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Today in History 12/03 (John Backus)

Computer scientist John Backus (courtesy of Wikipedia)(1924) Computer programming pioneer is born
John Warner Backus is born in Philadelphia. After getting a master’s degree in mathematics from Columbia University, he will lead the team at IBM that invents Fortran—one of the first widely used computer programming languages—and develop other significant advances and research.
John Warner Backus was an American computer scientist. He directed the team that invented and implemented FORTRAN, the first widely used high-level programming language, and was the inventor of the Backus–Naur form, a widely used notation to define formal language syntax. He later did research into the function-level programming paradigm, presenting his findings in his influential 1977 Turing Award lecture “Can Programming Be Liberated from the von Neumann Style?”
Born: Dec 03, 1924 · Philadelphia, PA
Died: Mar 17, 2007 · Ashland, OR
Nationality: American
Inventions: Fortran · ALGOL · ALGOL 58 · Speedcoding · FP · FL
Education: Columbia University · University of Virginia · The Hill School
Awards: Turing Award (1977) · Charles Stark Draper Prize (1993) · National Medal of Science for Mathematics and Computer Science (1975)
Highlights
  • 1953: In 1953 Backus developed the language Speedcoding, the first high-level language created for an IBM computer, to aid in software development for the IBM 701 computer.

  • 1954: Programming was very difficult at this time, and in 1954 Backus assembled a team to define and develop Fortran for the IBM 704 computer.

  • 1967: The IEEE awarded Backus the W. W. McDowell Award in 1967 for the development of FORTRAN.

  • 1975: John Backus was awarded National Medal of Science for Mathematics and Computer Science in 1975.

  • 1977: John Backus was awarded Turing Award in 1977.

  • 2007: John Backus died on March 17, 2007 in Ashland, United States.

Punch card from a typical Fortran program
FORTRAN code on a punched card, showing the specialized uses of columns 1–5, 6 and 73–80
wiki/John_Backus
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(1924) Computer programming pioneer is born.
Also on this day,

1818 | Illinois becomes the 21st state in the US
What will be known as the Land of Lincoln, Illinois, joins the nation as the 21st state. Although it’s technically a slave-free state, slavery will be tolerated for many years in Illinois until the state Supreme Court gradually emancipates all people living in bondage.
1947 | ‘Streetcar’ opens in NYC as Brando screams, “Stella!” on Broadway and audiences rave
When the curtain falls on the first performance of Tennessee Williams’ play, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ the audience applauds for half an hour. Epic performances will make Marlon Brando, who plays Stanley, an overnight star, and earn Jessica Tandy a Tony for her “incredibly true” portrayal of Blanche DuBois.
1979 | Who concert disaster as eleven people die in a stampede outside
Excitement turns deadly as thousands of fans push their way into the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati to see the British rock band the Who. Eleven people, mostly teenagers, are suffocated as the crowd crushes onto the concourse. The band won’t learn of the deaths until after the show.

Today in History 12/03/17

Illinois state flag (© Chris Mellor/Getty Images)(1818) Illinois becomes the 21st state in the US
What will be known as the Land of Lincoln, Illinois, joins the nation as the 21st state. Although it's technically a slave-free state, slavery will be tolerated for many years in Illinois until the state Supreme Court gradually emancipates all people living in bondage.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 5th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base and is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.
Population: 12.80 million (2016)
Area: 57,915 sq miles (149,998 km²)
Governor: Bruce Rauner
Colleges and universities: University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign · Illinois State University · University of Chicago · Northwestern University · University of Illinois at Chicago · Southern Illinois University Carbondale · Northern Illinois University · Western Illinois University · Wheaton College · Eureka College · Bradley University · Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Senators: Dick Durbin · Tammy Duckworth
Capital: Springfield

Illinois in United States
Map of the United States with Illinois highlighted

wiki/Illinois
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Today in History 08/12 (Cleopatra)

Detail of the painting 'The Suicide of Cleopatra' (© DeAgostini/Getty Images)(30 BCE) Queen of the Nile dies
With her partner Mark Antony already dead by his own hand and her country controlled by Octavian’s Roman forces, Egyptian ruler Cleopatra VII kills herself by either drinking poison or suffering the bite of an asp (historians will differ on the cause of death). The last of the Ptolemaic Dynasty’s active pharaohs will not be lost to the ages.
Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, nominally survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. She was also a diplomat, naval commander, polyglot, and medical author. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder, Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the Hellenistic period that had lasted since the reign of Alexander. Her native language was Koine Greek and she was the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.
Born: 69 BC · Alexandria, Egypt
Children: Caesarion (Son) · Cleopatra Selene II (Daughter) · Alexander Helios (Son) · Ptolemy Philadelphus (Son)
Siblings: Ptolemy XIV of Egypt (Brother) · Berenice IV of Egypt (Sister) · Arsinoe IV of Egypt (Sister) · Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (Brother) · Cleopatra VI of Egypt (Sister)
Parents: Ptolemy XII Auletes (Father) · Cleopatra V of Egypt (Mother)
Buried: Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra

The Death of Cleopatra
The Death of Cleopatra (1658), by Guido Cagnacci
wiki/Cleopatra
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(30 BCE) Queen of the Nile dies.
Also on this day,

1676 | Native American leader killed in early clash with colonists
Decades of peace between Plymouth’s English colonists and local Native American tribes has come to an end, and the Wampanoags’ war chief Metacomet, or ‘King Philip,’ is launching raids against the settlers. Metacomet meets his end today at the hand of a Native American fighting with the English.
1981 | IBM makes it personal with the 5150 computer
$1,565 will get you 16K of RAM, a 4.77 MHz CPU, and DOS 1.0 on IBM’s new entry into the marketplace, a machine marketed as a personal computer, or ‘PC.’ Open standards mean third parties can write software or build peripherals, which will contribute to the 5150’s huge success.
1990 | Last-minute look yields largest T. rex ever found
While waiting for her truck’s flat tire to be fixed, paleontologist Sue Hendrickson notices a few small bones in an area her group had not explored during their western South Dakota dig. What will be uncovered is the biggest, and most complete, T. rex skeleton yet discovered.

Today in History 08/12/17

IBM 5150 personal computer (© SSPL/Getty Images)(1981) IBM makes it personal with the 5150 computer
$1,565 will get you 16K of RAM, a 4.77 MHz CPU, and DOS 1.0 on IBM's new entry into the marketplace, a machine marketed as a personal computer, or 'PC.' Open standards mean third parties can write software or build peripherals, which will contribute to the 5150's huge success.
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981. It was created by a team of engineers and designers under the direction of Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Florida.
Inventor: Philip Don Estridge
IBM PC Motherboard (1981)
Original IBM Personal Computer motherboard, IBM 5150. It has five 8-bit Industry Standard Architecture slots, and two DIN connectors for keyboard and cassette interface.

wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer
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