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Birth of Grace Murray Hopper
Born in New York City -
Graduated from Vassar College
Studied at Vassar College (1924-1928) and graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics. -
Married Vincent Foster Hopper
In 1930, Grace Murray married New York University professor Vincent Foster Hopper. They later divorced in 1945, but she kept his surname. -
Graduated from Yale University
After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Vassar College, Hopper received her master's degree from Yale in 1930 and her Ph.D. in 1934. She was one of the first women to do this. -
Joined the U.S. Navy Reserve
She joined the U.S. Navy Reserve during WWII and joined the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service). -
The Harvard Mark I
At the Bureau of Ordnance Computation Project at Harvard University, Hopper was assigned to work on the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first electromechanical computers. Hopper wrote a 500 pages Manual of Operations for the Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator that outlined the use of the supercomputer. -
Graduated from Naval Reserve
She graduated from the Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School first in her class, was commissioned as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade), and was assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance Computation Project at Harvard University. -
Coined the term computer "bug"
While working on the Mark II computer at Harvard University in 1947, Hopper and her associates discovered a moth that was stuck within the machine and impeding the operation of the computer. The insect was taped to their logbook and labeled "first actual case of bug being found". The words "bug" and "debug" soon became standardized for computer programmers due to Hopper's discovery. -
The UNIVAC
In 1949, Hopper joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in Philadelphia. The company had previously built the first electronic computer (ENIAC) under army contracts, and had recruited Hopper to work on the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC I), the first commercial electronic computer. -
The First Complier
While working on the UNIVAC computer, she developed the first compiler called A-0, which translated mathematical code into machine-readable code. This was a very important step toward creating modern programming languages and making computers more user-friendly. Hopper also coined the term "compiler". -
COBOL
After developing the first compiler and FLOW-MATIC, which was the first English-like data processing language, Hopper was influenced to develop COBOL. FLOW-MATIC influenced some of the specifications of COBOL and laid the foundation for it. COBOL is one of the first standardized computer languages that enables computers to respond to words in addition to numbers. -
Retired from the Navy the FIRST time
In 1966, Hopper was required to retire from the Naval Reserve due to her age. She retired with the rank of Commander. -
Recalled to Active Duty in the U.S. Navy
Hopper was called back into active duty to help standardize computer languages across the Navy, with an emphasis on the use of COBOL. -
Received Commodore Rank (Rear Admiral)
After being promoted from Commander to Captain in 1973, President Ronald Reagan promoted her to Commodore (later replaced by Rear Admiral). This made her one of the highest-ranking women in the Navy. -
Final Retirement from Navy
At the age of 79, Grace Murray Hopper retired as the oldest serving active-duty commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. She served for over 42 years. -
Death of Grace Murray Hopper
Died in Arlington County, VA, at the age of 85.