#OtD 5 Jun 1993 EMT Breonna Taylor, recently killed by police, was born in Grand Rapids, MI. Taylor, an unarmed Black woman, was shot 8 times and killed in her home by officers with a drugs warrant. No drugs were found https://t.co/wc1K52LTw2
otd
American writer William Sydney Porter died #OTD in 1910.
O. Henry's stories are known for their memorable characters, vivid descriptions, and especially their surprise endings. Some of his most famous stories include "The Gift of the Magi," "The Ransom of Red Chief," "The Last Leaf," and "The Cop and the Anthem."
Books by O. Henry at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/634
French science writer Amédée Guillemin was born #OTD in 1826.
Guillemin presently started writing books of physics and astronomy which became very popular. He wrote "The Sky" and "The Physical World" (5 vols.). He also wrote a series of booklets about astronomy and physics under the title "Small popular encyclopaedia", a scientifically sound but accessible collection about sciences and their applications.
Books by Amédée Guillemin at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/9614
American writer and editor Lucretia Peabody Hale died #OTD in 1900.
Lucretia's most famous work is the series of humorous stories about the Peterkin family, which were originally published in magazines and later collected into books. As part of the broader movement for women's rights in the 19th century, Hale's writings and public activities contributed to the dialogue on women's education and social roles.
Books by Lucretia Peabody Hale at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1092
French film director, producer, and screenwriter Louis Jean Lumière died #OTD in 1948.
Alongside his brother Auguste, Louis is best known for inventing the Cinématographe, a motion picture camera, projector, and printer all in one. The Lumière brothers' work laid the foundation for the film industry and revolutionized visual storytelling.
German astronomer Johann Georg Palitzsch was born #OTD in 1723.
On December 25, 1758, Palitzsch became the first person to observe the return of Halley's Comet, confirming Halley's prediction, which was based on his calculations of the comet's orbit and its previous appearances. This was a significant milestone in the field of astronomy, providing strong evidence for the accuracy of Newtonian mechanics and the predictability of cometary orbits.
American zoologist Mary Jane Rathbun was born #OTD in 1860.
Rathbun's primary work involved the classification and description of crustaceans, particularly crabs. Over her career, she described over 1,000 new species and genera of crustaceans. She developed new methods and techniques for identifying and classifying crustaceans, including detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations that facilitated the work of other researchers.
"Each time the discovery of new facts, the overthrow or extension of accepted theories, reminded us that science is never finished."
French physicist Charles Fabry was born #OTD in 1867.
Together with Henri Buisson, they made a groundbreaking discovery by identifying the presence of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere (1913). They used spectroscopic techniques to measure the absorption of ultraviolet light by atmospheric ozone, providing the first definitive evidence of the ozone layer.
American illustrator, author, youth leader Daniel Carter Beard died #OTD in 1941.
In 1905, Beard founded an organization called "The Sons of Daniel Boone," which aimed to teach boys outdoor skills, woodcraft, and self-reliance. This organization was one of the first to emphasize the importance of outdoor education and adventure for youth. The Sons of Daniel Boone was later merged with the Boy Scouts of America.
Books by Daniel Carter Beard at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/8612
![Beard's frontispiece for Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Daniel Carter Beard - Library of Congress[1]
"Knight in armor tilting at man in modern dress in tree onto which a man in modern dress has climbed for refuge", "Published as frontispiece in: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court / Samuel Clemens. New York : Charles L. Webster & Co., 1889. ", "1 drawing : pen and ink over graphite underdrawing ; sheet 36 x 57.1 cm."](/proxy/post_attachment/250779/0a6872f0d1.jpg "Beard's frontispiece for Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Daniel Carter Beard - Library of Congress[1]
\"Knight in armor tilting at man in modern dress in tree onto which a man in modern dress has climbed for refuge\", \"Published as frontispiece in: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court / Samuel Clemens. New York : Charles L. Webster & Co., 1889. \", \"1 drawing : pen and ink over graphite underdrawing ; sheet 36 x 57.1 cm.\"")
Mind the gap!
#OnThisDay, 6 June 1915, Maida Vale Tube station opens in London. It is staffed by women until the end of World War 1.
