Interesting tidbits: 1457 - Oldest known exactly dated printed book (c 3 years after Gutenberg). 1846 - The Cape Girardeau meteorite, a 2.3 kg chondrite-type meteorite strikes near the town of Cape Girardeau in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. 1885 - Japans first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint. 1888 – An audio recording of English composer Arthur Sullivans The Lost Chord, one of the first recordings of music ever made, was played during a press conference introducing Thomas Edisons phonograph in London. A recording originally made on a phonograph in St. Louis in 1878 has been found. Experts say it is the oldest playable recording of an American voice and the first-ever capturing of a musical performance. The recording was made on a sheet of tinfoil, 5 inches wide by 15 inches long, and placed on the cylinder of the phonograph Edison invented in 1877. 1893 – France becomes the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration. Licence plates have been around for longer than there have been automobiles. France was the first country to introduce the licence plate with the passage of the Paris Police Ordinance on August 14, 1893, followed by Germany in 1896. The Netherlands was the first country to introduce a national licence plate, called a driving permit, in 1898. The first licences were plates with a number, starting at 1. By August 8, 1899 the counter was at 168. When the Netherlands chose a different way to number the plates on January 15, 1906 the last issued plate was 2001. In the U.S., where each state issues plates, New York State has required plates since 1901. At first, plates were not government issued in most jurisdictions and motorists were obliged to make their own. In 1903, Massachusetts was the first state to issue plates. The earliest plates were made of porcelain baked onto iron or ceramic with no backing, which made them fragile and impractical. Few of these early plates survived. Later experimental materials include cardboard, leather, plastic and during wartime shortages copper and pressed soybeans. 1901 – The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21. Controversy surrounds published accounts and Whiteheads own claims that he flew a powered machine successfully several times in 1901 and 1902, predating the first flights by the Wright Brothers in 1903. Much of Whiteheads reputation rests on a newspaper article written as an eyewitness account which stated that Whitehead made a powered flight in Connecticut on August 14, 1901. In the months that followed, details from this article were widely reprinted in newspapers across the U.S. and Europe. Whiteheads aircraft designs and experiments also attracted notice in Scientific American magazine and a 1904 book about industrial progress. Whitehead later worked for sponsors who hired him to build aircraft of their own design, although none flew, and he became a known designer and builder of lightweight engines. He fell out of public notice around 1915 and died in relative obscurity in 1927. The patent issued to the Wright brothers was not for the invention of a heavier than air flying machine, but for a system to control the flight of such a vehicle in three dimensions. Whitehead is one of a number of claimants who may have taken powered flights before the Wrights, but none of them could control the direction of flight. 1908 - The first beauty contest is held in Folkestone, England. 1917 - China declares war on Germany & Austria as part of WW I. 1975 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the longest-running release in film history, opened at the USA Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. Todays birthday crew: 1777 – Hans Christian Ørsted (Oersted in English), Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, an important aspect of electromagnetism. Oersted was the first modern thinker to explicitly describe and name the thought experiment. (Albert Einstein is famous for his thought experiements.) The oersted (Oe), the cgs unit of magnetic field strength, is named after him. In 1825, Oersted made a significant contribution to chemistry by producing aluminium for the first time. While an aluminium-iron alloy had previously been developed by British scientist and inventor Humphry Davy, Oersted was the first to isolate the element via a reduction of aluminium chloride. We tend to forget that some of the most important inventions have deep histories, and that a trivial differece in how these inventions were (or were not) developed could have great repercussions. 1851 – Doc Holliday, American gambler, gunfighter, and dentist of the American Old West who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. As a young man, Holliday earned a D.D.S. degree and set up a dental practice in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1873 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He moved to the American Southwest in hopes that the climate would prolong his life. Taking up gambling as a profession, he subsequently acquired a reputation as a deadly gunman. During his travels, he met and became good friends with Wyatt Earp and his brothers. In 1880, he moved to Tombstone, Arizona, and participated alongside the Earps in the famous gunfight. This did not settle matters between the two sides, and Holliday was embroiled in ensuing shootouts and killings. He successfully fought being extradited for murder and died in bed at a Colorado hotel at the age of 36. For the 125-plus years since his death, debate has continued about the exact crimes he may have committed during his life. 1882 – Gisela Richter, English archaeologist and historian. She decided to become a classical archaeologist while attending Emmanuel Loewys lectures at the University of Rome around 1896. In 1901 she attended Girton College at the University of Cambridge and the British School at Athens. She joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as an assistant in 1906, becoming assistant curator in 1910, associate curator in 1922, and curator of Greek and Roman art in 1925, a position she held until 1948, when she became honorary curator until her death in 1972. As curator she was one of the most influential people in classical art history at the time. She lectured at Columbia University, Yale University, Bryn Mawr College, and Oberlin College. As author of numerous popular books on classical art, she had an enormous influence on the general publics understanding and appreciation of the subject. 1926 – René Goscinny, French comic-strip author best known internationally for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the comic series Lucky Luke with Morris (considered the series golden age) and Iznogoud with Jean Tabary. 1932 – Lee Hoffman, American science fiction fan and author. In 1950-53, she edited and published the science fiction fanzine, Quandry. In November 1951, she began publication of Science-Fiction Five-Yearly, which has appeared regularly since then. Briefly married to editor Larry Shaw from 1956 to 1958, she was the assistant editor on the science fiction magazines he edited, Infinity Science Fiction and Science Fiction Adventures. During that same time period, she wrote four science fiction novels: Telepower (Belmont, 1967), The Caves of Karst (Ballantine, 1969), Always the Black Knight (Avon, 1970) and Change Song (Doubleday, 1972). Her short stories include Soundless Evening, published in Harlan Ellisons Again, Dangerous Visions (1972). 1940 – Alexei Panshin, American science fiction author and critic. He has written several critical works and several novels, including the 1968 Nebula Award-winning novel Rite of Passage and the 1990 Hugo Award winning study of science fiction The World Beyond the Hill (written with his wife, Cory Panshin). Panshin is also noted for the cult favorite Anthony Villiers series which consists of three books: Star Well, The Thurb Revolution, and Masque World. Panshin published a study of Robert A. Heinlein, Heinlein In Dimension. He also co-wrote Earth Magic with wife Cory Panshin. His general critical work SF in Dimension (1976) was also co-written with Cory Panshin, as was the lengthy theoretical-critical book, The World Beyond The Hill (1989). His works also include a short story collection, Farewell To Yesterdays Tomorrow. 1947 – Jiro Taniguchi, Japanese manga illustrator. He began to work as assistant of the late manga artist Kyota Ishikawa. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kareta Heya (A Desiccated Summer). From 1976 to 1979, he created several hard-boiled comics with the scenarist Natsuo Sekigawa, such as City Without Defense, The Wind of the West is White and Lindo 3. From 1984 to 1991, Taniguchi and Natsuo Sekigawa produced the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai. In the 1990s, he came up with several albums. In 1992-1993 he collaborated with Garon Tsuchiya for the manga Blue Fighter, Knuckle Wars, and Live! Odyssey (LIVE!). He Illustrated Baku Yumemakura’s works, Garouden from 1989-1990 and Kamigami no itadaki from 2000-2003. Kamigami no itadaki received awards at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2002 and 2005. In 2001, he created the Icare (Icaro) series on texts by Mœbius. Jirô Taniguchi gained several prizes for his work. Among others, the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award (1998) for the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai, the Shogakukan prize with Inu wo Kau, and in 2003, the AlphArt of the best scenario at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for A Distant Neighborhood. His work has been translated in many languages. Happy birthday guys!
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 10:13:49 +0000
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