Top ten things you didn't know about Ada Lovelace
Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and regarded by many as the first computer programmer.
Ada Lovelace was Lord Byron’s only legitimate daughter
1. She was Byron’s only legitimate daughter though he is thought to have had several other children out of wedlock.
2. She was born the Honourable Augusta Ada Byron.
3. Her father had looked forward to his baby being a “glorious boy” and is said to have been disappointed when his wife gave birth to a girl.
She had an affair with one of her tutors and tried to elope with him at the age of 17
4. Her programming came about through her work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.
5. At the age of 17 she had an affair with one of her tutors and tried to elope with him.
6. Ada married William, Baron King and became Lady King. He was later created Earl of Lovelace, when she became Countess of Lovelace.
Ada died of uterine cancer aged 36, the same age at which her father Lord Byron had died
7. Their first son, born in 1836, was named Byron.
8. In 1980, the programming language “Ada”, created for the US Defence Department, was named after her.
Ada's first son, born in 1836, was named Byron
9. She died of uterine cancer aged 36, the same age at which her father Lord Byron had died.
10. To mark her 200th anniversary, the Science Museum in London has opened a gallery devoted the “mother of computing”, Ada Lovelace.