In true lazy programmer fashion the following is from the C Language wikipedia page:
"The initial development of C occurred at AT&T Bell Labs between 1969 and 1973; according to Ritchie, the most creative period occurred in 1972. It was named "C" because many of its features were derived from an earlier language called "B," which according to Ken Thompson was a stripped down version of the BCPL programming language."
The following paper written by Dennis Ritchie gives good coverage of the historical development of C.
The Development of the C Language 
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