History of Programming Languages timeline

Short for "Formula Translator", this language was invented by John Backus in 1957. Although, general purpose, it specializes in raw numeric and scientific calculations. You would never see it in a program on your computer or a video game, but it dominates in physics and chemistry simulations. Newer versions have attempted to adopt more modern features and functions, but it has not stopped this language from slowly beginning to die out as more versatile languages take over the majority.

COBOL, or Common Business Oriented Language, is an object-oriented programming language developed in 1959 by the Department of Defense to interact with various mainframes. This application is also its downfall, as you would be hard-pressed to find it being used in any other application. Despite its origins, COBOL can now be found in a vast amount of mainframe systems due to its efficiency in the field, although, much like FORTRAN, it is slowly being replaced by newer, more versatile languages.

BASIC was the first programming language that was truly general-use, developed by Thomas Kurtz and John Kemeny in 1959 with the intent of making a language that anyone could use. Shortly after micro-processors were invented, BASIC became the go-to programming language for home and mass-produced computers due to it's versatility. In fact, Bill Gates found his start in the computer industry by programming microprocessors with BASIC.