<p>"Destiny stands behind people, veiled in a veil of mystery, and in her hand she holds a quiver with a thousand events..."<br>Gloria Victis</p><p>Polish novelist Eliza Orzeszkowa died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1810.</p><p>Orzeszkowa was a leading writer of the Positivism movement during foreign Partitions of Poland. In 1905, together with Henryk Sienkiewicz, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.</p><p>Books by Eliza Orzeszkowa at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/9367" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/9367"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/9367</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
otd
<p>English self-taught mathematician and physicist Oliver Heaviside was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1850.</p><p>He invented a new technique for solving differential equations, independently developed vector calculus, and rewrote Maxwell's equations in the form commonly used today. He significantly shaped the way Maxwell's equations are understood and applied in the decades following Maxwell's death. His practical experience in telegraphy provided a foundation for his later theoretical work.</p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/physics/" rel="tag">#physics</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1618.</p><p>Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).</p><p>The elliptical orbits of planets were indicated by calculations of the orbit of Mars. The third law expresses that the farther a planet is from the Sun, the slower its orbital speed, and vice versa.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_laws_of_planetary_motion" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_laws_of_planetary_motion"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%2</span><span class="invisible">7s_laws_of_planetary_motion</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/astronomy/" rel="tag">#astronomy</a></p>
<p>Dutch poet, literary critic, & essayist Albert Verwey was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1865.</p><p>Verwey was a central figure in the Dutch literary movement known as the Tachtigers, which sought to revolutionize Dutch poetry by emphasizing individualism, emotion, and innovative language and form. The Tachtigers rejected the conventional poetic styles & themes of their time, advocating for a more personal and introspective approach to poetry.</p><p>Books by Albert Verwey at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/38843" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/38843"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/38843</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
<p>“THE DYNAMITER is a hugely inventive & brilliant book, at once a political thriller, a blackly comic satire, & a female adventure”</p><p>Robert Louis Stevenson & Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne married <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 19 May, 1880. In this article, Prof Penny Fielding explores the dangerous <a href="/tags/collaboration/" rel="tag">#collaboration</a> between RLS & his wife: granting female agency on the page & in life</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/robertlouisstevenson/" rel="tag">#RobertLouisStevenson</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#WomenWriters</a> <a href="/tags/humour/" rel="tag">#humour</a> </p><p>@bookstodon </p><p><a href="https://dangerouswomenproject.org/2017/01/06/a-dangerous-collaboration/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="dangerouswomenproject.org/2017/01/06/a-dangerous-collaboration/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">dangerouswomenproject.org/2017</span><span class="invisible">/01/06/a-dangerous-collaboration/</span></a></p>
<p>On this day in 1915, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the "original soul sister" and "Godmother of rock and roll" was born.</p><p>"Rock 'n' roll was bred between the church and the nightclubs in the soul of a queer black woman in the 1940s named Sister Rosetta Tharpe."</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9a49oFalZE" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9a49oFalZE"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9a49o</span><span class="invisible">FalZE</span></a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Rosetta_Tharpe" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Rosetta_Tharpe"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_R</span><span class="invisible">osetta_Tharpe</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/544226085/forebears-sister-rosetta-tharpe-the-godmother-of-rock-n-roll" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.npr.org/2017/08/24/544226085/forebears-sister-rosetta-tharpe-the-godmother-of-rock-n-roll"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.npr.org/2017/08/24/5442260</span><span class="invisible">85/forebears-sister-rosetta-tharpe-the-godmother-of-rock-n-roll</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/music/" rel="tag">#music</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/musichistory/" rel="tag">#MusicHistory</a> <a href="/tags/womeninmusic/" rel="tag">#WomenInMusic</a> <a href="/tags/blackwomen/" rel="tag">#BlackWomen</a> <a href="/tags/blackhistory/" rel="tag">#BlackHistory</a> <a href="/tags/rocknroll/" rel="tag">#RockNRoll</a> <a href="/tags/rockmusic/" rel="tag">#RockMusic</a> <a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/sisterrosettatharpe/" rel="tag">#SisterRosettaTharpe</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1916.</p><p>Natsume Sōseki's novel Light and Darkness (明暗, Mei An) begins to be serialized in the Tokyo and Osaka editions of the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, but will remain unfinished at the author's death on December 9, aged 49.</p><p>Works by Natsume Sōseki at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2905" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2905"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/2905</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
