6 Things You Didn't Know About Tech Pioneer Ada Lovelace

History books aren't often filled with the accomplishments of women, unfortunately. So you might not have known that the world's first computer programmer was a woman — or that her name was Ada Lovelace, and she lived in London from 1815 to 1852.

Lovelace was an influential proponent of and contributor to Charles Babbage's trailblazing number-crunching machines, and you owe more to this tech pioneer than you might think. Those favorite apps and websites that you check every day? They're possible because of her. Read on to learn more about Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace — the so-called "enchantress of numbers."

World's First Computer Programmer
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World's First Computer Programmer

First things first — Ada Lovelace was a champion for Charles Babbage's calculating machine, the Analytical Engine, when no one else was. She is celebrated for having the foresight that an instrument of this kind had endless practical and scientific uses, including the ability to create graphics and compose complex music.

Looking at how much technology is integrated into our lives today, she was absolutely right. Ada also devised a way for how the Analytical Engine could calculate Bernoulli numbers, a plan that is now considered the first "computer program." And because she published the source code of this program, she is also considered the world's first open source programmer.

Shaped by a Mathematician Mother
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Shaped by a Mathematician Mother

Female pioneering ran in the family. Annabella Milbanke, Ada's mother, was a skilled mathematician herself who wanted anything for her daughter but a creative poetic life like the one Ada's father, the colorful poet Lord George Gordon Byron, led.

And so, Annabella enrolled her daughter in tutoring in advanced mathematics and science from an early age. Ada eventually found a mentor in Augustus De Morgan, a professor of mathematics at the University College in London who's considered one of the pioneers in mathematical logic.

Teenage Sensation
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Teenage Sensation

At age 17, Ada was introduced to the concept of Charles Babbage's machines at a dinner hosted by another remarkable woman, Mary Somerville. Ada's interest was thoroughly piqued, but it wasn't until 10 years later that Ada acted on her curiosity about the computers-to-be.

Babbage published his findings in 1841 at a seminar in Turin, Italy. An Italian then wrote a summary of the findings in French, and in 1843, Ada translated that article. By then a wife to the Earl of Lovelace and mother of three, she sent Babbage the translated report with her own notes — three times the length of the original article.

Coined the Term "Poetical Science"
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Coined the Term "Poetical Science"

No matter how much her mother tried, Ada couldn't escape the poetical inclinations of her father. She wrote to her mother, "If you can't give me poetry, can't you give me poetical science?"

She saw technology through the lens of humanities and culture, once writing that Babbage's machine "weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves."

An Eccentric Personality
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An Eccentric Personality

Lord Lovelace, Ada's husband, wrote that Ada was " . . . A desperate spirit truly; & with a degree of deep & fathomless prudence, which is strangely at variance with the daring & the enterprise of the character, a union that would give me unlimited sway & success, in all probability." She was at the same time wildly brilliant and complicated, having been known for her eccentricity and fondness for alcohol and gambling.

Her Legacy Lives On
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Her Legacy Lives On

To recognize her work, the US Department of Defense named a software language "Ada" in her honor in 1979. What's more, the Ada Initiative was an entire nonprofit organization that ran from 2011 to 2015. It changed the tech culture by empowering women in the tech industry, hosting annual conferences, penning policies preventing harassment of women at fan conventions and tech meetups, and advising other female support organizations.

It, like Ada herself, has left a legacy for women and technology that won't be forgotten.