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Born
Born in Bronxville, New York -
Began work at Bell Labs
At the time, Bell was the premier lab in the country for electronics, and Ritchie was brought on to work in their labs. -
Graduated Harvard University
Ritchie graduated with a bachelors degree in physics, going on to complete his Doctorate in 1968. -
The UNIX Programmer's Manual was released
This gave the basic format for how to work with UNIX as an operating system; this was a rudimentary version of the later full program. -
C Language was applied to UNIX
Ritchie, with the help of Kenneth Thompson, rewrote UNIX using their new language, C; it was an answer to B, which had failed them in previous application -
First "USENIX" meeting
This collaboration of UNIX users was the first meeting of what would later form into an organization known as "USENIX" -
Named a Fellow by Bell Labs
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Received ACM Turing Award
Both Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson were awarded the Turing Award for their combined work. -
AT&T gains ability to sell Unix as a product
The U.S. Department of Justice broke up the Bell System, getting AT&T out of the previous limitations on licensing and selling Unix; this allowed them to commercialize the system. -
Elected to U.S. National Academy of Engineering
For his accomplishments and prolific work in the computing field, Ritchie was elected to the USNAoE. -
Promoted at Bell Laboratories
Assigned as head of System Software Research Department -
Release of Plan 9 and Inferno
Two new operating systems were pushed on the market in the space of two years, both developed under the direction of Ritchie at Bell Labs -
Awarded U.S. National Medal of Technology
Ritchie, along with Kenneth Thompson, was awarded the medal for the development of UNIX. -
Retired from Bell Labs
Ritchie stepped down as head of Bell's System Software Research Department -
Died
Ritchie died at the age of 70 from health complications.