15 June 2017
Interesting tidbits:
763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
1648 – Margaret Jones was the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony during a witch-hunt that lasted from 1648 to 1663. About eighty people throughout New England were accused of practicing witchcraft during that period. Thirteen women and two men were executed. Margaret Jones, who resided in the Charlestown section of Boston, was a midwife and practiced medicine. Although the Salem witch trials of 1692 were more famouse, witch accusations and trials were common at the time.
1752 – Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown). In 1750 he published a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm. On May 10, 1752 Thomas-François Dalibard of France conducted Franklin's experiment using a 40 foot / 12 m tall iron rod instead of a kite, and he extracted electrical sparks from a cloud. On June 15 Franklin may possibly have conducted his famous kite experiment in Philadelphia, successfully extracting sparks from a cloud. Others, such as Prof. Georg Wilhelm Richmann were electrocuted during the months following Franklin's experiment.
1785 – Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned free flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon exploded during their attempt to cross the English Channel. He and the Marquis d'Arlandes made the first manned free balloon flight on 21 November 1783, in a Montgolfier balloon. He later died when his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais during an attempt to fly across the English Channel. He and his companion, Pierre Romain, became the first known fatalities in an air crash.
1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber. Although Goodyear is often credited with its invention, modern evidence has proven that the Mesoamericans used stabilized rubber for balls and other objects as early as 1600 BC. Goodyear discovered the vulcanization process accidentally after five years of searching for a more stable rubber.
1851 - Jacob Fussell, Baltimore dairyman, sets up the first ice-cream factory.
1869 - Celluloid patented by John Wesley Hyatt of Albany, NY.
1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs. The study became the basis of motion pictures. Muybridge used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-action photographs, and used his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography. In the 1880s, Muybridge entered a very productive period at the University of Pennsylvania, producing over 100,000 images of animals and humans in motion, capturing what the human eye could not distinguish as separate movements. He spent much of his later years giving public lectures and demonstrations of his photography and early motion picture sequences. He also edited and published compilations of his work, which greatly influenced visual artists and the developing fields of scientific and industrial photography.
1887 - Carlisle D Graham survives his second ride in Niagara waterfall in a barrel.
1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown completed the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
1934 – The U.S. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries.
Today's birthday crew:
1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (Peer Gynt).
1917 – Lash LaRue, popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. He had exceptional skill with the bull whip, and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip in the Indiana Jones movies. LaRue was one of the first recipients of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983.
1925 – Ross Andru, American comics artist and editor best known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Metal Men. His most frequent collaborator was inker Mike Esposito, with whom he worked on projects over a span of four decades.
1941 – Neal Adams, American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow and as a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
1946 – John R. Horner, American paleontologist real life inspiration for the Sam Neill character Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.
1956 – Robin Curtis, American actress known for playing Vulcan Lieutenant Saavik in some of the Star Trek films.
1971 – Jake Busey, American actor (Ace).
Happy birthday guys!
Interesting tidbits:
763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
1648 – Margaret Jones was the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony during a witch-hunt that lasted from 1648 to 1663. About eighty people throughout New England were accused of practicing witchcraft during that period. Thirteen women and two men were executed. Margaret Jones, who resided in the Charlestown section of Boston, was a midwife and practiced medicine. Although the Salem witch trials of 1692 were more famouse, witch accusations and trials were common at the time.
1752 – Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown). In 1750 he published a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm. On May 10, 1752 Thomas-François Dalibard of France conducted Franklin's experiment using a 40 foot / 12 m tall iron rod instead of a kite, and he extracted electrical sparks from a cloud. On June 15 Franklin may possibly have conducted his famous kite experiment in Philadelphia, successfully extracting sparks from a cloud. Others, such as Prof. Georg Wilhelm Richmann were electrocuted during the months following Franklin's experiment.
1785 – Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned free flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon exploded during their attempt to cross the English Channel. He and the Marquis d'Arlandes made the first manned free balloon flight on 21 November 1783, in a Montgolfier balloon. He later died when his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais during an attempt to fly across the English Channel. He and his companion, Pierre Romain, became the first known fatalities in an air crash.
1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber. Although Goodyear is often credited with its invention, modern evidence has proven that the Mesoamericans used stabilized rubber for balls and other objects as early as 1600 BC. Goodyear discovered the vulcanization process accidentally after five years of searching for a more stable rubber.
1851 - Jacob Fussell, Baltimore dairyman, sets up the first ice-cream factory.
1869 - Celluloid patented by John Wesley Hyatt of Albany, NY.
1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs. The study became the basis of motion pictures. Muybridge used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-action photographs, and used his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography. In the 1880s, Muybridge entered a very productive period at the University of Pennsylvania, producing over 100,000 images of animals and humans in motion, capturing what the human eye could not distinguish as separate movements. He spent much of his later years giving public lectures and demonstrations of his photography and early motion picture sequences. He also edited and published compilations of his work, which greatly influenced visual artists and the developing fields of scientific and industrial photography.
1887 - Carlisle D Graham survives his second ride in Niagara waterfall in a barrel.
1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown completed the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
1934 – The U.S. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries.
Today's birthday crew:
1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (Peer Gynt).
1917 – Lash LaRue, popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. He had exceptional skill with the bull whip, and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip in the Indiana Jones movies. LaRue was one of the first recipients of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983.
1925 – Ross Andru, American comics artist and editor best known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Metal Men. His most frequent collaborator was inker Mike Esposito, with whom he worked on projects over a span of four decades.
1941 – Neal Adams, American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow and as a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
1946 – John R. Horner, American paleontologist real life inspiration for the Sam Neill character Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.
1956 – Robin Curtis, American actress known for playing Vulcan Lieutenant Saavik in some of the Star Trek films.
1971 – Jake Busey, American actor (Ace).
Happy birthday guys!