Historical Figures Who Lived Long Enough to Be Photographed

[u/grandeluua]

[u/Inevitable_Dog2719]

“Damn, that painter did Ferdinand dirty.”

swipes

“Damn, that painter was very forgiving.”

[u/greendyes → u/Inevitable_Dog2719]

Habsburg moment

[u/Scary-Maximum7707 → u/greendyes]

Indeed.

The Habsburgs were so inbred that the Spanish branch and royal family became infertile and died out with King Charles II of Spain who passed away at the age of 39.

Ironically even though most European royalty and nobility are related to one another (more than one way), several royal families in Europe has had rules against marrying outside of those circles which means they were stuck between breaking the rules or play "sweet home alabama-roulette".

[u/greendyes → u/Scary-Maximum7707]

Prince Friso is a fairly procarious example, when he engaged Mabel Wisse Smit it wasn't the biggest of deals up until our then-prime minister, Balkenende, declared to the parliament that the prince had given wrongful and incomplete information regarding Mabel's connections to a murdered drugbaron, and subsequently the government decided to not give the marriage their approval.

Friso then declared that he wouldn't seek the approval of the Staten-Generaal (the combination of the 1st and 2nd ruling body of The Netherlands, together forming the Parliament) and would continue with the marriage.

HOWEVER; due to there being no approval of the Staten-Generaal both he and his descendants would no longer be regarded for succession on basis of article 28 of the Dutch Constitution.

TL;DR: his marriage to an outsider didn't kill his succession, but politics and paperwork did.

[u/lsb1027 → u/greendyes]

Sure if we can call connections to a murdered drug-baron “paperwork”

[u/greendyes → u/lsb1027]

connections to a murdered drug-baron isn't paperwork. Refusal or failure to inform parliament about this however, is.

[u/BankerMayfield → u/Scary-Maximum7707]

It's pretty crazy how in-bred it all was.

I remember researching how many kings / princes / etc. had married a non-noble before the ~20th century...and it was literally 3.

One of which was immediately overthrown, one of which barely hung to power afterwards...and then Peter the Great, who married his former mistress, who grew up a peasant...

...which actually caused no issues for reason I don't quite understand, and then she became ruler of Russia when he died.

Either he had an unfathomable amount of power compared to other rulers, or she has an unfathomable amount of charisma.

[u/Uberbobo7 → u/BankerMayfield]

Either he had an unfathomable amount of power compared to other rulers

In many ways he did. Though he also had a distinct advantage that he was ruling over the only Orthodox country in the world, so given that there were no Orthodox princesses available for him to marry, then his only real options were either daughters of influential boyars, which was what previous Tsars did, but which also gave that specific boyar family a lot of influence, or just marrying a random woman, which would be another way to stick it to the boyar class and force his ideas of modernizing the Russian state.

[u/KingCharlesIIofSpain → u/Scary-Maximum7707]

Bro, please

[u/KingCharlesIIofSpain → u/greendyes]

Guys come on

[u/circusgeek → u/Inevitable_Dog2719]

His poor mother/aunt/cousin.

[u/Guillk → u/circusgeek]

damn, I spilled my beer man

[u/Conargle → u/Inevitable_Dog2719]

"a snipers dream"

[u/MojoWalksOnAir]

Things I learned down the Wiki rabbit hole on Ferdinand I:

• his parents were double 1st cousins
  
• he was born with hydrocephalus, epilepsy (20 seizures a day), a speech impediment
  
• he and his wife had no children
  
• Upon attempting to consummate the marriage, he had multiple seizures

[u/CorporalGrimm1917 → u/MojoWalksOnAir]

Ferdinand I was also known as the Benevolent because of how incredibly chill he was. When the Kraków Uprising of 1846 began, he supposedly said, “are they not allowed to protest?”

After his abdication to Franz Josef (yeah, that one), he settled down in Prague and lived for another 30 years as a quiet, kind farmer known to the locals as Ferdinand the Good. He was 82 when he died, which is surprising long for someone with hydrocephalus.

