🧠 Before RISC vs. CISC. Before ARM dominance. Before the cloud. There was the Bellmac 32.
Now officially recognized as an IEEE Milestone, the Bellmac 32 helped define what 32-bit computing would become:
💾 Built in 1977 by Bell Labs, it was one of the earliest 32-bit microprocessors
🔐 Introduced memory protection and supervisor/user modes — setting the stage for modern OS security
🌐 Powered Unix systems, 5ESS telecom switches, and early internet infrastructure
🛠️ A foundational workhorse, now honored for the impact it had behind the scenes
It didn’t make headlines like the 8086 or the 68000 — but it should have. Hats off to the engineers who helped shape the future and are finally getting the recognition they deserve.
