Bank of England unveils new banknote celebrating WW2 code-breaker Turing

[webfact]

Front and back view of the new 50-pound note, featuring late mathematician Alan Turing, in this illustration obtained March 25, 2021. Bank of England/Handout via REUTERS/Illustration

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England unveiled the design of a new banknote celebrating mathematician Alan Turing, who helped Britain win World War Two with his code-breaking skills but is believed to have killed himself after being convicted for having sex with a male partner.

 

The new 50-pound ($69) note features an image of Turing, mathematical formulae from a 1936 paper he wrote that laid the groundwork for modern computer science, and technical drawings for the machines used to decipher the Enigma code.

 

The polymer note also carries a quote by Turing about the rise of machine intelligence: "This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be."

 

Turing built on work by Polish mathematicians who had discovered how to read Germany's Enigma code, finding a way to crack the Nazis' increased security of the code.

 

That story was recounted in the 2014 film The Imitation Game in which Turing was played by actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

 

Turing's work led to the decryption of German naval communications that helped allied convoys steer clear of U-boats and was pivotal in the Battle of the Atlantic.

 

He also developed a technique that led to the breaking of Germany's more sophisticated Lorenz cypher.

 

The Bank of England unveiled the design of a new banknote celebrating mathematician Alan Turing, who helped Britain win World War Two with his code-breaking skills but is believed to have killed himself after being convicted for having sex with a male partner.

 

Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for having sex with a man and underwent chemical castration with injections of female hormones to avoid imprisonment. He lost his security clearance to work with Britain's GCHQ spy agency.

 

Homosexual sex was illegal in Britain until 1967.

 

Turing used cyanide to kill himself in 1954, aged 41, according to an inquest at the time. He was granted a royal pardon by Queen Elizabeth in 2013 for the criminal conviction that preceded his death.

 

"There's something of the character of a nation in its money," BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement on Thursday, which highlighted the breadth of Turing's accomplishments.

 

"He was also gay, and was treated appallingly as a result," Bailey said. "By placing him on our new polymer 50-pound banknote, we are celebrating his achievements, and the values he symbolises."

 

The head of GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, said Turing's image on the note was a landmark moment.

 

"Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being gay. His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive," Fleming said.

 

The BoE said it would fly the rainbow flag from its main building in London's Threadneedle Street on Thursday.

 

The 50-pound note is the BoE's highest-value banknote. It will enter circulation on June 23, Turing's birthday.

 

($1 = 0.7290 pounds)

 

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-26

 

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[Tug]

Bravo!he was a gifted man who did a great contribution to the allied effort 

[toofarnorth]

Tragic , a brilliant mind which he applied to his job but at the time being gay was not acceptable . Injected with female hormones , chemical castration . Ah the good old days , Not for this chap.

[Chomper Higgot]

 

"Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being gay. His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive," Fleming said.

 

This!

[PETERTHEEATER]

Ironically, most of the population are paying retailers via card contactless transaction and the amount of actual cash exchanged daily must be greatly reduced.

[Burma Bill]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

He was granted a royal pardon by Queen Elizabeth in 2013

  It is interesting to note that in 1945, it was the present Queen's late father, King George 6th, who presented Alan Mathison Turing with his OBE (Order of the British Empire) for "services to his country" (his brilliant work with mathematics, codebreaking and bombe machines, forerunners of modern computers). His OBE is kept at Sherborne School in Dorset (UK) where he was a pupil. In 1951 he was elected as an FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society).  (ref: The British Library and wikipedia)

 

In 1945 Turing was awarded an OBE for his services to the country and in 1949, was made deputy director of the Computing Laboratory at the University of Manchester. Turing first addressed the issue of Artificial intelligence (AI) in his famous paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950). 

 

[Sujo]

Good. It is sad how he was treated when alive.

[david555]

In case some like to see the movie about , here my Mediafire links , movie English , and if needed for non English a Dutch srt file subtitles , direct download no code needed

https://www.mediafire.com/file/xgdxyh3p6pav0h9/The.Imitation.Game__5b2014__DVDRIP_MKV-300MB.mkv/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/s7kfjx6fr3cr9e9/The.Imitation.Game__5b2014__DVDRIP_MKV-300MB.srt/file

 

[lungbing]

I believe that just being homosexual was not illegal in England, even before 1967.  What was illegal was doing a homosexual act with another person of the same sex.  That counted as an indecent assault  and was illegal and was what Turing was prosecuted for.

[Mr Dome]

4 hours ago, lungbing said:

I believe that just being homosexual was not illegal in England, even before 1967.  What was illegal was doing a homosexual act with another person of the same sex.  That counted as an indecent assault  and was illegal and was what Turing was prosecuted for.

 

Not sure whose view you are trying to correct here as the OP had spelled it out in detail: "Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for having sex with a man ... . Homosexual sex was illegal in Britain until 1967."

 

When people say that he was prosecuted for being gay, it's sort of like a summary of it all and it shouldn't be taken literally. Unless, you believe that homosexuals shouldn't have the right to live their sexuality, which I hope you don't.

[Meat Pie 47]

9 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Ironically, most of the population are paying retailers via card contactless transaction and the amount of actual cash exchanged daily must be greatly reduced.

to much to drink?

[Pmbkk]

11 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Ironically, most of the population are paying retailers via card contactless transaction and the amount of actual cash exchanged daily must be greatly reduced.

 

Not for the people that use £50 notes in general...... ????

[Scott]

Inflammatory post and reply removed.

 

[ThaIrish Sean]

11 hours ago, Pmbkk said:

 

Not for the people that use £50 notes in general...... ????

How long will it be before the currency exchanges in Thailand refuse the old £50 note?

[nglodnig]

I have three heroes : Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes and Alan Turing. Sadly only one of them existed (except in my mind).

[Primo D]

Just think what this man might have achieved if he had been allowed to live his life. 

Hopefully this honor will be seen and accepted as a positive step in understanding that we are all the same regardless of sexuality.

[thaibeachlovers]

One of the few men that saved Britain from defeat in WW2. This is long overdue.

 

The inventor of the Spitfire ( Reginald Mitchell ) was probably also as much responsible for Britain's survival, but I am unaware of any great award given to him, though he apparently has a statue in the science museum. Sadly he died before WW2 so never saw his invention at work in the Battle of Britain.

[elliss]

On 3/26/2021 at 4:54 PM, Sujo said:

Good. It is sad how he was treated when alive.

 

    What more .

 Could one  expect , from  the British Establishment ..

    Stiff, upper lip .    Etc ...