History of Algorithms Timeline

In the early 12th century, Latin translations involving the Hindu–Arabic numeral system and arithmetic appeared. Examples included Liber Alghoarismi de practica arismetrice, attributed to John of Seville, and Liber Algoritmi de numero Indorum, attributed to Adelard of Bath.

Image source: Hindu–Arabic numeral system

The word algorism came to mean the use of place-value notation in calculations. It occurs in the Ancrene Wisse from approximately 1225.

Image source: Algorism

By the late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer used a variant of algorism in The Canterbury Tales. His reference to augrym stones described stones used for place-value calculation.

Image source: The Canterbury Tales

In the 15th century, the development of the word algorithm was influenced by the Greek word ἀριθμός, meaning number.

Image source: Algorithm

By 1596, the modern form of the word was used in English as algorithm by Thomas Hood, marking an important step in the terminology’s evolution.

Accurate automatic machines led to the development of mechanical automata in the 13th century, extending algorithmic ideas into engineered devices that could perform structured actions.

Image source: Automaton

Charles Babbage’s difference engine represented a major 19th-century attempt to mechanize numerical calculation through a programmable sequence of arithmetic operations.

Image source: Difference engine

Telephone-switching networks of electromechanical relays were invented in 1835. Relay technology later became important in the construction of automated calculating and digital devices.

Image source: Telephone exchange

Ada Lovelace’s work on Charles Babbage’s analytical engine helped connect mechanical computation with general algorithmic instruction, anticipating later programmable computers.

Image source: Ada Lovelace

By the mid-19th century, the telegraph was in use throughout the world. It provided a major communications infrastructure for transmitting encoded information.

Image source: Telegraphy

By the 1870s, ticker tape had been developed as a medium for encoding and transmitting information, contributing to the broader technological foundations of automated data processing.

Image source: Ticker tape

By around 1890, punch cards had been developed as a way to represent and process encoded information, helping establish a physical medium for machine-readable instructions and data.

Image source: Punched card

Around 1910, the teleprinter emerged with punched-paper use of Baudot code on tape, combining communication, encoding, and machine-readable information.

Image source: Teleprinter

Relay telephone-switching technology helped lead to George Stibitz’s invention of a digital adding device in 1937, an important step toward electronic and digital computation.

In 1928, attempts to solve David Hilbert’s Entscheidungsproblem, or decision problem, began a partial formalization of the modern concept of an algorithm.

In 1930, Kurt Gödel’s work on recursive functions contributed to the formal study of what could be computed by a precisely specified procedure.

In 1934, Jacques Herbrand’s work formed part of the development of recursive-function formalisms used to define computable procedures.

In 1935, Stephen Cole Kleene advanced the recursive-function formalization of algorithms and computability.

Alan Turing’s Turing machines, developed in 1936–37, supplied a rigorous abstract model of algorithmic computation and became foundational to computer science.

Image source: Turing machine

Emil Post’s Formulation 1, introduced in 1936, provided another formal model for defining mechanical procedures and computability.

Image source: Emil Leon Post

Alonzo Church introduced lambda calculus in 1936 as a formal system for expressing computation and functions, becoming one of the central mathematical models of algorithms.

Image source: Lambda calculus

In 1939, Alan Turing continued the formal development of machine-based computation, reinforcing the role of Turing machines in the mathematical theory of algorithms.

In 1961, James Slagle’s program SAINT used heuristics to solve 52 of 54 freshman calculus exercises from an MIT textbook, achieving approximately 96 percent success.

Image source: Carlo Acutis

In 1967, Larry Moses’s SIN refined heuristic methods and achieved 100 percent success on the relevant calculus exercises, although the approach remained heuristic rather than formally guaranteed.

Image source: Artificial intelligence

In 1969, Robert Risch introduced the Risch algorithm for symbolic integration. Unlike the earlier heuristic systems, it supplied formal guarantees for its algorithmic conclusions.

In 2023, Google DeepMind introduced AlphaDev, a reinforcement-learning system based on AlphaZero that discovered improved sorting and hashing algorithms.

Image source: Google DeepMind

In 2024, NIST updated its post-quantum encryption standards. The update included new encryption algorithms intended to improve defenses against attacks using quantum computing.

In 2025, Google DeepMind introduced AlphaEvolve, an evolutionary coding agent powered by large language models for general-purpose algorithm discovery and optimization.