Astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg was born #OTD in 1905. She was an authority on variable stars and globular clusters, and a pioneer of communicating science to the public.
Image: University of Toronto, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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British novelist and scientific Agnes Giberne died #OTD in 1939.
She is best known for her popular science books on astronomy. Her most famous work, Sun, Moon, and Stars: Astronomy for Beginners (1879), became a significant educational resource, introducing countless readers to the basics of astronomy. She also authored numerous Christian books, including religious biographies and devotional literature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Giberne
Agnes Giberne at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/47772
#OTD in 1876.
Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
Mimeographs, along with spirit duplicators and hectographs, were common technologies for printing small quantities of a document, as in office work, classroom materials, and church bulletins. For even smaller quantities, up to about five, a typist would use carbon paper.
#OTD in 1886.
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is signed. The treaty provides authors, musicians, poets, painters, and other creators with the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms.
English-born Australian novelist, journalist, and poet Marcus Clarke died #OTD in 1881.
He is best known for his 1874 novel For the Term of His Natural Life, about the convict system in Australia, and widely regarded as a classic of Australian literature. The novel is based on historical facts and it was originally serialized in the Australian Journal before being published as a book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Clarke
Books by Marcus Clarke at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1193
Edited 1y ago
"People said women couldn't swim the Channel, but I proved they could."
#OTD in 1926.
Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
In August 1919 in Indianapolis, she became the youngest woman ever to set a world swimming record when she posted a new best for the 880y freestyle. She set a total of nine world records and seven of them came during the course of a 500m swim at Brighton Beach, New York, in 1922.
#OtD 2 Aug 1944 4000 Roma people in Auschwitz resisted being taken to the gas chambers. They armed themselves with sticks and crowbars, and barricaded the doors, women in particular fighting the SS with hands and nails. They were overcome and murdered https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9169/auschwitz-roma-rebellion?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
"Nel puro ardor della più bella stella
Aurea facella di bel foco accende
E qui discendi su l’aurate piume
Giocondo nume e di celeste fiamme
L’anima mea."
Nel puro ardor (from 'Euridice')
Italian composer Jacopo Peri died #OTD in 1633.
He wrote what is considered the first opera, the mostly lost Dafne (c. 1597), and also the earliest extant opera, Euridice (1600). He is sometimes known by the byname lo Zazzerino (lit. 'the blond one').
English engineer and writer on music George Grove was born #OTD in 1820.
He is best known as the founding editor of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. He stated, in the prospectus of the dictionary, in March 1874, that "The want of English works on the history, theory, or practice of Music, or the biographies of musicians accessible to the non-professional reader, has long been a subject of remark."
Books by George Grove at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/42192
Irish mathematician, astronomer & physicist William Rowan Hamilton was born #OTD in 1805.
Hamilton made his discovery of the algebra of quaternions in 1843. His work is fundamental to modern theoretical physics, particularly his reformulation of Newtonian mechanics. Hamiltonian mechanics including its Hamilitonian function are now central both to electromagnetism & quantum mechanics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rowan_Hamilton
Books about William Rowan Hamilton at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=William+Rowan+Hamilton&submit_search=Go%21
Italian photographer and mountaineer Vittorio Sella died #OTD in 1943.
The high quality of Sella's photography was in part due to his use of 30×40 cm photographic plates, in spite of the difficulty of carrying bulky and fragile equipment into remote places. Many of the photographs he took were of mountains which had not been previously recorded and so have historical as well as artistic significance.
South African botanist and taxonomist Louisa Bolus was born #OTD in 1877.
She is known for her extensive work in the field of South African flora, particularly in the classification and description of new plant species. Her extensive collection and classification efforts greatly expanded the Bolus Herbarium, making it one of the most important botanical collections in the region.
German poet Sibylla Schwarz died #OTD in 1638.
Her verse reflects the difficult times in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, of which she saw neither the beginning nor the end. Her verse was published posthumously in 1650 by her teacher Samuel Gerlach under the title Deutsche Poëtische Gedichte in two parts containing over 100 poems. She was famous as the "Pomeranian Sappho", but her work fell into oblivion in the 18th century.
#OTD in 1576.
The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uranienborg observatory is laid on the island of Hven.
It was the first custom-built observatory in modern Europe, and the last to be built without a telescope as its primary instrument. Brahe abandoned Uranienborg and Stjerneborg in 1597 after he fell out of favour with the Danish king, Christian IV of Denmark; Brahe left the country, and the institution was destroyed in 1601 after his death.
Edited 1y ago
French composer and pianist Cécile Chaminade was born #OTD in 1857.
After a timid debut with the premiere of her Trio no. 1 for violin, cello and piano, Op. 11 (1880), she gave three symphonic scores in 1888: the ballet Callirhoë, Op. 37 in Marseille, a Concerstück for piano and orchestra, Op. 408, and a dramatic symphony with chorus entitled Les Amazones, Op. 26 in Antwerp. A prolific composer, she produced more than 400 works, including 200 pieces for piano.
British writer George Griffith was born #OTD in 1857.
