from left: Ken Thompson and Dennis RitchieKen Thompson was born on February 4, 1943 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is known for his invention of the UNIX operating system at AT&T's Bell Labs with Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna. Thompson is also known for developing the B programming language, which was a precursor to the C programming language that he invented with Dennis Ritchie. Thompson and Ritchie received the 1998 National Medal of Technology for their invention of the UNIX operating system and the C programming language.