The creation of BASIC was one of the most important steps in the democratization of computing. BASIC, coupled with the Dartmouth Time Sharing System, was developed by math professors John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz along with a team of undergraduate students at Dartmouth College in 1964. They revolutionized who could use and access a computer. In the 1970s BASIC became the defacto standard interface to early personal computers. In this episode we contextualize BASIC, tell its story in broad strokes, and explain why it was so successful.

Show Notes

• Birth of BASIC Documentary by Dartmouth College via YouTube


• BASIC at 50 Website via Dartmouth College


• First BASIC Instruction Manual via Dartmouth College


• BASIC via Wikipedia


• Dartmouth Time Sharing System via Wikipedia


• Episode 16: The Personal Computer Revolution


• Episode 11: What is a Programming Language?

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