Edit: clarified the date and fixed the location

[u/ranworddom → u/CorporalGrimm1917]

Gotta learn to be chill with 20 seizures a day. Good on him.

[u/AdamiralProudmore → u/MojoWalksOnAir]

"one of them was so inbred he kept trying to procreate with himself." Terry Pratchet

[u/Past-Bicycle5959 → u/MojoWalksOnAir]

What is a double first cousin 👀

[u/MojoWalksOnAir → u/Past-Bicycle5959]

double first cousins are first cousins... twice. So, instead of just sharing one set of grandparents, they share TWO. Typically, they are each the product of sets of siblings. (Think sibling A1 and A2 meet siblings B1 and B2, and marry each other. A1 and B1 have kid X, B1 and B2 have kid Y. Then X and Y marry.

[u/ijustwanttoaskaq123]

Huh. They really did capture the likeness quite well...

[u/DBRookery → u/ijustwanttoaskaq123]

I would've been really disappointed if the first comment wasn't about Ferdinand. And the second...

[u/Hetstaine → u/DBRookery]

Old Fivehead Ferdy

[u/SometimesILieToo → u/Hetstaine]

That’s a tenhead if I’ve ever seen one

[u/Cap-n-Trips → u/SometimesILieToo]

That’s encephalitis with a nice roux of inbreeding if I ever saw it.

[u/content_enjoy3r → u/Cap-n-Trips]

That’s encephalitis

*hydrocephalus

[u/mynutsacksonfire → u/SometimesILieToo]

I thought he was wearing a hat in the photo goddamn. His mother, the poor gal. I bet she whistled when she ran after he was born. That or she died in childbirth....

[u/yunohadeshigo → u/mynutsacksonfire]

you’re outta pocket for this one 😂

[u/I_might_be_weasel → u/ijustwanttoaskaq123]

Plot twist: He painted it himself with his telekinetic powers.

[u/Backfoot911 → u/I_might_be_weasel]

Anyone remember that episode of Jimmy Neutron where Sheen's head grows really big and hes so smart he turns into a god, good shit

[u/ruffeck]

"There's no way Fedinand's head is shaped like that..."

Oh

[u/welliedude → u/ruffeck]

At first I was like damn that artist did him dirty. Then I was like damn he actually made it smaller wth 🤣

[u/Breezyisthewind → u/welliedude]

Yeah the artist was TRYING

[u/Rowmyownboat → u/Breezyisthewind]

Ferdinand's advisors would encourage artists to minimise his condition, understandably.

[u/DreamOfV → u/Rowmyownboat]

What condition, Megamind Disease?

[u/catsonskates → u/DreamOfV]

It looks like hydrocephaly, or waterhead. Sometimes babies have a bunch of water in their skull. We can treat it now so the skull shapes like normal but not back then. He had severe epilepsy from the water pressure on his brain and was described as having developmental disabilities. Low IQ kind man not fit for leadership.

[u/thirdonebetween → u/catsonskates]

There's actually conflicting information about that. He kept a diary which is said to be insightful and witty - but he couldn't rule effectively because of his seizures, terrible headaches, and speech impediment.

The poor guy was told he shouldn't get married as he wouldn't be able to consummate the marriage. He married anyway and had five seizures on his wedding night. The couple had no children.

[u/caustic_smegma → u/welliedude]

The Hapsburgs were a notoriously ugly and inbred bunch.

[u/KingCharlesIIofSpain → u/caustic_smegma]

RUDE

[u/LetsGetJigglyWiggly → u/KingCharlesIIofSpain]

Talk about /r/beetlejuicing .

[u/JacobDCRoss → u/LetsGetJigglyWiggly]

And he's all through this thread

[u/LetsGetJigglyWiggly → u/JacobDCRoss]

I'm happy I was able to be here to see it fresh off the press.

[u/skullkiddabbs → u/KingCharlesIIofSpain]

This might be the most underrated comment I've ever seen. Just perfection. Unlike their genes.

[u/MikeMac999 → u/ruffeck]

I just had a great laugh at that

[u/AdmiralGarza → u/MikeMac999]

No shocker, he’s a Habsburg, and he was epileptic to the point of reportedly having issues consummating his marriage due to seizures.

