Grace Hopper Quiz: The First Compiler and a Real Computer Bug

This grace hopper quiz debugs a room-sized computer. Play 10 interactive questions on working on the Harvard Mark I, a moth taped into a logbook in 1947, the A-0 compiler of 1952, FLOW-MATIC and COBOL, her nanosecond wires, rising to rear admiral, the nickname Amazing Grace, a Navy destroyer named after her and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Mark
Which early computer did Hopper program in the 1940s?
Moth
What was taped into a logbook in 1947?
Comp
Which early compiler did Hopper create in 1952?
What
What does a compiler do?
Flow
Which language of Hopper's led toward COBOL?
COBOL
What kind of language is COBOL?
Nano
What did Hopper hand out to explain a nanosecond?
Rank
Which rank did Hopper reach in the US Navy?
Nick
What was Hopper's nickname?
Medal
Which award did Hopper receive in 2016?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which early computer did Hopper program in the 1940s?
Answer: Harvard Mark I
At Harvard.
Q2: What was taped into a logbook in 1947?
Answer: A moth found in a relay
The first actual bug.
Q3: Which early compiler did Hopper create in 1952?
Answer: A-0
Translating code.
Q4: What does a compiler do?
Answer: Translates human-readable code into machine code
A key tool.
Q5: Which language of Hopper's led toward COBOL?
Answer: FLOW-MATIC
English-like commands.
Q6: What kind of language is COBOL?
Answer: A business-oriented language
Still used in banks.
Q7: What did Hopper hand out to explain a nanosecond?
Answer: Wires about 30 cm long
Distance light travels.
Q8: Which rank did Hopper reach in the US Navy?
Answer: Rear admiral
A rare achievement.
Q9: What was Hopper's nickname?
Answer: Amazing Grace
Widely used.
Q10: Which award did Hopper receive in 2016?
Answer: Presidential Medal of Freedom
Awarded posthumously.

The Admiral Who Taught Computers English

Grace Hopper programmed the Harvard Mark I in the 1940s. In 1947 a moth found in a relay of the Mark II was taped into the logbook as the first actual case of a bug being found, a story Hopper loved to tell.

In 1952 she created the A-0 compiler, one of the first, which translates human-readable code into machine code. Her FLOW-MATIC language used English-like commands and led toward COBOL, a business language still used in banks.

Hopper rose to rear admiral in the US Navy and was nicknamed Amazing Grace. To explain a nanosecond, she handed out wires about 30 cm long, the distance light travels in that time. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 2016, and a Navy destroyer bears her name.

What This Quiz Teaches

Tech history fans will enjoy these questions.

Which computers she used
What the bug story is
What a compiler does
Which languages she shaped
How she is honored

Did You Know?

She earned a Yale PhD in mathematics.
She retired from the Navy more than once.
A Grace Hopper conference celebrates women in computing.
She kept a clock that ran backward.
She valued asking forgiveness over permission.