He was active mainly in the science fiction genre—or as it was known at the time, scientific romance—in particular writing many future-war stories and playing a significant role in shaping that emerging subgenre. He was a contemporary of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, and his works contributed to the development of the science fiction genre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Griffith
Books by George Griffith at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/8557
#OtD 11 Aug 1964 18-year-old Scottish anarchist Stuart Christie was arrested in Madrid, Spain with explosives to assassinate dictator Franco. He was wearing a kilt, which confused the Argentinian press, who described him as "a Scottish transvestite" https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8273/stuart-christie-arrested?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
British electrical engineer Godfrey Hounsfield died #OTD in 2004.
He shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan MacLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of X-ray computed tomography (CT). His name is immortalised in the Hounsfield scale, a quantitative measure of radiodensity used in evaluating CT scans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Hounsfield
His patent showed in the figure is avaliable here:
https://patents.justia.com/patent/4115698
![Schematic representation of CT scanner.
The author of This US Patent is Dr. Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield. Scanned by User:Tom Toyosaki. This Figure is extracted from US Patent and that patent is published before March 1, 1989 .
- Figure 1 of US4,115,698 (US Patent,Published at Sep. 19,1978)[1]](/proxy/post_attachment/321532/f608b312fa.jpg "Schematic representation of CT scanner.
The author of This US Patent is Dr. Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield. Scanned by User:Tom Toyosaki. This Figure is extracted from US Patent and that patent is published before March 1, 1989 .
- Figure 1 of US4,115,698 (US Patent,Published at Sep. 19,1978)[1]")
Edited 1y ago
English painter and illustrator John Everett Millais died #OTD in 1896.
He was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He became the most famous exponent of the style, his painting Christ in the House of His Parents (1849–50) generating considerable controversy, and he produced a picture that could serve as the embodiment of the historical & naturalist focus of the group, Ophelia (1851–52).
Books about John Everett Millais at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=John+Everett+Millais&submit_search=Go%21
![An Idyll of 1745. The three female artists models on the right were the sisters Lily Pettigrew [1870-1920]; Hetty Pettigrew [1867-1953] and Rose Pettigrew [1872-1905]
"An Idyll of 1745" by John Everett Millais captures a charming, serene scene with three women as the focal point. The painting features the Pettigrew sisters, Lily, Hetty, and Rose, elegantly posed on the right side. The women are depicted in period clothing, their dresses detailed and indicative of 18th-century fashion. Millais' attention to the sisters' expressions and interactions adds a sense of intimacy and connection between them. The lush, pastoral background enhances the idyllic and tranquil atmosphere, making the painting a beautiful portrayal of the elegance and grace of the era.](/proxy/post_attachment/321660/e698202cec.jpg "An Idyll of 1745. The three female artists models on the right were the sisters Lily Pettigrew [1870-1920]; Hetty Pettigrew [1867-1953] and Rose Pettigrew [1872-1905]
\"An Idyll of 1745\" by John Everett Millais captures a charming, serene scene with three women as the focal point. The painting features the Pettigrew sisters, Lily, Hetty, and Rose, elegantly posed on the right side. The women are depicted in period clothing, their dresses detailed and indicative of 18th-century fashion. Millais' attention to the sisters' expressions and interactions adds a sense of intimacy and connection between them. The lush, pastoral background enhances the idyllic and tranquil atmosphere, making the painting a beautiful portrayal of the elegance and grace of the era.")
British writer and soldier Sapper died #OTD in 1937.
"Sapper" was the pen name of Herman Cyril McNeile, known primarily for his popular series of adventure novels featuring the character Bulldog Drummond. He began his writing career by contributing stories to magazines and newspapers while still in the army. After the war, he adopted the pseudonym "Sapper," derived from his service in the Royal Engineers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._C._McNeile
H.C. McNeile at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/26827
Edited 1y ago
#OTD in 1857
Performances of Wilkie Collins' drama The Frozen Deep at the Free Trade Hall for the benefit of the widow of writer Douglas W. Jerrold, during which Charles Dickens, becomes infatuated with the professional actress Ellen Ternan.
Dickens's hand was so prominent—beside acting in the play for several performances, he added a preface, altered lines, & attended to most of the props and sets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Frozen_Deep
The Frozen Deep at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1625
#OTD in 1939.
The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
It stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, while others made uncredited contributions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55
#OTD in 1819.
The Peterloo Massacre takes place in England, inspiring Percy B. Shelley, in Italy, who, like Keats, has one of his most productive years. After hearing the news on September 5 he writes The Masque of Anarchy and sends it to a newspaper, also writing the political sonnet England in 1819, Ode to the West Wind, The Cenci: A Tragedy, in Five Acts & Julian and Maddalo and beginning his prose work A Philosophical View of Reform.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley
French scholar, translator, commentator and editor of the classics Anne Dacier died #OTD in 1730.
She is best known for her translations of classical works from Greek and Latin into French. Anne Dacier's most famous works include her translations of Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey". In addition to Homer, Dacier also translated works by other classical authors, such as Terence and Aristophanes, and wrote commentaries and essays on classical literature.
#OTD in 1918.
The poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon meet for the last time, in London, and spend what Sassoon will recall as "the whole of a hot cloudless afternoon together."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Owen#Relationship_with_Sassoon
Books by Wilfred Owen at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/517
Books by Siegfried Sassoon at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2934
