26th February 1957
FORTRAN-1 is formally published

FORTRAN is a programming language invented at IBM John Backus and his team. The name FORTRAN stands for "FORmula TRANslator". The goal of FORTRAN was to simplify the coding process by allowing the programmer to write software using simple algebra-like expressions.

In November 1954, Backus issued the first proposal for the new FORTRAN programming language.

The first manual for FORTRAN, "The FORTRAN Automatic Coding System for the IBM 704 EDPM" was published in October 1956.

The first commercial FORTRAN compiler was delivered in April 1957.

FORTRAN was formally published in a paper titled "The FORTRAN Automatic Coding System", presented at the Western Joint Computer Conference held in Los Angeles February 26-28, 1957.

Related information:

• Association for Computing Machinery: The History of Fortran I, II, and III by John Backus
• IBM Archives: John Backus
• Computer History Museum: The FORTRAN Automatic Coding System, 1957 paper

Image:

• Fortran team, 25th reunion. A 1982 photo from the National Computer Conference in Houston featuring members of the original Fortran team.
  Credit: IBM Archive

Related Items in the Collection:

First FORTRAN program runs