Britain passes intelligence test, belatedly apologizes to Turing:

It took an online petition signed by more than 30,000 people to make it happen, but the British government has finally apologized for the homophobic hounding that helped drive computer science pioneer and WWII hero Alan Turing to an early grave in 1954.

A statement issued Thursday by Prime Minister Gordon Brown reads in part: "Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ?gross indecency' — in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence — and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison — was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

"Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction. ... On behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan's work, I am very proud to say: we're sorry, you deserved so much better."

Nowadays, Turing is most closely associated with the Turing test of a machine's ability to demonstrate intelligence and the prestigious technical award that bears his name. His code-breaking work came as one of the mathematicians, engineers, linguists and puzzle fiends who were brought together during the war at the super-secret Bletchley Park intelligence facility. Now managed by a trust, the historical site has struggled for years to scrape together enough money to keep it from falling further into disrepair. Computer scientist John Graham-Cumming, who started the Turing apology petition, is among those suggesting that the government could add substance to its sentiments by restoring Bletchley to a condition that would better honor Turing and all the others who labored anonymously on its grounds.