Science & technology

Death of Ada Lovelace

27 November 1852

Ada Lovelace died on 27 November 1852 in Marylebone, aged 36. An English mathematician, Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, though she barely knew him, and was educated in mathematics and science by her mother. She became friends with Charles Babbage and in 1843 published a translation of an article on his proposed Analytical Engine, to which she added extensive notes. These included a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers on the machine, often regarded as the first computer program, and the insight that such a machine could manipulate symbols and even compose music, not just numbers. She died of cancer at 36. The programming language Ada was later named in her honour.

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This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.