Zeenews Bureau
Manchester: Computer genius Alan Mathison Turing was honoured with Google doodle on his 100th birth anniversary.
Allan Turing, who was born on 23 June 1912, is also being honoured with an award named after him in Manchester for people who help victims of homophobia.
The honour will be given as part of the Lesbian and Gay Foundation’s annual Homo Heroes Awards.
Councillor Kevin Peel, Manchester City Council’s lead member for gay men’s issues, said: "Had he not been hounded to death by the state because of his sexuality, who knows what other breakthroughs he could have made.
“The fact that we are celebrating his life and work shows how society has moved on, but the battle against homophobia continues. This represents a lasting legacy to Alan Turing, and is a fitting tribute to that great man.”
This award declaration comes ahead of the 100th centenary of Turing’s birth on Saturday.
Turing is now recognised as a hero in the history of the information technology industry, and was also highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of “algorithm” and “computation” with the Turing machine, which played a significant role in the creation of the modern computer.
Turing, who is widely known as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, committed suicide in 1954, just over two weeks before his 42nd birthday, following his homosexuality resulted in a criminal prosecution in 1952, since homosexual acts were still illegal in the United Kingdom at that time.
First Published: Friday, June 22, 2012, 22:08