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Alan Turing
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Alan Turing
Enigma machine explained
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Germany invades Poland, September 1, 1939, using 45 German divisions and aerial attack. By September 20, only Warsaw held out, but final surrender came on September 29.
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U.S. marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945
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computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board
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D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.
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Alan Turing: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Sara Stoney Turing, Alan M. Turing (1959), written by Turing’s mother, gives an interesting account of Turing’s life. Ted Gottfried, Alan Turing: The Architect of the Computer Age (1996), is a short, clear biography written with high school students and the general reader in mind. Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing: The Enigma (1983, reissued 1992), is a well-written account of Turing’s life and his diverse scientific ideas. F.H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp (eds.), Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (1994), presents the fascinating story of efforts to break the German codes.

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Other Contributors

  • Michael Dear
    Graduate of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, School of Applied Linguistics and Cultural Studies in Germersheim, Germany. Translator, reviser and editor at the Deutsche Bundesbank since 1997.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: Imperial War Museum - How Alan Turing Cracked The Enigma Code. Oct 22, 2026
Add new Web site: Engineering LibreTexts - Alan Turing. Aug 01, 2026
Anniversary information added. Jun 20, 2026
Add new Web site: ABC listen - Sunday Extra - The under appreciated legacy of Alan Turing. Jun 06, 2026
Anniversary information added. Jun 03, 2026
Add new Web site: PBS News - 8 things you didn't know about Alan Turing. Jan 02, 2026
Add new Web site: New Prairie Press Open Book Publishing - Cyber-Human Systems, Space Technologies, and Threats - Machines Hacking Machines – Turig’s Legacy [Carter]. Oct 30, 2025
Add new Web site: The Institution of Engineering and Technology - Archives Biographies: Alan Turing. Oct 03, 2025
Add new Web site: Harvard Graduate School of the Arts and Sciences - Science in the News - Difficult to decode: Alan Turing's life and its implications. Jul 23, 2024
First paragraph modernization. Apr 12, 2024
Add new Web site: Mathematical Association of America - Alan Turing in America. Feb 12, 2024
Add new Web site: IEEE Spectrum - Alan Turing: How His Universal Machine Became a Musical Instrument. Dec 03, 2023
Add new Web site: IEEE Computer Society - Biography of Alan Mathison Turing. Apr 24, 2023
Cross-reference added. Mar 06, 2023
Added link to ChatGPT Feb 07, 2023
Add new Web site: Live Science - Alan Turing Biography: Computer Pioneer, Gay Icon. Apr 10, 2022
Removed media. Dec 15, 2021
Media added. May 28, 2021
Cross-references added. Jan 05, 2021
Added an image of an Enigma machine. Jan 05, 2021
Media added. Jan 23, 2019
Deleted photograph. Jun 19, 2017
Added a photograph of Alan Turing. Mar 20, 2017
Add new Web site: Famous Scientist - Biography of Alan Turin. Mar 06, 2016
Add new Web site: Imperial War Museum - How Alan Turing Cracked The Enigma Code. Mar 06, 2016
Media added. Feb 23, 2016
Added material about circumstances of Turing's death and problems with the coroner's verdict of suicide. Oct 23, 2015
Add new Web site: National Archives - Alan Turing, Enigma, and the Breaking of German Machine Ciphers in World War II. Aug 28, 2015
Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Biography of Alan Turing. Nov 14, 2014
Add new Web site: Science Museum - Astonishing Science Spectacular Museum - Biography of Alan Turing. Jan 22, 2014
Noted that he received an apology from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009 and a pardon from Queen Elizabeth II in 2013. Jan 20, 2014
Retitled article. Jan 16, 2014
Added new Web site: British Broadcasting Corporation - History - Biography of Alan Turing.
  • Gaurav Shukla
 May 03, 2007
Added new Web site: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive - Biography of Alan Mathison Turing.
  • Gaurav Shukla
 Nov 30, 2006
Added new Web site: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - The Church-Turing Thesis. Nov 03, 2006
Added new Web site: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Biography of Alan Turing. Jun 27, 2006
Added new Web site: TIME 100: Alan Turing. May 10, 2006
Article revised. Mar 29, 2006
Article revised. Dec 14, 2000
Article revised. Jan 29, 1999
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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