Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She was the first to recognise the machine had applications beyond pure calculation. Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer. December 10, 1815 – November 27, 1852; died at 36. Alive at the same time as Karl Marx, Abraham Lincoln, Leo Tolstoy, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Charles Darwin. Wiki link