Historical Review of OISC

A one instruction computer was first described by van der Poel in his doctoral thesis, “The Logical Principles of Some Computers” [van der Poel56] and in an article, “Zebra, a simple binary computer” [van der Poel59]. van der Poel’s computer called “ZEBRA” for Zeer Eenvoudige Binaire Reken Automaat, was a subtract and branch if negative based machine. Standard Telephones and Cables Limited of South Wales in the United Kingdom later built the computer, which was delivered in 1958. For his pioneering efforts, van der Poel was awarded the 1984 Computer Pioneer Award by the IEEE Computer Society.