It is highly unrecommended to write your own code in asm now since, in most cases, gcc -O3 does magic. But in the '80s it was believed that compiled C code takes 4(?) times or more than a well-organized assembly equivalent. When and why does coding c for performance as the primary choice become the received practice? Which compiler first made it, on which architecture?

Are there any high level language compilers (ada/cobol/fortran/pascal) other than c families which generates optimized code outperforming average assembly programmers?

It is highly unrecommended to write your own code in assembly now since, in most cases, gcc -O3 does magic. But in the ‘80s it was believed that compiled C code takes 4(?) times or more than a well-organized assembly equivalent. When and why does coding C for performance as the primary choice become the received practice? Which compiler first made it, on which architecture?

Are there any high level language compilers (Ada/COBOL/Fortran/Pascal) other than C families which generates optimized code outperforming average assembly programmers?