Anglo-Irish inventor, writer, and educationalist Richard Lovell Edgeworth was born #OTD in 1744.
Edgeworth was one of the early experimenters with the optical telegraph, a precursor to the electrical telegraph. His work in this area was influential in the development of semaphore communication systems. Together with his daughter Maria, he co-authored several educational works ("Practical Education" - 1798).
Books by Richard Lovell Edgeworth at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/7042