Traffic lights were used before the advent of the motorcar. In 1868, a lantern with red and green signals was used at a London intersection to control the flow of horse buggies and pedestrians.
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:06 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) October 28, 1841 - Johan August Arfwedson died.
The Swedish Chemist, who in 1817 discovered Lithium in a compound in the Mineral Petalite, though at that time he did not have Electrolyis Equipment to isoloate it as a Metal.
Petalite is now known to be Lithium Aluminium Silicate.
(b) October 28, 1971 - The UK launced into Sapce its First Satellite 'Prospero' atop a British 'Black Arrow' Rocket, from Woomera, South Australia, Australia, becoming the sixth Nation to have succceeded in deploying a Satellite into Space.
(c) October 28, 2005 - Richard Errett Smalley died.
The US Chemist and Physicist, who shared with Robert F. Curl Jr. and Sir Harold W. Kroto, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, for their joint 1985 discovery of Fullerness, a New Form of Carbon, called Carbon60 (Buckminsterfullerene).
Richard was also known as the Father of Nanotechnology.
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:57 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 5, 1852 - The American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects was founded as the First North American Civil Engineering Society.
James Laurie was its First President.
(b) November 5, 1863 - James Ward Packard was born.
The North American Engineer and Inventor, who founded the Packard Automobile Company in 1899, after Road Testing his First Automobile on Novemer 6.
The last Packard Cars rolled off the South Bend, Indiana, Plant on July 13, 1958.
(c) November 5, 1879 - James Clerk Maxwell died.
The Scottish Mathematician and Physicist, whose research united Electricity and Magnetism into the concept of the Electromagnetic Field.
Circa 1862, he calculated that the Speed of Propagation of an Electrmagnetic Field is approximately the Speed of Light, thus proposing that the Phenomenon of Light is therefore an Electromagnetic Phenomenon (Maxwell's Equations).
James' idea paved the way for Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and the Quantum Theory.
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:44 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 6, 1638 - James Gregory was born.
The Scottish Astronomer, Inventor and Mathematician who invented the Reflecting Telescope.
In 1660 he published his OPTICA PROMATA, in which he described the First practical Reflecting ("Gregorian") Telescope, in which Light that is reflected from a Concave Elliptical Secondary Mirror, is brought to focus just behind a hole in the Primary Mirror.
James also introduced estimation of Stellar distances by Photometric methods.
(b) November 6, 1790 - James Bowdoin died.
The North American Founder and First President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780.
James was a Scientist prominent in Astronomy and Physics.
His remarkable Library of 1 200 Volumes, ranged from Mathematics and Science to Fiction, Philosphy, Poetry and Religion.
(c) November 6, 1862 - The First direct Telegraphic Link between New York City, New York and San Francisco, California, USA was established.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:55 am Post subject: today in History
(a) November 7, 1885 - The Canadian Pacific Railway, linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts together, was completed when the last spike was driven in near Farwell, British Columbia Province.
The First Train journey from Montreal, Quebec Province to Vancouver, BC averaged 24 MPH (38,6 Km/h).
(b) November 7, 1866 - Charles Thurber died.
The North American Inventor, who in 1843 patented the "Chirographer", an early form of the Typewriter and the "Thurber's Patent Printer".
Today Keyboards are Worldwide.
(c) November 7, 1923 - Michael Joesph Owens died.
The US Glass Manufacturer who invented the Automatic Glass Bottle Making Machine, that revolutionized the Industry.
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:50 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 10, 1855 - Pierre-Alexandre Darracq was born.
The French Automobile Manufacturer, who was one of the first to plan Mass production of Automobiles.
He produced Automobiles from 1898-1910, with in the year 1904, Darracq being the most successful Automobile Manufacturer in the World, producing 1 600 Automobiles, both normal and racing types.
In 1910 Darracq became the Italian ALFA (Romeo) Automobile Company.
Pierre-Alexandre never learnt to drive.
(b) November 10, 1885 - The World's First Motorcycle, designed by Gottlieb Daimler, made its debut.
The single cylinder engine had a bore of 58 mm and a stroke of 100 mm, giving a displacement of 264 cc's, 0.7 HP @700 RPM, which gave it a top speed of 12 Km/h (7.5 MPH).
(c) November 10, 1895 - John Knudsen "Jack" Northrop died.
The US Aircraft Designer, who in 1923 advocated for the All-Metal Construction of Aircraft and the Tailess Flying Wing design.
He pursued various Flying Wing and Tailess Aircraft designs during World War II, with his designs culminating in the Northrop-Grumman B-2 stealth Bomber.
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:22 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 11, 1851 - The First North America Patent (No: 8,509) for a Telescope Design, was issued to Alvin Clark of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
After gaining a reputation in Europe, the American orders started to come in and the Alvin Clark Company became one of the foremost producers of some of the largest Lenses for Telescopes in the 1800's.
(b) November 11, 1907 - Joesph Gilbert Hamilton was born.
The US Medical Physcist who Pioneered in the Medical Uses and Health Effects of Radioactive Isotypes, injected intraveneously into Patients.
During World War II, he was involved with the Manhattan Project, studying the Biologocal Effects of the ingestion of Plutonium and other Fission Products.
