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martyb writes:

New Hampshire Installs First Historical Marker to Honor Computer Programming:

New Hampshire has installed what appears to be the first historical highway marker honoring computer programming, according to the Concord Monitor. The new sign honors BASIC, Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, a programming language that was invented at Dartmouth College in 1964.

The sign came about after Concord Monitor journalist David Brooks noted in a column that the state’s 255 historical markers honored things like bridges and historical figures, but that there was “distressingly little celebration of New Hampshire’s technical and scientific accomplishments.” He went on to advocate for the state to install a sign for BASIC and the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System — a precursor to the internet. “They matter at least as much as a covered bridge,” Brooks wrote.

Two mathematicians developed the language: John G. Kemeny, and Thomas E. Kurtz, who wanted to create an easily-accessible programming language for students, and Brooks notes that BASIC “has probably has done more to introduce more people to computer programming than anything ever created.”

Thanks to their efforts, your humble scribe was first able to attempt his hand at programming back oh so many years ago. BASIC whetted my appetite and from there I learned Pascal, FORTRAN, COBOL, and a whole host of other languages and assemblers. How many other Soylentils "cut their teeth" on BASIC and where did it lead you?

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