Last year at the inaugural Singapore kx meetup, my colleague Ajay and I gave a short presentation on the history and background behind the K language and kdb+. I did get some feedback from people like Arthur Whitney and Rob Hodgkinson on the presentation, and even got some great old pics (courtesy of Rob) of Rob/Arthur/Ken Iverson from way back! I have attached the PDF – its an interesting story and an incredibly powerful language if you have not already tried it.
Presentation here: Introduction to kdb+