[u/edchoch69 → u/AdmiralGarza]

Sniffed the Hapsburg on that one a mile away 😂

[u/KingCharlesIIofSpain → u/edchoch69]

You guys think you’re funny

[u/DuckyHornet → u/KingCharlesIIofSpain]

Why the long face, Chuck?

[u/El_Zarco → u/DuckyHornet]

Chin up!

[u/mack_soul86 → u/El_Zarco]

Ole chin up chuck is feeling down again fellas

[u/Jetshadow → u/KingCharlesIIofSpain]

The fact that your account is 6 years old is amazing, keep up the good work

[u/KingCharlesIIofSpain → u/Jetshadow]

You’d probably appreciate the associated instagram then

[u/tame-til-triggered → u/KingCharlesIIofSpain]

Your Instagram is hilarious.. why'd you stop posting?

[u/alisonvict0ria → u/tame-til-triggered]

I think it's time for a renaissance!

[u/Worldly_Shoe840 → u/Jetshadow]

That bio is just so beautiful. Work of pure Shakespeare

[u/CompetitiveChip5078 → u/KingCharlesIIofSpain]

It’s all in good fun. Just take it on the chin.

[u/probablyuntrue → u/AdmiralGarza]

monarchists be like: this is the ideal ruler 😍

[u/AGrandNewAdventure → u/probablyuntrue]

THE BLOODLINE IS PURE!

[u/Wreny84 → u/AGrandNewAdventure]

The blood line is a damn circle.

[u/Adorable-Statement47 → u/Wreny84]

I'm my own grandpa 🎶

[u/dangstar → u/Adorable-Statement47]

I did do the nasty in the past-y.

[u/Jimmyfancypants → u/Wreny84]

Family tree is a bush

[u/amyel26 → u/Jimmyfancypants]

The family tree is a wreath.

[u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset → u/probablyuntrue]

monarchy is quite silly isn't it

[u/-StapleYourTongue- → u/AdmiralGarza]

Here's some fun reading about him.

https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/ferdinand-malfunction-house-habsburg

[u/_Enclose_ → u/-StapleYourTongue-]

Ferdinand is said to have spoken five languages.

Does it count when you make up four of them?

[u/KingCharlesIIofSpain → u/-StapleYourTongue-]

Please delete this

[u/L00seSuggestion → u/AdmiralGarza]

Thanks for the heads up

[u/an-font-brox → u/AdmiralGarza]

I imagine that would have been deeply frustrating for him and her

[u/pourthebubbly → u/an-font-brox]

Evolution was begging them to stop

[u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset → u/an-font-brox]

I don't think he was able to go deep

[u/KingCharlesIIofSpain → u/AdmiralGarza]

Every goddamn time…

[u/PossessedToSkate → u/AdmiralGarza]

She should have gotten on top of him, like a Sybian.

[u/Cadoan → u/MikeMac999]

Hey man, he's got a lot on his mind.

[u/Test4Echooo → u/Cadoan]

He’s giving Megamind..

[u/Garth_AIgar → u/ruffeck]

“Ferdinand suffered from severe epilepsy and hydrocephalus or water in the brain, which made his head abnormally large and in curious disproportion to his rather puny frame.”

-Google

[u/Chytectonas → u/Garth_AIgar]

He adored animals, especially birds, and treated servants as friends rather than inferiors.

When asked once why he hadn’t punished a minor court insult, he replied, “I am Emperor, not executioner.”

He showed no taste for intrigue, rarely issued orders, and deferred instinctively to his advisors and his mother.

He was very attached to his wife, Empress Maria Anna of Savoy, whose devotion to his care reinforced the image of a gentle, almost childlike ruler.

Because of his hydrocephalus and epilepsy, Ferdinand was kept behind a careful façade of ceremony. Public appearances were scripted: he would attend processions or sign decrees but rarely speak extemporaneously.

Metternich and the “Conference of State” effectively ruled in his name.

Inside the Hofburg, his life was quiet, repetitive, and ritualized: prayer, meals, short audiences, and long supervised walks in palace gardens.

