Monthly Archives: July 2019

Nicole Oresme – Polymath of the Late Middle Ages

Nicole Oresme – Polymath of the Late Middle Ages

On July 11, 1382, significant philosopher of the later Middle Ages Nicole Oresme passed away. As for many historic people of the middle ages, his actual birthdate is unknown and can only be fixed to a period between 1325 and 1330. Nicole Oresme besides William of Ockham [7] or Jean Buridan — a French priest who sowed the seeds of the Copernican revolution in Europe [6] — is considered as one of the most…
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Nikola Tesla – The Master of Lightnings

Nikola Tesla – The Master of Lightnings

On July 10, 1856, Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist Nikola Tesla was born. He is probably best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Although his work fell into obscurity after his death, he experienced a renaissance in the popular culture of the late 1990s, becoming a center of many conspiracy theories including UFO theories and New Age occultism.…
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Ann Radcliffe – Pioneer of the Gothic Novel

Ann Radcliffe – Pioneer of the Gothic Novel

On July 9, 1764, English author and pioneer of Gothic novel Ann Radcliffe was born. You might have never heard of Ann Radcliffe, if you are not familiar with English literature, but her prose strongly influenced a literature style called ‘Gothic novel’, where the supernatural comes into play and all of today’s vampire, horror, and fantastic literature has originated from. Take, as e.g., her most famous novel Udolpho written in 1794, a classic example…
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Jean de La Fontaine and the Moral of the Story

Jean de La Fontaine and the Moral of the Story

On July 8, 1621, Jean de La Fontaine, the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century, was born. He is best known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists all across Europe. “History some truths contains, which well may serve  For lessons.” – Jean de la Fontaine, Fables (1668–1679), Book I (1668), Dedication “To Monseigneur the Dauphin”. The…
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Joseph Marie Jacquard and the Programmable Loom

Joseph Marie Jacquard and the Programmable Loom

On July 7, 1752, French weaver and merchant Joseph Marie Jacquard was born. He is best known for his invention of the programmable loom, the “Jacquard loom“, which in turn played an important role in the development of the computer. Back in the 18th century, literally nobody – maybe with the exception people like Leibniz [4] or Pascal [5] – thought about a programmable computer. But, it was the time, the industrial revolution should get…
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Frida Kahlo’s struggling Life and Extraordinary Art

Frida Kahlo’s struggling Life and Extraordinary Art

On July 6, 1907, Mexican painter Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was born. She is probably best known for her impressive self-portrait and is still admired as a feminist icon. “A little while ago, not much more than a few days ago, I was a child who went about in a world of colors, of hard and tangible forms. Everything was mysterious and something was hidden, guessing what it was was a…
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Thomas Cook Invents Organized Tourism

Thomas Cook Invents Organized Tourism

On 5 July 1841, British pioneer of organized tourism Thomas Cook arranged to take a group of 540 temperance campaigners from Leicester Campbell Street station to a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles away. This led him to start his own business founding the world’s first and most famous travel agency. A Cabinet Maker and Baptist Preacher Thomas Cook came from a Baptist family. His parents John and Elizabeth Cook lived in simple…
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The RMS Britannia and the Transatlantic Postal Service

The RMS Britannia and the Transatlantic Postal Service

On July 4, 1840, the RMS Britannia started her maiden voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia from Liverpool, England. With the ocean liner of the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, later known as Cunard Steamship Company, the first regularly operating transatlantic postal service between Europe and America was established. The Ancient Roman Postal Service Today, oversea’s communication is no problem at all. No matter via phone, skype, or email,…
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Franz Kafka – A struggle between “Bureau” and literary vocation

Franz Kafka – A struggle between “Bureau” and literary vocation

On July 3, 1883, German-speaking Bohemian Jewish novelist and short-story writer Franz Kafka was born. Kafka’s works are counted among the canons of world literature. For the description of his unusual way of portrayal a separate word has developed: “kafkaesque“. Most of Kafka’s works were published after his death and against his last will and testament by Max Brod, a close friend and confidant whom Kafka had appointed as executor. “As Gregor…
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Hermann Hesse and his Quest for Self-Knowledge

Hermann Hesse and his Quest for Self-Knowledge

On July 2, 1877, German poet, novelist, painter, and Nobel Laureate Hermann Hesse was born. He is best known for his novels ‘Steppenwolf‘, ‘Siddhartha‘, or ‘The Glass Bead Game‘, in which he explores the individual’s search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. “In the beginning was the myth. God, in his search for self-expression, invested the souls of Hindus, Greeks, and Germans with poetic shapes and continues to invest each child’s soul with poetry…
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