Ada Lovelace

Augusta Ada Byron was born on December 10, 1815, in London, as the only legitimate child of poet Lord George Gordon Byron and Anne Isabella Milbanke (Lady Byron), a mathematician nicknamed the 'Princess of Parallelograms.' Her parents separated a month after her birth amid scandal, and Lord Byron left England, dying in Greece when Ada was eight; she never met him but was influenced by his legacy. Raised by her mother, Ada received private tutoring in mathematics and logic to counter her father's poetic tendencies, studying under experts like Augustus De Morgan; despite chronic illnesses including respiratory and digestive issues, she pursued self-education and showed early mathematical talent. In 1833, at a demonstration of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, Ada met the inventor, beginning a lifelong collaboration. She married William King, 8th Baron King, on July 8, 1835, at age 19; he became Earl of Lovelace in 1838, granting her the title Countess of Lovelace. The couple had three children, and she socialized with figures like Charles Dickens and Michael Faraday, though health problems persisted, including recovery delays after childbirth and rheumatic attacks. Ada's seminal work came in 1842–1843 when she translated Luigi Menabrea's article on Babbage's Analytical Engine from French into English, appending extensive original notes tripling its length. These notes included 'Note G,' the first algorithm for the engine (computing Bernoulli numbers), recognized as the world's first computer program. She foresaw the machine's applications in music, graphics, and symbolic manipulation, calling it capable of 'weaving algebraic patterns' like a loom. Her health declined sharply after 1843; diagnosed with uterine cancer in her mid-30s, she endured bloodletting and other era treatments before dying on November 27, 1852—the same age as her father. Under her mother's influence, she underwent a religious transformation, confessed something unknown to her husband (prompting his withdrawal), and requested burial beside Lord Byron at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. Her contributions faded into obscurity until the 20th century, later inspiring Ada Lovelace Day (second Tuesday in October) honoring women in STEM.