Bombe

The Bombe was an early 20th-century electro-mechanical device developed by Alan Turing and colleagues during World War II to help decode the German Enigma cipher. It operated by systematically testing vast combinations of settings used in the Enigma machines, effectively automating what would otherwise be a manual and time-consuming process. By rapidly narrowing down possible configurations, the Bombe significantly accelerated the code-breaking effort, providing critical intelligence that contributed to the Allied war effort. Its development marked a pioneering advance in computer-assisted cryptography and demonstrated the strategic value of technological innovation in warfare.