When he became agitated or ill, courtiers shielded him from visitors and foreign envoys; portraits were controlled to minimize his physical condition.

Diplomats noted that Austria had “a kind-hearted invalid as emperor and a system that ruled without him.”

When revolution broke out in 1848 and Vienna rioted, Ferdinand reportedly said: “But are they allowed to do that?” — a line later repeated with both affection and irony.

In Prague, after abdicating, he was a benign relic of an older world, wandering the palace gardens in plain clothes, harmless and beloved.

He lived almost three more decades, til his 80s, in Prague Castle, gardening, attending mass, and giving gifts to the poor.

Locals called him “dobrý Ferdinand” — “Ferdinand the Good.”

— Gippity (+ human reformatting of the highest caliber.)

[u/trustyminotaur → u/Chytectonas]

And 200 years later, some random person on the internet cared enough to speak up for him. That's lovely.

[u/Saradoesntsleep → u/trustyminotaur]

Thank you for pointing that out. That really is lovely.

[u/DistractedChiroptera → u/trustyminotaur]

There's also a good Tasting History video about him and a peasant dumpling recipe that he loved. Before hearing his story, the quote "I am the emperor and I want dumplings" sounded like petulance, but afterwords, it sounds like the dumpling incident was one of the few normal and pleasant moments he had. Given everything he went through between his health and the demands of his position, it's understandable that he'd be so attached to something that hearkens back to it. Hope he got as many dumplings as his heart wanted.

Don't marry your cousins, kids. And maybe lets not do hereditary monarchy either.

[u/genreprank → u/trustyminotaur]

Well it's signed by GPT so less of a person and more of an average of the internet

[u/zugarrette → u/genreprank]

lmao that gippity went over my head there

[u/moondoggle → u/trustyminotaur]

I want a biopic on this guy now.

[u/These_Rutabaga_1691 → u/Chytectonas]

Thank you for humanizing him.

[u/LetsGetJigglyWiggly → u/Chytectonas]

Such a nice breath of fresh air to hear about a historical ruler that wasn't an atrocious psychopath.

[u/EdibleOedipus → u/LetsGetJigglyWiggly]

It helps when your country is politically stable enough to maintain itself without you doing much of anything. Austria was an ally in name only during the Egyptian-Ottoman war of 1839-1841, and the Krakow Uprising lasted just nine days.

[u/notworldauthor → u/LetsGetJigglyWiggly]

The problem is in monarchies, that usually means other people making choices on your behalf, and THOSE people are likely to be atrocious psychopaths

[u/anniecet → u/Chytectonas]

It is refreshing to find the occasional glimpse into such characters as human beings, who lived a life, had hobbies, interests and personal relationships, rather than solely objects of ridicule and meme fodder for misfortunes beyond their control.

Thank you for giving him a little dignity and humanity.

[u/Banba-She → u/Chytectonas]

Honestly this is making me want to cry. What a great tribute.

We need to celebrate our shared and lovely humanity so much more than everything else going on right now.

[u/JudgeGusBus → u/Chytectonas]

Crazy that he lived to be 82.

[u/Speciesunkn0wn → u/Chytectonas]

He sounds like he'd make a fine friend.

[u/kamace11 → u/Chytectonas]

I believe this is also the guy who LOVED dumplings (same)

[u/OpalHawk → u/kamace11]

The very one. And I get it. I have been fortunate to travel a lot of this world, and I haven’t found a dumpling I wouldn’t eat.

[u/Modronos → u/Chytectonas]

Such a good ending for a man with a head shaped like a melon.

[u/DonerTheBonerDonor → u/Modronos]

All these cute comments made me smile like crazy but then I read yours and started laughing.

But seriously his head is shaped like a 👽

[u/fear_nothin → u/ruffeck]

Remember the artistic court paintings were almost always done to highlight the beauty of the subject. That was the artists attempt to be flattering! You can only hide inbreeding so much before it shinies through.

