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Letter from Ada Lovelace to Charles Babbage. From the British Library. Licence: Public Domain

Letter from Ada Lovelace to Charles Babbage. From the British Library. Licence: Public Domain

Ada Lovelace Day

October 13, 2020

Today is Ada Lovelace Day this year (it falls on the second Tuesday of October each year). Often described as the first computer programmer — before computers were even invented — Ada was a real visionary. Imagine what she might have achieved had Babbage actually built his “computer” and she hadn’t died at the age of 36.

Here are some links to some articles I’ve written about her in the past:

Have Ada Lovelace in your classroom

Review of Ada’s Algorithm

Getting touchy and feely about Computing

Book Review: The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

That book was written by Sydney Padua, a graphic artist. There’s a video about her work on Lovelace that’s worth watching. She’s written several comic strip adventures of Babbage and Lovelace that are fun to read.

See also the Science Museum’s article on computing before computers. And you can see a photo of the Analytical Engine at the Science Museum’s website.

There is also the Ada Lovelace Day website to look at. It has plenty of links.

The hashtags on Twitter are:

#ALD2020

and #ALD20

If you found this article interesting and useful, why not subscribe to my newsletter, Digital Education? It’s been going since the year 2000, and has news, views and reviews for Computing and ed tech teachers — and useful tips.


In Computing, News & views, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags Ada Lovelace Day, Ada Lovelace, International Ada Lovelace Day, Babbage, Sydney Padua
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