October 13, 2015 (September 1, 2015 in the lunar calendar) was the world's first programmer and first female programmer. Alan Turing, considered the father of modern computer science and artificial intelligence, has recently received considerable attention, first after a long struggle with receiving a posthumous apology from the Queen in 2013, and then the release of the critically acclaimed biopic "The Imitation Game." But there was also an indispensable contributor who, like Turing, was once lost in history, but her outstanding achievements were eventually recognized. Ada Lovelace, believed to be the world's first computer programmer, has returned to social collective consciousness, and today (October 13, 2015) marks her official recognition on the calendar as "Ada Lovelace Day." First of all, the background of the day itself: Ida Lovelace Day was established by social technologist and journalist Suw Charman-Anderson to pay tribute to Ida and her contributions to the world of computer science, and to honor women in science and technology-especially due to the overwhelming gender gap in technology and science, and the severe underrepresentation of women.(According to the White House's 2013 status report on women in the world, they account for less than 25% of the tech workforce, although they earn about 33% more than other occupations.) Overall, their goal is not just ethical commemoration, but progress. According to their website,"By improving the image of other women in science and technology, we will create new role models for girls and mature women in male-dominated fields." If there is a female role model in science and technology, it will definitely be Aida. Born in London on December 10, 1815, as Augusta Ada King, Aida was the daughter of the poets Lord Byron and Anne Isabella Noll, and was technically the only legal descendant of Byron. Despite this, the famous philosopher and poet's only daughter was estranged from her father-he and Noel separated just a month after Byron's birth, and Aida died of an unexplained illness in the country's War of Independence at the age of eight. Byron's woes-probably influenced by his possible bipolar disorder and the now-recognized eating disorder-inspired Aida to pursue an interest in logic, mathematics and science ("Knowledge, morality, and religion are naturally closely connected to form a harmonious whole for me," Aida once wrote to Andrew Crosse, an amateur scientist and pioneer in electrical experiments, which more or less described her thirst for knowledge: discovering and describing these connections comes first.) As the self-proclaimed arbitrator of "poetic science," Ida eventually worked with Charles Babbage, who was as knowledgeable as Ida, an elderly scientist who was fascinated by her wisdom from the beginning and gave Ida the posthumous title "Digital Witch"("Forget the world and all its troubles, and if possible its many charlatans-everything but Digital Witch in short," he wrote. ) Babbage focused on building the design he himself named the "Analytical Engine", a large device that utilized arithmetic logic units and integrated memory that would eventually be used as a computing machine-in other words, the first version of a computer-and had Ida help him do the work. Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine-the first automated computing device-was completed in 1871. (Photo: Science Museum, London, UK) For nine months starting in 1843, Ada's main task was to translate a memoir by Italian engineer Luigi Minabia about Babbage's proposed automatic engine and from there to make a set of annotations explaining how it worked: these notes were intended to target the British scientific community, most of whom had no interest (or no real understanding) in Babbage's work or its use. Not only did Aida's notes accomplish their goals, they were also extrapolated from Minabia's article-which was later believed to be the world's first algorithm and earned her the historical status of the world's first computer programmer. An interesting fact: Ida also first suggested a non-numerical function for the analysis engine: the synthesizer. She speculated,"Assuming, for example, that harmony and the basic relationship between tone in the knowledge of music composition is susceptible to such expressions and adaptations, the engine might be able to compose exquisite and scientific music of any degree or range of complexity." Although Ida's contributions to the then theoretical analytical engine were important to its physical construction, she could never see it completed in 1871; Ida died painfully at the age of 36 in 1852 after many months of fighting uterine cancer, but her achievements were greater than most people who had lived twice her life. So in honor of Ida Lovelace Day, let us spread the message of her life's mission: in her own words,"Time will prove that my mind is immortal."