Ken Thompson

By corycharter

  • Ken Thompson born

    Ken Thompson was born in New Orlean's, Louisiana
  • Thompson earns BS in Electrical Engineering

    Thompson earns BS in Electrical Engineering

    Thompson earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in 1965 from UC Berkley
  • Thompson earns MS in Electrical Engineering

    Thompson earns MS in Electrical Engineering

    Thompson earned his Masters of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkley
  • Thompson hired by Bell Laboratories

    Thompson hired by Bell Laboratories

    Thompson was hired by Bell Laboratories
  • Period: to

    Multics OS Project

    Thompsons first project at Bell Labs was working on the Multics Operating Systme
  • Thompson Develops 'Space Travel' at Bell Labs

    Thompson Develops 'Space Travel' at Bell Labs

    Thompson develops the game Space Travel at Bell Labs for the Multics OS
  • Period: to

    Thompson and Ritchie develop UNIX

    Thompson started to develop a more flexible OS to play Space Travel on obsolete computers in Bell Labs
  • Thompson and Ritchie develop B programming language

    Thompson and Ritchie develop B programming language

    The two developed the B programming language for coding, which was in conjunction with UNIX
  • Thompson and Ritchie expand on B language

    Thompson and Ritchie expand on B language

    With the newest developments in computer, B had to be extended, so they further created the C language

  • Thompson and Ritchie rewrite UNIX

    In 1973 Thompson and Ritchie rewrite UNIXi in C as it is a much more widely used language
  • Thompson added to two national academies

    Thompson added to two national academies

    Thompson was added to the U.S. National Academy of Science and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering
  • Thompson's computer program wins World Computing Chess Championship

    Thompson's computer program wins World Computing Chess Championship

    Belle, the program Thompson developed with Joseph Condon, won the World Computing Chess Championship

  • Thompson is co-winner of A.M. Turing Award

    Thompson is declared a co-winner of the A.M. Turing Award, the highest award in computer science

  • Thompson name fellow by Bell Labs

  • Creation of Plan 9

    Creation of Plan 9

    Thompson assisted Dennis Ritchie with the creation of Plan 9
  • Creation of Inferno

    Creation of Inferno

    Thompson assisted Ritchie in the creation of Inferno
  • Awarded National Medal of Technology

    Awarded National Medal of Technology

    Thompson and Ritchie were awarded the National Medal of Technology for the creation of UNIX

  • Thompson Retires

    Thompson retires from Bell Labs