John Kemeny was a Hungarian-American mathematician who, with Thomas Kurtz, invented the BASIC programming language at Dartmouth College in 1964, alongside one of the world's first time-sharing systems, the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System. Kemeny and a student programmer ran the first BASIC program together at 4 a.m. on May 1, 1964. He later served as the thirteenth President of Dartmouth College from 1970 to 1981 and chaired the presidential commission that investigated the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
NationalityHungarian-born American 3 John Kemeny
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FAQs
Why did Kemeny and Kurtz create BASIC?
They built BASIC to make computing accessible to all Dartmouth students and faculty.
They wanted to open computer access to everyone at Dartmouth, not only to specialists. In 1963 Kemeny applied for a National Science Foundation grant to bring a GE-225 computer to Dartmouth and build a general-purpose time-sharing system. Working with Thomas Kurtz and a group of undergraduates, he built that system and developed BASIC alongside it, a language Dartmouth describes as ideal for introducing beginners to programming while still able to serve all applications.
Connections
In Field
Source Wikipedia: John G. Kemeny
Invented
Co-invented with Thomas Kurtz.
Source Wikidata: BASIC
Additional Source Wikipedia: John G. KemenyCareer section
Invented By
Source Programming Language Database (PLDB): Dartmouth BASIC
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikidata: John George Kemeny
- Wikidata Q28900, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata Q28900, resolved via en.wikipedia pageprops (wave rule R-L)
- Wikidata Q28900 P569 (date of birth)
2. Wikipedia: John G. Kemeny
Wikimedia FoundationCareer section
Kemeny was appointed to the Dartmouth Mathematics Department as a full professor in 1953, at the age of 27. Two years later he became chairman of the department, and held this post until 1967.
Lead section
John George Kemeny (born Kemény János György; May 31, 1926 - December 26, 1992) was a Hungarian-born American mathematician, computer scientist, and educator best known for co-developing the BASIC programming language in 1964 with Thomas E.
Death section
John Kemeny died at the age of 66, the result of heart failure in Lebanon, New Hampshire on December 26, 1992.
- In Field: Programming Language Theory, Lead paragraph
View the Source 3. Wikipedia: John George Kemeny
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
John George Kemeny (born Kemény János György; May 31, 1926 - December 26, 1992) was a Hungarian-born American mathematician, computer scientist, and educator best known for co-developing the BASIC programming language in 1964 with Thomas E.
Dartmouth College: BASIC at Fifty
Dartmouth CollegePage body, account of first BASIC runQuote, Page body, account of first BASIC run
At 4 a.m. on May 1, 1964, in the basement of College Hall, Professor John Kemeny and a student programmer simultaneously typed RUN on neighboring terminals.
Programming Language Database (PLDB): Dartmouth BASIC
Invented By: Dartmouth BASIC, PLDB page opening sentenceQuote, Invented By: Dartmouth BASIC, PLDB page opening sentence
Dartmouth BASIC is a programming language created in 1964 by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz.
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