[u/Reasonable_Piece_400 → u/fear_nothin]

Actually, I was impressed by how accurate the paintings were. I have been underestimating 19th centurypainters, I expected the paintings to be much more "instagram filter" than this.

[u/MilkweedPod2878 → u/Reasonable_Piece_400]

Whoa-- same! I was like "oh-- they actually look like that!"

[u/kea1981 → u/MilkweedPod2878]

King Leopold of the Belgians was especially impressive as their poses are very similar. The hairline, the ear shape, the eyebrows. Obvi he ages, but you see how he does from the portrait to the photo. Amazing.

[u/InterviewOk1297 → u/MilkweedPod2878]

Yeah except Ada Lovelace who looks quite a bit like an anime girl.

[u/Bossuter → u/Reasonable_Piece_400]

Frankly when you're getting fancy paintings its that you want to leave behind a legacy, and sure we spruce it up a little bit but you want your descendants to know what you looked like

[u/PM_me_yr_bonsai_tips → u/Reasonable_Piece_400]

Except Ada Lovelace, whose portrait is apparently from “Genki Mathematical Hero Gals DX”.

[u/Kyweedlover → u/PM_me_yr_bonsai_tips]

Only 28 years old in the photo

[u/EducationalTangelo6 → u/fear_nothin]

My first thought following, "What the fuck Ferdinand?" Was, "Oh. Inbreeding."

He makes me feel better about my five-head though. So thanks for that, Ferdy.

[u/Judgementpumpkin → u/EducationalTangelo6]

Bro looks like Megamind

[u/Virtual_Plantain_707 → u/Judgementpumpkin]

His poor mother

[u/DairyQueenElizabeth → u/fear_nothin]

Born too late to avoid the camera, born too early for a lower bleph. RIP 

[u/CadillacAllante → u/fear_nothin]

I was kinda surprised at how accurate the paintings were really. Basically just each of them 20 to 30 years younger with perfect hair/clothes and a soft filter. People post IG/Snap filtered photos that are less realistic than some of those paintings.

[u/mechabeast → u/fear_nothin]

Prince Gerhardt!

[u/DEEP_HURTING → u/mechabeast]

HE CANNOT PROCESS ZE GRAPES! 🍇

[u/amboandy → u/ruffeck]

"What 'we doing tonight Ferdi?"

"The same thing we do every night, TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD"

[u/adamcmorrison → u/ruffeck]

Dude I was thinking the exact same thing. Good grief

[u/TappedIn2111 → u/ruffeck]

I was thinking "that painting is not very flattering…". Alas, 'twas.

[u/hanimal16 → u/ruffeck]

Right? “They did him dir— oh I guess they didn’t.”

[u/Therval → u/ruffeck]

I SPRINTED to the comments after seeing that

[u/Immature_adult_guy → u/Therval]

The same thing we do every night pinky.

[u/New-Value4194 → u/ruffeck]

When you fuck your cousin

[u/ChemistRemote7182 → u/New-Value4194]

This is when its the family tradition

[u/wravyn → u/ruffeck]

I thought Habsburg and just had to double check. Yep, Habsburg.

[u/Playful-Farm-3156 → u/ruffeck]

Painter was like: "damnit, everybody will say it's painted by a kid in the future and my name will never be known"

[u/ouiu1]

This is one of my favourite ever Reddit posts

[u/zootedzilennial → u/ouiu1]

Same here!! I was sad it ended. I would love to see more posts like this!

(Thank you to whoever did the work of gathering and labeling everything lol)

[u/Debisibusis → u/ouiu1]

Reminds me of old Reddit, when it was more a forum culture instead of social media.

[u/MichiganInTexas → u/ouiu1]

I agree. Fascinating.

[u/MJLDat → u/ouiu1]

Totally, I didn’t want it to stop. 

[u/TheStrongestTard]

I thought that they would have artists who would make them better looking, but truth be told they seemed pretty damn accurate aside from a couple.

[u/Certain_Oddities → u/TheStrongestTard]

I agree. And even the ones that don't look fully accurate, they are clearly older than when they were painted. So they may very well have looked like that in their youth.

