Incredible Things That Were Invented by Women

REAR ADMIRAL DR. GRACE MURRAY HOPPER HELPED PROGRAM THE FIRST COMPUTERS.

Considered one of the first three “modern programmers,” Dr. Hopper made trailblazing breakthroughs in the development of computer languages.

A rear admiral in the US Navy, she is probably most well-known for inventing COBOL, or “common business-oriented language” in 1959. By the 1970s, COBOL was the “most extensively used computer language” in the world. It was also the first “user-friendly” computer software for businesses.

In 2016, Dr. Hopper was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US’ highest civilian honor, for her contributions to the field of computer science.