[joeatwork]

Getting recursive functions into ALGOL turns out to have been a controversial move that made for a fun story: https://vanemden.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/how-recursion-got-...

[dang]

Related:

How recursion got into programming: intrigue, betrayal, and advanced semantics - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33123916 - Oct 2022 (8 comments)

How Recursion Got into Programming (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23061881 - May 2020 (47 comments)

How recursion got into Algol 60: a comedy of errors - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10131664 - Aug 2015 (124 comments)

How recursion got into programming: a comedy of errors - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8073361 - July 2014 (108 comments)

[robocat]

Definitely "a tale of intrigue, betrayal, and advanced programming-language semantics"