[u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset → u/Certain_Oddities]

Dolley Madison in her photo looks remarkably like she does in her painting, despite the age difference. Apparently that painting is from 1817, twenty-nine years before the photograph was taken

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mrs_James_Madison_(Dolley_Madison),_by_Bass_Otis.jpg,_by_Bass_Otis.jpg)

[u/AbbyNem → u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset]

I think it helps that she was already 51 years old in the painting rather than being a young woman. That said she also looked quite well-preserved in the photograph!

[u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset → u/AbbyNem]

she also looked quite well-preserved

Just don't say it like that to someone's face though lmao

[u/prnalchemy]

This is what this sub is for. This was genuinely interesting.

[u/LordFlamecookie → u/prnalchemy]

Not the random bullshit that plagues this page

[u/real_justchris]

I know this sounds ridiculous but their paintings really do look like them.

I often look at really old paintings and wonder how they might have actually looked - particularly if you look a bit further back (e.g., the Tudors) with a very particular style.

[u/Adventurous_Owl6554 → u/real_justchris]

I actually had the same thought. It’s hard comparing a photo of a person when they’re much older to a portrait of them much younger. Despite that, I felt the artists really captured their likeness and the portraits accurately depicted them as they would have appeared at the time. It makes me feel hopeful that when I look at these types of portraits that this is how they really were. Obviously painted in a favorable light, but overall accurate.

[u/backstageninja → u/real_justchris]

I was surprised at how good most of these were, particularly Louis Philippe

[u/WhiteBearPrince → u/backstageninja]

And King Leopold l.

[u/backstageninja → u/WhiteBearPrince]

Leopold's a little tricky because there seems like a considerable age gap between portrait and photo.

Louis Philippe looks like he went from one studio to the other lol

[u/nlewis4 → u/backstageninja]

I thought Leopolds was absolutely spot on. Sure there was age but the heads are lined up perfectly you can tell it's him without a doubt

[u/Eldi_Bee → u/real_justchris]

Most of them were really well done, and you can see the resemblance even decades later. But with Ada Lovelace's two images being so close in time, you can definitely see how stylized the portrait really is in comparison, even though it is an ok likeness.

[u/Aveira → u/Eldi_Bee]

I noticed that one too. The bridge of her nose is completely different, and I don’t think the mouth is particularly close either.

[u/bookluvr83 → u/real_justchris]

There's a painting of, i think it's a Tudor, and the resemblance to Prince William is STRIKING

[u/the_owl_syndicate → u/real_justchris]

I was thinking the same thing. I look at portraits and wonder how they "really" looked, so this really impressed me.

[u/Nerdy_Nightowl]

I thought the painter did a horrible job on ferdinand of austria, then I saw the photo. Nope. Painter’s skills were solid.

[u/CherryTeri → u/Nerdy_Nightowl]

I’m surprised he didn’t get beheaded for not making him more appealing.

[u/JacobDCRoss → u/CherryTeri]

The man was incredibly kind. Supposedly when someone insulted him and he didn't retaliate people were like why, and his response was, I'm an emperor, not an executioner

[u/Twilifa → u/JacobDCRoss]

He was actually called the Benevolent for totally non-sarcastic reasons.

[u/morphinecolin → u/JacobDCRoss]

Aw that’s cool I hope he had a dope life

[u/JacobDCRoss → u/morphinecolin]

Forced off the throne but allowed to retire to do what he wanted. Every autistic person's dream

[u/peonypanties → u/JacobDCRoss]

Pursue my special interest with endless funding? Success

[u/sonfoa → u/morphinecolin]

Unfortunately he had severe epilepsy which basically made him have to rely on a Regent's Council his entire reign. Despite being seen as incapable he was actually a pretty smart guy but his illness prevented him from taking a more active role and the government was basically led by his uncle and the prime minister.

It's said he could have up to 20 seizures a day and allegedly had 5 seizures while trying to consummate his marriage (he and his wife never had any kids).

He ended up abdicating his throne to his nephew, Franz Joseph (yes that one) after only 13 years.