<p>British poet Felicia Dorothea Hemans died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1835.</p><p>Some of her most famous poems include "Casabianca," which begins with the memorable line "The boy stood on the burning deck," and "The Homes of England," which celebrates the virtues of home and family. Hemans also wrote historical and romantic poetry, drawing inspiration from literature, history, and mythology.</p><p>Books by or about Felicia Hemans at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Felicia+Hemans&submit_search=Go%21" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Felicia+Hemans&submit_search=Go%21"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=Felicia+Hemans&submit_search=Go%21</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>
<p>American nurse midwife and the founder of the Frontier Nursing Service Mary Carson Breckinridge died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1965.</p><p>In 1925, she founded the FNS, which aimed to improve maternal and infant health by providing midwifery and nursing care to families in the Appalachian mountains. Her efforts also helped to elevate the role of nurse-midwives in the United States and contributed to advancements in rural healthcare delivery.</p><p><a href="/tags/nursing/" rel="tag">#nursing</a> <a href="/tags/womeninscience/" rel="tag">#womeninscience</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1926.</p><p>C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien first meet in Oxford. </p><p>Both men served on the English faculty at Oxford University and were active in the informal Oxford literary group known as the Inklings. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction and encouraged the writing of fantasy.</p><p>C.S. Lewis at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/782" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/782"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/782</span></a></p><p>J.R.R. Tolkien at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/42379" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/42379"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/42379</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
Edited 1y ago
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1743.</p><p>French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin published the design of a mercury thermometer using the centigrade scale with 0 representing the melting point of water and 100 its boiling point.</p><p>Available at : Annales des sciences physiques et naturelles, d'agriculture et d'industrie<br>By Société d'agriculture, sciences et industrie de Lyon. via @googlebooks</p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/physics/" rel="tag">#physics</a> <a href="/tags/thermometry/" rel="tag">#thermometry</a></p>
Edited 1y ago
<p>"There is an ideal standard somewhere and only that matters and I cannot find it. Hence the aimlessness."<br>The Letters of T.E. Lawrence</p><p>British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer T. E. Lawrence died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1935.</p><p>He is famously known as "Lawrence of Arabia" due to his extraordinary role in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.</p><p>T. E. Lawrence as a translator at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65161" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65161</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1902.</p><p>Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.</p><p>The mechanism is composed of at least 30 bronze gears housed in a wooden frame. It features dials, pointers, and inscriptions that correspond to various astronomical cycles. The front dial is believed to show the zodiac and the solar and lunar calendars, while the back dials include the Metonic, Saros & Callippic cycles.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikyth</span><span class="invisible">era_mechanism</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/astronomy/" rel="tag">#astronomy</a> <a href="/tags/archeology/" rel="tag">#archeology</a></p>
<p>French composer and pianist Erik Satie was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1866.</p><p>In the 1880s he began composing works, mostly for solo piano, such as his Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes. He is known for his unconventional and innovative approach to music. He is often considered a precursor to movements such as minimalism, surrealism, and the avant-garde. Satie's work was influential to many 20th-century composers, including Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. </p><p><a href="https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Erik_Satie" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Erik_Satie"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Er</span><span class="invisible">ik_Satie</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/art/" rel="tag">#art</a> <a href="/tags/music/" rel="tag">#music</a></p>
<p>French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1799.</p><p>He is best known for his magnum opus, "La Comédie Humaine", a vast collection of interlinked novels and stories that provide a detailed panorama of French society in the first half of the 19th century. The series is divided into three major parts: "Études de Mœurs", "Études Philosophiques", and "Études Analytiques".</p><p>Books by Honoré de Balzac at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/251" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/251"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/251</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
<p>Danish-born Norwegian writer Sigrid Undset was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1882.</p><p>Born in Denmark and raised in Norway, Undset had her first books of historical fiction published in 1907. She fled Norway for the United States in 1940 because of her opposition to Nazi Germany and the German invasion and occupation of Norway, but returned after World War II ended in 1945.</p><p>Books by Sigrid Undset at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/35742" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/35742"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/35742</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
Edited 1y ago
