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Thomas Eugene Kurtz, co-inventor of BASIC, dead at 96

Rob Beschizza
Nov 15, 2024
∙ Paid

Kurtz in 1974. Photo: Dartmouth Libraries (CC)

In his long and illustrious career as a mathematician and computer scientist, Thomas Eugene Kurtz achieved many things. But most important was how he helped generations of other people achieve things: he co-invented BASIC, the programming language most easily-grasped by everyday users. Kurtz is dead at 96.

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