#LondonHistory #TubeHistory #GoingUnderground #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons
#OtD 15 Jun 1911 shipping workers in the UK launched a national strike across the industry for better pay and conditions. The employers caved in within two weeks https://t.co/0Stj6xrflu https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8689/uk-shipping-strike?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
"Colour! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.... Color which, like music, is a matter of vibrations, reaches what is most general and therefore most indefinable in nature: its inner power."
The writings of a savage
French painter and sculptor Paul Gauguin was born #OTD in 1848.
Paul Gauguin at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=gauguin
English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing died #OTD in 1954.
During World War II, he played a crucial role in deciphering the Enigma code used by the German military, significantly contributing to the Allied war effort. In his paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," he proposed the famous Turing Test as a criterion for determining whether a machine can exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from that of a human.
Edited 1y ago
“[Milne’s] cryogenics story, ‘Ten Thousand Years in Ice’, in which a survivor from an ancient advanced civilisation is revived in the present, unintentionally became one of science fiction’s great literary hoaxes”
Robert Duncan Milne (1844–1899) was born #OTD, 7 June, in Cupar, Fife. He emigrated to the USA & became America’s first full-time writer of #sciencefiction
Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist Giacomo Leopardi died #OTD in 1837.
Around 1816, Leopardi experienced what he called his "literary conversion," shifting his focus from philological studies to poetry and philosophical reflection. His early lyrical poems, or "canti," began to reflect his developing philosophical ideas. In 1816 the idylls Le rimembranze and Inno a Nettuno were published.
Books by Giacomo Leopardi at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/8593
#OTD in 1822.
Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society.
The difference engine is based on the method of divided differences, a way to interpolate or tabulate functions by using a small set of polynomial co-efficients. Some of the most common mathematical functions are built from logarithmic & trigonometric functions, which can be approximated by polynomials, so a difference engine can compute many useful tables.
British biochemist Ida Maclean was born #OTD in 1877.
She was the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society. She conducted significant research on fatty acids and sterols, contributing to the understanding of biochemistry's foundational elements. She came to be regarded as an authority on biochemistry, and her 1943 monograph The Metabolism of Fat was the first published of Methuen's series Monographs on Biochemical Subjects.
#OTD in 1893.
The Shelley Memorial is inaugurated at University College, Oxford, from which the poet was expelled in 1811. It is designed by Basil Champneys, with a reclining nude marble statue of Percy Bysshe Shelley by Edward Onslow Ford. Although Shelley was expelled from the college, he remains one of its most famous alumni and is now held in high honour there.
Shelley Memorial all washed up?
By Josh Pull via @Cherwell
https://www.cherwell.org/2005/04/22/shelley-memorial-all-washed-up/
#OtD 19 May 1925 El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, aka Malcolm X, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He became one of the most influential advocates of self-defence for Black people as well as one of the foremost critics of America's institutional racism https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9128/malcolm-x-born
"Our national epic has yet to be written."
#OTD in 1904.
Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday" in honour of the novel's main character Leopold Bloom.
Happy Bloomsday Day!
Ulysses is available at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4300
Italian mathematician, astronomer and engineer Giovanni Domenico Cassini was born #OTD in 1625.
His observations & calculations helped to confirm & refine Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. He formulated Cassini’s Law, describing the rotational behavior of the Moon, which was crucial for understanding the Moon's synchronous rotation with the Earth. He was involved in measuring the meridian arc of Paris, contributing to the accurate determination of the shape of the Earth.
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Irish mathematician Alicia Boole Stott was born #OTD in 1860.
She discovered & described many four-dimensional polytopes & coined the term “polytope” to generalize polygons & polyhedra to higher dimensions. She extensively used Schläfli symbols to categorize and describe polytopes. Later in life, Alicia worked with Harold Coxeter and their collaboration furthered the understanding of regular polytopes and three-dimensional projections of four-dimensional figures.
French novelist, memoirist and journalist George Sand died #OTD in 1876.
Sand's writing combines elements of Romanticism and early Realism, with rich descriptions, strong emotions, and detailed character studies. Her novels often critique societal norms, particularly the limitations placed on women and the injustices faced by the lower classes.
Books by George Sand at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/851
"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason."
The Age of Reason (1794)
Thomas Paine died #OTD in 1809.
He had a great influence on the thoughts and ideas which led to the American Revolution and the United States Declaration of Independence. He wrote three of the most influential and controversial works of the 18th Century: Common Sense, Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason.
Books by Thomas Paine at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/91
