Charles Babbage designed the first computers in the 1800s. A Cambridge mathematician, he was frustrated by errors in printed tables. He designed the Difference Engine to calculate them by machine. Then he imagined the Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computer programmed with punched cards. Ada Lovelace wrote what is often called the first program for it. Neither machine was completed in his lifetime. A working Difference Engine was built by the Science Museum in 1991.
Key Milestones
1822: Difference Engine – proposed
1828: Lucasian chair – Cambridge
1834: Analytical Engine – design
1843: Lovelace – notes
Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Charles Babbage's birthday is December 26. He was born on December 26, 1791 in Walworth, United Kingdom.
How old was Charles Babbage when he died?
Charles Babbage died on October 18, 1871, aged 79.
Who shares a birthday with Charles Babbage?
Famous people who share Charles Babbage's December 26 birthday include Mao Zedong, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry Miller, Jared Leto and Hugo Lloris.
