INVENTOR

Charles Babbage

1791 - 1871

Photo of Charles Babbage

Icon of person Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered by some to merit the title of "father of the computer". He is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer, the difference engine, that eventually led to more complex electronic designs, though all the essential ideas of modern computers are to be found in his analytical engine, programmed using a principle openly borrowed from the Jacquard loom. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Charles Babbage is the 12th most popular inventor (down from 11th in 2019), the 92nd most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 55th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular British Inventor.

Charles Babbage is most famous for his invention of the first programmable computer, the Difference Engine.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Charles Babbage by language

Loading...

Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Charles Babbage ranks 12 out of 426. Before him are Karl Benz, Elon Musk, Alexander Graham Bell, Guglielmo Marconi, Henry Ford, and Louis Braille. After him are Samuel Morse, Nikolaus Otto, Louis Daguerre, Nicolas Appert, Rudolf Diesel, and Cai Lun.

Most Popular Inventors in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1791, Charles Babbage ranks 3. Before him are Michael Faraday, and Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma. After him are Samuel Morse, Théodore Géricault, James Buchanan, Carl Czerny, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Franz Bopp, Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Francesco Hayez, and Johann Franz Encke. Among people deceased in 1871, Charles Babbage ranks 1. After him are John Herschel, Shamil, 3rd Imam of Dagestan, Daniel Auber, Augustus De Morgan, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Michael Thonet, Louise of the Netherlands, Omar Pasha, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, Anna Atkins, and Sigismond Thalberg.

Others Born in 1791

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1871

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Charles Babbage ranks 92 out of 8,785. Before him are James Clerk Maxwell (1831), Richard Burton (1925), Olav V of Norway (1903), Edward the Martyr (962), Virginia Woolf (1882), and Francis Drake (1540). After him are Princess Alice of Battenberg (1885), Thomas More (1478), Joseph Lister (1827), Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900), Sean Connery (1930), and Edward Jenner (1749).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among INVENTORS In United Kingdom

Among inventors born in United Kingdom, Charles Babbage ranks 3. Before him are James Watt (1736), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847). After him are George Stephenson (1781), John Logie Baird (1888), Thomas Newcomen (1663), John Herschel (1792), Frank Whittle (1907), Richard Trevithick (1771), John Boyd Dunlop (1840), Henry Fox Talbot (1800), and Rowland Hill (1795).

British born Inventors

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous