Which extinct language was deciphered from Linear B tablets in the 1950s?

Which extinct language was deciphered from Linear B tablets in the 1950s? Mycenaean Greek.

Linear B was a syllabic writing system used by palace administrations during the Mycenaean era. Its clay tablets were found at sites including Knossos, Pylos, Mycenae, Thebes, and Chania, and they mostly record inventories, personnel, offerings, and other administrative matters rather than stories or literature.

The breakthrough came through the work of Alice Kober and Michael Ventris. Ventris identified the underlying language as an early form of Greek and announced his findings in 1952. Classicist John Chadwick then helped interpret the grammar and vocabulary, establishing what scholars call Mycenaean Greek.

A common mix-up is Minoan. Linear A may have been used for the Minoan language, but Linear A remains undeciphered. Linear B was adapted from Linear A, yet it recorded Greek. Mycenaean Greek predates the later Greek alphabet by several centuries and is the earliest attested form of Greek.