INTERCAL, an abbreviation for Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym, was created in 1972, thus probably making it the first ever esoteric programming language. (See Prehistory of Esoteric Languages for an alternate view.) Donald R. Woods and James M. Lyon invented it with the goal of creating a language with no similarities whatsoever to any existing programming languages. The language largely succeeds in this goal, apart from its use of an assignment statement. It also suffers fro...