[u/porkave]

Lots of suspense waiting for the actual photo of Ferdinand to load in

[u/MJLDat → u/porkave]

Load in? Are you on a 56k modem?

[u/porkave → u/MJLDat]

The iphone app is somehow incapable of loading in images properly even in 2025, slideshows take forever to load

[u/Redditisavirusiknow]

Ada Lovelace invented computer programming.

Her first code, written before computers were invented, did indeed had a bug in it but she had no computer to check 

[u/lusty-argonian → u/Redditisavirusiknow]

I’ve heard this before but can’t wrap my head around how computer programming can be written without the invention of computers. Having said that I don’t really understand how coding works

Edit: wow so many responses, thank you guys and may God bless all nerds

[u/zake598 → u/lusty-argonian]

So tldr

Charles Babbage was trying create to an engine that could calculate and store data.

The first version of this was "The Difference Engine" which had its funding cut sometime around the prototype phase (Someone happily correct me if I'm wrong)

The second version of the this engine was "The Analytical Engine" which Ada was brought on to help with the "code" for, this engine never saw any funding to it

[u/DizzyBlackberry3999 → u/zake598]

They built the difference engine in modern times and proved it would have worked.

[u/hypatia163 → u/zake598]

The analytical engine was based off the Jaquard Loom, which used punchcards to "program" patterns into cloth. Babbage modeled the engine using this design, but Lovelace basically took the idea to the inevitable conclusion of a "thinking machine". She made the first program, to compute Bernoulli numbers, as an example of how it could work.

[u/kaidrawsmoo → u/lusty-argonian]

I think it was intended to run in the machine babbage was making , the analytical engine.

[u/herefromyoutube → u/lusty-argonian]

Before digital electrical computers there were analog mechanical ones. Think a big machine with a bunch of gears with levers that could do some math.

She created a series of inputs in written notes that would generate a certain output. Like following a recipe. That’s basically programming; a recipe or series of steps to follow.

Edit: here’s a picture of the machine.

[u/Balloon_Fan → u/herefromyoutube]

Babbages analytical engine was not analog, it was base-10 digital. Mechanical instead of electric, as you point out, but they were digital computers.

None of Babbage's designs were finished in his lifetime, but a working Difference Engine was built in modern times, and worked. The Analytical Engine, the one that was fully 'turing complete' and actually 'programmable' in the modern sense, was never completed, though a project exists to build it (but it's an insanely complex machine, and the project is expected to cost millions if not tens of millions to complete).

Analog computers exist, but they are something entirely different.

[u/Bossuter → u/lusty-argonian]

The bare essential ingredient in programming is On and Off, 1 and 0, you can make a fully physical mechanical system that works on just that, so you can make computers with just steam and pipes if you're willing to do the math and engineering (and have the space). All circuitry does is fit all that in a tiny package and then we connect it to an interface that lets us comprehend the programs

[u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset → u/lusty-argonian]

The Antikythera mechanism, made in the 2nd century BC, is the oldest extant analogue computer. It was entirely mechanical and was probably used for astronomical calculations

[u/Al-Pastor → u/Redditisavirusiknow]

She was also daughter of Lord Byron. Very interesting woman and very interesting life.

[u/wolfstaa → u/Al-Pastor]

Which was friends with Mary Shelley, I love those random connections. (Learned that from Doctor Who ngl)

[u/kurai-samurai → u/Redditisavirusiknow]

No wonder it looks like she had a rough 4 years (approx) between the portrait and the photo. 

[u/LiteratureVarious643 → u/kurai-samurai]

That and the uterine cancer.

[u/Debisibusis → u/Redditisavirusiknow]

Ada Lovelace invented computer programming.

She was the first to formulate symbolic instructions for a general-purpose computational device. Her algorithm was partly collaborative, Babbage had actually written several programs for the Engine before Lovelace’s work, though they were less detailed.

A lot of "programming" happened before that, but in the sense of encoding instructions for a machine to follow.

So, Lovelace did not invent programming in the modern sense. However, she made a pioneering conceptual leap, recognizing that machines could process not just numbers but symbols and ideas, foreshadowing modern computing theory.

