic

  These accounting systems extended mechanical calculation into semi-automatic ledger processing. Sensimatic used a programmable carriage and maintained multiple balances, while Sensitronic added magnetic storage on ledger cards. Together they represented Burroughs's gradual transition from standalone calculators to integrated business data-processing equipment.

• Mainframe computer · 1961

  B5000 series

  The B5000 family introduced Burroughs's Large Systems architecture. It was designed around high-level programming, particularly ALGOL-related languages, and used a stack-oriented processor model with protected execution and the Master Control Program operating system. Later members of the family became important platforms for banking, government, and other continuous-operation workloads.

• Mainframe computer

  B6500 and B6700

  The B6500 and B6700 extended the Large Systems concept with more capable processing, memory, input/output, and communications configurations. Their architecture favored secure, structured execution and efficient support for high-level languages. They formed a major part of Burroughs's enterprise-computing presence during the late 1960s and 1970s.

• Business computer

  B2500 series

  The B2500 and related medium systems targeted commercial organizations and were optimized for COBOL-style business processing. Their decimal-oriented arithmetic and business-data handling made them suitable for accounting, transaction processing, and administrative workloads. The line complemented Burroughs's more technically distinctive Large Systems machines.

• Small computer

  B1700 series

  The B1700 family used microprogramming to create different execution environments for different applications and programming languages. This flexibility allowed one hardware platform to support varied business workloads and illustrated Burroughs's broader interest in designing machines around programming-language requirements rather than a single fixed instruction model.

• Personal computer · 1982

  B20 and B25

  Introduced in the early 1980s, the B20 and B25 were Intel 8086/8088-based personal computers running the BTOS operating system licensed from Convergent Technologies. They were intended for business and workgroup use and supported an early local-area-network approach in which users could share a hard disk.

• Defense and real-time computer

  D825, D82, and D84

  These systems addressed defense, control, and real-time applications. The D825 was a multiprocessor-oriented design, while the smaller D82 and D84 emphasized compactness and specialized processing. Applications included aircraft electronics testing and missile-launch control, demonstrating Burroughs's reach beyond commercial data processing.

• Office calculating equipment

  Mechanical arithmometers

  Mechanical calculating devices for basic arithmetic operations, representing the core product category associated with the American Arithmometer Company's name and early business. They were intended for commercial and office calculation, but specific models, mechanisms, and launch dates are not sufficiently documented here.

• 1986

  Merger with Sperry CorporationM&A

  Background

  Burroughs faced a changing mainframe market, IBM's scale advantage, and increasing competition from smaller systems and broader computing standards.

  Action taken

  Burroughs merged with Sperry Corporation, whose businesses included the UNIVAC computer line, to create Unisys.

  Aftermath

  The Burroughs corporate identity ended as an independent company, while its A Series architecture continued within Unisys alongside Sperry-derived product lines.

  Source

• 1956

  Acquisition of ElectroDataM&A

  Background

  Burroughs needed digital-computing expertise to expand beyond mechanical and electromechanical office equipment.

  Action taken

  It acquired ElectroData, bringing the Datatron computer business and related engineering capabilities into Burroughs.

  Aftermath

  The transaction supported the B205 and subsequent electronic systems, particularly for institutional and banking customers.

  Source

• 1953

  Shift from adding machines to computingStrategy

  Background

  Electronic data processing was emerging as an important extension of office-machine technology, while Burroughs sought to reduce its dependence on mechanical calculators.

  Action taken

  The company changed its name from Burroughs Adding Machine Company to Burroughs Corporation and pursued digital computer products.

  Aftermath

  The change initiated the transformation that made Burroughs a major mainframe and banking-technology supplier.

  Source

• 2020.01.27

  Reported2020.01.27

  FlashParking and Burroughs announce service partnership[2]FlashParking与Burroughs宣布服务合作parking.net

  FlashParking announced a national service partnership with Burroughs, whose technicians will provide hardware repairs and routine kiosk maintenance for FlashParking customers.

Read more

1. 1Burroughs Corporationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2FlashParking与Burroughs宣布服务合作parking.net