Linus Torvalds was born on 28 December 1969 in Helsinki. A Finnish software engineer, Torvalds created the Linux kernel in 1991 while a student at the University of Helsinki. He released the code under the GNU General Public License and invited others to contribute, which developed into one of the largest collaborative projects in computing. Combined with GNU tools, Linux is used on most web servers, supercomputers and Android phones. In 2005 he also created the Git version control system, now the most widely used tool for managing source code. He moved to the United States in 1997 and continues to oversee the kernel's development. He received the Millennium Technology Prize in 2012.
Before and after
- 10 November 1969Premiere of Sesame Street
- 14 November 1969Launch of Apollo 12
- 1 December 1969Publication of Doraemon
- 11 December 1969Birth of Viswanathan Anand
- 28 December 1969Birth of Linus Torvalds
- 30 December 1969Birth of Kersti Kaljulaid
- from 1970 to 1998Rise of Red Army Faction
- 1970Founding of Charlie Hebdo
- 1970Rise of hip hop culture
More in Science & technology
- 25 April 1953Watson and Crick publish the structure of DNA
- 1955Discovery of mendelevium
- 14 February 1961Discovery of lawrencium
- 1996Discovery of copernicium
- August 2003Discovery of moscovium
- 2006Discovery of nihonium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.