-
Period: to
Ken Thompson
-
Ken Thompson was born
He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana -
Graduates from UC Berkley
He graduated with a B.S and M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley -
Joins Bell Labs Computing Research
Immediately after graduating, Ken Thompson joined Bell Labs Computing Research Department. While there, he was working on the Multics project. -
UNIX is developed
By 1969, Thompson develops the UNIX operating System. The system was developed to run and operate on smaller microcomputers that were being developed in the late 1960s. -
C Language rewritten
Thompson rewrote C language in the same year in a simple, short and easily understandable manner. Besides, the use of the “C” language made UNIX operating system extremely portable as it was able to operate on different hardware platforms. From then till to date, “C” became an important programming language in computer science. -
C Language
B programming language became a precursor of C programming language which was completed by Ritchie in 1972. -
B Language is written
Thompson discovered that it was necessary to include a programming language in the operating system. Together with Dennis Richie, they managed to create B programming language to enhance the operating -
Introduction of UNIX
Thompson decided to introduce UNIX to the world through a publication that made the operating visible in various platforms especially in the academic community especially in universities. -
Thompson leaves Bell Labs
Thompson left Bell Labs to work on a specific project of installation of “Version 6 Unix”. -
Won the US and World Computing Chess Championships
"Belle," a chess-playing computer Thompson developed with Joe H. Condon, wins the U.S. and World Computing Chess Championships. -
Thompson elected to the U.S. National Academy of Science and elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering
The award was attributed to his contribution in designing a UNIX operating system. -
Plan 9 Project
on Plan 9 project which was a new operating system. The project was solely based on UNIX operating system but it contained a variety of innovations. During Plan 9 projects, Thompson saw an opportunity and created a Unicode transformation format. -
Inferno
In the 1990s, both Thompson and Ritchie worked with other researchers to create a new operating system called “Inferno”. -
Thompson retires from Bell labs
After working at Bell Labs, Thompson finally retired in 2000 and moved to California to work on other projects including Google where he developed and designed Go programming language. -
Thompson uses Linux based operating system