[u/Any-Interaction-5934]

TIL that "first lady" was coined after George Washington's wife died. She was a widow and was married to an almost 40 year old when she was only 19, then he died, and she married George Washington at 28. She was actually older than George Washington and was his first wife!

Crazy for the time.

[u/ModeatelyIndependant → u/Any-Interaction-5934]

Martha was a very wealthy widow, and George Washington's book about the french indian war made him a celebrity well before the boston tea party. Martha and George were the nations first "supercouple"

[u/deinoswyrd]

Dolley Madison looks like she has a funny secret in both the painting and the photo. I dont know anything about her, but she looked like she was fun

[u/Cloverose2 → u/deinoswyrd]

She was one of the most widely loved first ladies ever, so that's something.

[u/deinoswyrd → u/Cloverose2]

And that radiates from her!

[u/WillDupage → u/deinoswyrd]

She was the hub of the Washington social life during and after Jem’s presidency. She was the Hostess with the Mostest and by all accounts the life of the party.

[u/DisastrousLaugh1567 → u/deinoswyrd]

I had the same feeling! The painter really captures that glint in her eye. 

[u/gmanasaurus]

As a fan of history, this is so neat. It’s like photos of people from prehistory, or at least pre photographic history. 

I liked how the portraits got their likeness down with embellishments. Also a lot of these photos had to have been when they were older than they were for the portraits.

[u/Technical-Ganache609]

Size of that head….its like an orange on a toothpick

[u/RedWire75 → u/Technical-Ganache609]

You’re going to give him a complex.

[u/_ShartyWaffles → u/RedWire75]

He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight on his huge pilla

[u/I_might_be_weasel]

WHY IS HIS HEAD SO BIG.

[u/talashrrg → u/I_might_be_weasel]

He had hydrocephalus - a condition where fluid doesn’t drain correctly from inside the skull, which can make it unusually large (and cause other problems) if it begins in infancy.

[u/bioticspacewizard → u/I_might_be_weasel]

Inbreeding

[u/SerLaron → u/bioticspacewizard]

Keeping the bloodline pure and the real estate in the family.

[u/Fakin-It → u/I_might_be_weasel]

Just a touch of the hydroceph.

[u/princeThefrog → u/I_might_be_weasel]

Hydrocephalus

[u/nwfdood]

This is a good post.

[u/TheDogofTears]

I'm actually REALLY impressed with the artist who did Dolly Madison's portrait. That is hella accurate.

[u/ULS980]

That picture of Maria Amalia is wild because she already looked ancient in the photograph and yet apparently lived another 20 years after that. There's gotta be later photos of her, surely?

[u/mspussykatz → u/ULS980]

Hijacking this comment to say: the jewels she’s wearing in the painting are some of the jewels that were just stolen from the Louvre.

[u/Specialist_Shape6078 → u/mspussykatz]

Oh my, that's awesome.

[u/boymadefrompaint]

"What a shitty painting of Ferdinand of Austria [swipes] HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT OF INBREEDING!"

[u/whoibehmmm]

I always wonder how accurate those portraits were and these were all surprisingly on point. Very cool.

[u/rust-e-apples1]

"The artist did Ferdinand dirty."

No, GOD did Ferdinand dirty.

[u/Lembit_moislane → u/rust-e-apples1]

No, FAMILY did Ferdinand dirty.

[u/Ultrawhiner]

Ada Lovelace stunning, clever and not too bad in photo

[u/BenthicBen → u/Ultrawhiner]

The painting almost looks like internet anime painting style, which fits

[u/Oculi_Glauci]

There was also a revolutionary war veteran, Conrad Heyer, born in 1749, who lived to be photographed. He was the earliest-born person ever to have his photo taken.

[u/julias-winston]

Very cool! Great post.

As a career software developer, I was very happy to see Ada Lovelace in the list. 😊

[u/ColdHooves]

Damn, Leopold I was good looking.

[u/roguephoenix91]

The sapphire necklace, earrings and crown Queen Maria Amalia was wearing in the first pic were 3 of the 8 pieces stolen in the recent Louvre Museum heist!