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ALGOL was formulated in Zurich in 1958, and this paper explores some of the reasons why this happened in Zurich and not in the USA. One factor may have been that the first computer on the continent, the Z4, was installed in Zurich in 1950. This computer was built by Zuse during the Second World War. It used relays for its arithmetic and control units, but it had a mechanical memory. Though the machine had limited capabilities, it provided valuable programming experience to a number of researchers, in particular to Stiefel, Rutishauser and Speiser at the ETH Zurich. Already in 1952, Rutishauser formulated a higher programming construct, a counted loop, and he also indicated how to convert mathematical expressions into machine language. We also should mention that Bauer, who was influenced by Rutishauser, also developed a method to implement mathematical expressions, but he used computer hardware for the task. The two started to collaborate, and they formulated a preliminary language in 1957. This language was then formalized at a ACM/GAMM meeting in Zurich under the name International Algebraic Language, or IAL, a language later renamed ALGOL 58. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]