For those of you who follow our blogs, you’ll quickly figure out that we’re veering slightly off our usual topics of discussion. For good reason.

Every blog includes the Technology This Week segment. This is a quick fact about something in the technology world that happened on or around the time of posting. We found a good one. So good, in fact, we decided to dedicate the entire blog to the subject.

Grace Murray Hopper was born on December 9, 1906. The name might sound familiar to those of you who follow JitterBlog. In our September 9, 2019 blog “Don’t Pay For What You Don’t Need,” The Technology This Week read as follows:

“September 9, 1947 – On this day, Grace Murray Hopper actually recorded into history the first computer bug. It occurred on the Harvard Mark II computer. As it turns out, it was a moth that was stuck inside the computer! Much less sinister than the bugs we deal with today.”

Grace was an amazing woman. After completing her undergraduate work at Vassar College, she earned her master’s degree in 1930 and Ph.D. in 1934 in mathematics while attending Yale University. A remarkable achievement considering women couldn’t even vote in a presidential election until the passing of the 19th constitutional amendment in 1920.

Impressed yet? Despite major age and gender obstacles, Grace joined the Navy and began working on the early development of computer technology. She is often referred to as a pioneer in the computer science industry.

Grace was a mathematical wizard but knew that the science of computers and the source programming involved had to become more easily understood and accessible to people outside the academic world.

She knew it was important to develop a language-based system that could be used in all aspects of business and industry. So, in 1959, Grace was credited with designing COBOL – short for COmmon Business Oriented Language.

Any computer programmer over the age of 40 most likely took a COBOL class or two in college. And certainly anyone who ever worked in a mainframe environment probably used it in the workplace. It is reported that, by the 1970’s it was the most widely used programming language in the world.

Needing her computer science knowledge and skills, the Navy recalled Grace to active service in 1966. She remained on active duty for the next 19 years before retiring at the age of 79 with the rank of Rear Admiral. Amazing Grace was the oldest serving officer in the armed forces.

Grace Murray Hopper died on January 1, 1992 and was laid to rest among the American heroes at Arlington National Cemetery

It would be impossible to display all of Grace’s remarkable accomplishments in a blog post. If you are interested in learning more about this amazing woman, just type Grace Murray Hopper into your preferred search engine.