10 – Ada Lovelace (1815 – 1852)

Born in England, mathematician Ada Lovelace is considered to be the world’s first computer programmer. Her analysis of Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, the forerunner of the computer, is said to have had the first ever algorithms and is known to have inspired Alan Turing in his studies of modern computers. The programming language developed by the US Department of Defense is named after her.

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