Flying the flag for Ada Lovelace Day to celebrate one of Hucknall's greatest minds

The daughter of Lord Byron is being celebrated in her own right today as Ashfield District Council marks Ada Lovelace Day.
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Like her famous father, Ada is buried at St Mary Magdalene's Church in Hucknall.

She is most famous for her work on the world’s first computer, Charles Babbage's mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine.

She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine.

Couns Samantha Deakin (left) and Helen-Ann Smith, together with council chief executive Theresa Hodgkinson (right) raise the Ada Lovelace flagCouns Samantha Deakin (left) and Helen-Ann Smith, together with council chief executive Theresa Hodgkinson (right) raise the Ada Lovelace flag
Couns Samantha Deakin (left) and Helen-Ann Smith, together with council chief executive Theresa Hodgkinson (right) raise the Ada Lovelace flag

As a result, she is regarded as the first to recognise the full potential of a 'computing machine' and one of the first computer programmers.

Now, Ada Lovelace Day promotes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) careers to women around the world and she remains an inspiration to this day to women worldwide working in science, technology, engineering and maths.

The council marked the day by raising an Ada Lovelace Flag outside its offices in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.