(c) November 11, 1925 - Robert A. Millikan of Madison, Wisconsin, USA discovered Cosmic rays, who coined their name.
Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 8:27 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 12, 1746 - Jacques-Alexandre-Cesar Charles was born.
The French Inventor, Mathematician and Physicist who was the First in 1783 to use Hydrogen for Balloon inflation.
Charles invented most of the equipment that is still used in today's Balloons.
Circa 1787, he developed Charles Law concerning the Thermal Expansion Of Gases, "That For A Gas At Constant Pressure Its Volume Is Directly Proportional To Its Absolute Temperature".
(b) November 12, 1916 - Percival Lowell died.
The US Astronomer who predicted the exsistence of the now termed "Dwarf Planet" Pluto and initiated the search that ended in its discovery.
In 1894, he founded the Lowell Observatory, atop Mars Hill, near Flagstaff, as Arizona's First Astronomical Observatory.
(c) November 12, 1921 - The First Aerial "Refueling" took place, when Wesley May stepped from the wing of one Biplane to another, with a 5 Gallon can of aviation Fuel strapped to his back and then he proceeded to manually refuel the other Biplane whilst in flight.
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 18, 1922 - The First Aircraft Carrier catapult launch, occurred when USN Lieutenant-Commander Kenneth Whiting, flying a Consolidated PT Floatplane, was launched from the USS Langley.
(b) November 18, 1923 - Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. was born.
The US Astronaut who was America's First Man in Space and one of only 12 Humans who Officiaklly walked on the Moon.
His First Journey into Space was on May 5, 1961 in the Freedom 7 Mercury Capsule, three weeks after the Soviet Union's Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin being the First person Officiallly launched into Space.
(c) November 18, 1962 - Niels Henrik David Bohr died.
The Danish Physicist, who was the first Person to apply the Quantum Theory, which restricts Energy of a System to certain discrete values to the problem of Atomic and Molecular Structure.
For that Work carried out, in 1922 he received the Noble Prize for Physics.
(a) November 19, 1872 - E. D. Barbour of Boston, Massachusetts, USA was issued the First US Patent (No: 549,952) for a Paper Pencil.
On that same date, he also issued with US Patent (No: 550,212) for a Machine for Maufacturing Pencils.
(b) November 19, 1895 - Fredrick E. Blaisdell of Philadelphia, USA was issued the First US Patent (No: 133,1888) for an Adding Machine capable of Printing Totals and Subtotals, called a "Calculating Machine".
However it was not a success.
(c) November 19, 1956 - Eileen Marie Collins was born.
The US Astronaut, who was the First Woman to Pilot and later, to Command a Space Shuttle.
(a) November 20, 1889 - Edwin Powell Hubble was born.
The North American Astronomer, born in Marshfield, Missouri, who was the Founder of Extraglactic Astronomy and who provided the First evidence of the expansion of the Universe.
Edwin measured distances to Galaxies and their Redshifts.
Today the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is named after him.
(b) November 20, 1953 - The First Official Airplane to exceed Mach 2 occurred over Edwards Air Force Base, California when a Douglas D-558-2 Airplane piloted by A. Scott Crossfield, was released from a B-29 Mothership at 32 000 Feet (9 754 Metres) altitude, then climbed to reach a 72 000' (21 946 m) altitude, before descending in a shallow dive reaching Mach 2.005 (1 526,7 MPH) / 2 457 Km/h).
(c) November 20, 1954 - Clyde Vernon Cessna died.
The North American Aviator and Aircraft Manufacturer, who invented the Cantilever Wing, the V-shaped Tail configuration and a simple, flexible Monoplane design.
Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:02 am Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 21, 1783 - The French Marquis Francois Laurant d'Arlandes and Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier, offficially became the First Men to fly, when their Hot-air Balloon liftted off from La Muettte, in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris.
The flight lasted nearly 25 minutes covering 6 Miles (9,7 Kilometres) and reached an altitude of 300 Feet (91 Metres).
Spectators included French King Louis XVI and Ben Franklin.
(b) November 21, 1824 - Hieronymus Theodor Richter was born.
The German Mineralogist, who in 1863 with Ferdinand Reich, co-discovered the Element Indium (In).
(c) November 21, 1871 - Moses F. Gale of New York City, New York, USA was First issued US Patent (No: 121,049) for a Cigar Lighter.
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:24 pm Post subject: Today in History
(a) November 24, 1639 - The First Official Transit of Venus, was recorded by Astronomer and Clergyman Jeremiah Horrocks in Much Hoole, Lancashire County, England.
(b) November 24, 1903 - The First US Patent (No: 745,157) for an Automobile Electric Self-Starter was issued to Clyde J. Coleman in New York City, New York.
His license was purchased by the Delco Company, later taken over by the General Motors Corporation, which started fitting the Starters on 1911 Cadillac models.
(c) November 24, 1916 - Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim died.
The US Inventor who invented the Maxim Machine Gun.
Other notable inventions of his were in 1866 a Hair Curling Iron, in 1881 an Electric Pressure Regulator, plus hundreds of other Patents including a An Automatic Sprinkling System, Engine Governors, a Mousetrap and Vacuum Pumps.
