Computer Programmer

Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace (December 10, 1815 – November 27, 1852) was born Augusta Ada Byron, the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella Milbanke. Her mother had her tutored in mathematics in the hope she would not exhibit any of the poetic tendencies of her father.

She is chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She is often described as the world's first computer programmer.

Watercolor portrait of Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (Ada Lovelace)

In 1833, Ada met Charles Babbage, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge and inventor of the Difference Engine, a calculating machine. During a nine-month period in 1842-1843, she translated for him Italian mathematician Louis Menebrea's memoir on Babbage's newest proposed machine, the Analytical Engine. With the article, she appended a set of notes which specified in complete detail a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers with the Engine, recognized by historians as the world's first computer program.

Lovelace's diagram from Note G, the first published computer algorithm

In 1962, a programmer omitted a single hyphen in the code for the Mariner I rocket, causing it to explode shortly after take off. This typo cost NASA the equivalent of $630 million dollars today.

The scientist Margaret Hamilton not only wrote the code that made the moon landing possible, but also invented the term "software engineer."

On December 10, 1980, the U.S. Defense Department approved the reference manual for their new computer programming language which was christened, Ada.

Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, from Cleveland, Ohio was the first woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science in the United States in 1965. She also earned a Masters degree in Mathematics and Physics, helped develop computer programming languages, and was a Catholic nun.

In the late 1970's to early 1980's, during the early days of home computers, computer magazines featured code listings. Readers would spend hours typing the code listings into their computer in order to play a game or have a certain program.

CBBS, the first computer bulletin board system was created by Ward Christensen in Chicago on February 16, 1978. He explained it was conceived to mimic a "cork board and push pin bulletin board" on a computer - thus "Computerized Bulletin Board System."

Ward Christensen and the CBBS.By Jscott at the English language Wikipedia, 

In 1982, as a high school student at Mt. Lebanon High School, Rich Skrenta wrote the Elk Cloner virus that infected Apple II machines. It is widely believed to be the first large-scale self-spreading personal computer virus ever created.

British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee, introduced WorldWideWeb, the world's first web browser and WYSIWYG HTML editor in 1991.

In 2012, a U.S. software developer called Bob was caught hiring a Chinese programmer to do all his work for one fifth of his high-paying salary. His workplace later discovered he was spending all day mostly just watching cat videos.