Algol is a family of programming languages that was developed in the 1950s. It stands for "Algorithmic Language" and was designed for scientific and mathematical computations. Algol introduced many concepts that are now common in modern programming, such as structured programming and the use of block structures. One of the most significant versions of Algol is Algol 60, which influenced many later languages, including Pascal and C. Although Algol is not widely used today, its ideas and structures laid the groundwork for many programming languages that followed, making it an important part of computer science history.