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1609.</p><p>Shakespeare's sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.</p><p>However, there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote and included in the plays Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and Love's Labour's Lost. There is also a partial sonnet found in the play Edward III. The sonnets are almost all constructed using three quatrains followed by a final couplet. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. </p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1041" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1041</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1570.</p><p>Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.</p><p>Three Latin editions of this (besides a Dutch, a French and a German edition) appeared before the end of 1572; 25 editions came out before Ortelius' death in 1598; and several others were published subsequently, for the atlas continued to be in demand till about 1612. It is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography (~1570s–1670s).</p><p><a href="/tags/cartography/" rel="tag">#cartography</a></p>
<p>French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher Edmond de Goncourt was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1822.</p><p>He was the founder of the Académie Goncourt. Some of his work was written in collaboration with his brother, Jules. Until his death in 1870, Jules was the main author of the Journal, which was then continued by Edmond, who remained alone. It consists of a collection of notes, generally brief, taken from day to day.</p><p>Books by Edmond de Goncourt at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5693" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5693"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/5693</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
Edited 1y ago
<p>French astronomer Benjamin Valz was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1787.</p><p>He had a particular interest in comets, his observations including that of Biela’s Comet made in 1846 in which he noted that the comet had split into two parts. He is also remembered for his suggestion that observed irregularities in the orbit of Halley’s Comet may have been due to the gravitational effects of an as-yet unknown planet orbiting the Sun beyond Uranus which was at a time prior to the discovery of Neptune.</p><p><a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/astronomy/" rel="tag">#astronomy</a></p>
<p>Serbian mathematician, astronomer, climatologist Milutin Milanković was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1879.</p><p>He is best known for his theory of climate change (Milankovitch cycles), which explains the long-term cycles in Earth's climate based on changes in its orbit and orientation relative to the Sun. He used his expertise in mathematics to develop detailed models of how these orbital changes influence the distribution of solar radiation on Earth’s surface.</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120419011102/http://www.climatedata.info/Forcing/Forcing/milankovitchcycles.html" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="web.archive.org/web/20120419011102/http://www.climatedata.info/Forcing/Forcing/milankovitchcycles.html"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">web.archive.org/web/2012041901</span><span class="invisible">1102/http://www.climatedata.info/Forcing/Forcing/milankovitchcycles.html</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/climatology/" rel="tag">#climatology</a> <a href="/tags/mathematics/" rel="tag">#mathematics</a></p>
<p>English amateur astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1826.</p><p>In 1859 his astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flares as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon the Earth & its aurorae; and whose 1863 records of sunspot observations revealed the differential rotation of the Sun. His publications include Results of Astronomical Observations Made at the Observatory of the University, Durham; & Observations of the Spots on the Sun.</p><p><a href="/tags/astronomy/" rel="tag">#astronomy</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1896.</p><p>Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.</p><p>On 13 May 1897, Marconi sent the first ever wireless communication over open sea – a message was transmitted over the Bristol Channel from Flat Holm Island to Lavernock Point near Cardiff, a distance of 6 kilometres. The message read "Are you ready".</p><p>His patent is available here (later claimed by Oliver Lodge to contain his own ideas which he failed to patent):<br><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t0dv1dp4c&view=1up&seq=322" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t0dv1dp4c&view=1up&seq=322"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id</span><span class="invisible">=uc2.ark:/13960/t0dv1dp4c&view=1up&seq=322</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/technology/" rel="tag">#technology</a></p>
Edited 1y ago
<p>American artist and fiction writer Robert W. Chambers was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1865.</p><p>Chambers is best known for his weird fiction and horror stories, particularly "The King in Yellow," a collection of short stories published in 1895. He wrote numerous other novels and short stories across various genres including "The Maker of Moons" (1896), "The Mystery of Choice" (1897), and "The Tracer of Lost Persons" (1906).</p><p>Books by Robert W. Chambers at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/38191" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/38191"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/38191</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>
Edited 1y ago
<p>"Ceux qui vivent d’amour, vivent d’éternité."</p><p>Belgian poet and art critic Émile Verhaeren was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1855.</p><p>Verhaeren's early work was heavily influenced by the Symbolist movement, which sought to express the unseen forces and emotions behind everyday experiences through symbolic imagery and metaphor. "Les Flamandes" (1883) is his first major collection, depicting the life and customs of Flemish people.</p><p>Books by Émile Verhaeren at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3287" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3287"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/3287</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>