BASIC

The computer programming language BASIC was invented by Dartmouth College mathematicians John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz. Designed to be used with the minimum of training, BASIC was taught as a part of a course required of most students during the 1960s. The Mathematics Department estimated that, at its peak, BASIC was understood by 80 percent of Dartmouth undergraduates. BASIC laid the foundation for the software that was later used in the introduction of personal computers.