Alan Turing

50-years ago yesterday, Alan Turing died. Turing invented the concept of the computing machine, that lead to you being able to sit in front of a screen and read this text today. His life was one of interesting career choices, and even more interesting accomplishments. He was even a part of the British government's efforts to break German cryptography (the Enigma cipher machine) during the 2nd World War, and after the war, devised what is now known as the Turing test for artificial intelligence. Sadly, Turing's genius wouldn't be his saviour. He was arrested in 1952 for being gay -- something he tried to keep a secret -- and then allowed himself to be subjected to estrogen injections for a year. The fact that he was gay, also immediately disqualified him from continuing to participate in top secret work for the British government, as homosexuals were ineligible for security clearance. He was shunned, harassed by law enforcement and unable to discuss much of what made him unhappy because of state security. Two years later, at the age of 42, Turing committed suicide.