LaTeX is a document preparation system created by the American computer scientist Leslie Lamport as a set of macros built on top of Donald Knuth's TeX typesetting program. Instead of formatting each page by hand, the author describes the structure of a text, such as chapters, sections, equations and references, and the system lays it out to a professional standard. It proved especially good at mathematics, which made it the near-universal choice for papers in mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering. A major rewrite, LaTeX2e, appeared in 1994 and remains the basis of the system in use today. Free distributions and online editors have since made it accessible well beyond academia.
Before and after
- 1984Founding of Lenovo
- 1984Establishment of Great Himalayan National Park
- 1984Creation of MATLAB
- 1984Creation of Objective-C
- 1984Release of LaTeX
- 1984Establishment of Sundarbans National Park
- 1984The Turkana Boy skeleton is found
- 8 January 1984Birth of Kim Jong-un
- 23 January 1984Birth of Arjen Robben
More in Science & technology
- 1949Discovery of berkelium
- 1955Discovery of mendelevium
- 14 February 1961Discovery of lawrencium
- c. 1980sInvention of laptop
- 9 November 1994Discovery of darmstadtium
- 8 December 1994Discovery of roentgenium
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.