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Harald Sack

Romanian Flight Pioneer Traian Vuia and his Flying Machines

Romanian Flight Pioneer Traian Vuia and his Flying Machines

On March 18, 1906, the flying machine of Romanian inventor Traian Vuia lifted briefly to a powered hop of 11 metres. Though unsuccessful in sustained flight, Vuia‘s invention influenced Louis Blériot in designing monoplanes.[3] In difference to the flying machine of the Wright brothers that made first motor powered flight in December 1903 [2], Vuia‘s machine had the capability to take off from a flat surface, without assistance such as an incline,…
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Anna Atkins – Botanist and Photographer

Anna Atkins – Botanist and Photographer

On March 16, 1799, English botanist and photographer Anna Atkins was born. She is often considered the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images. Morover, she is also considered by some for being the first woman to create a photograph. “The difficulty of making accurate drawings of objects so minute as many of the Algae and Confervae has induced me to avail myself of Sir John Herschel’s beautiful process…
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Number Theory, Topology, and Fractals with Wacław Sierpiński

Number Theory, Topology, and Fractals with Wacław Sierpiński

On March 14, 1882, Polish mathematician Wacław Franciszek Sierpiński was born. Sierpiński is known for contributions to set theory, research on the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis, number theory, theory of functions and topology. Three well-known fractals are named after him (the Sierpiński triangle, the Sierpiński carpet and the Sierpiński curve), as are Sierpiński numbers and the associated Sierpiński problem. Wacław Sierpiński – Early Years in Russian occupied Poland Wacław…
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Charles Lapworth and the Ordovician Period

Charles Lapworth and the Ordovician Period

On March 13, 1920, English geologist Charles Lapworth passed away. Lapworth pioneered faunal analysis using index fossils and identified the Ordovician period, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, which covers the time between 485.4 and 443.8 million years ago. Education and Academic Career Charles Lapworth was born at Faringdon in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), the son of James Lapworth. He was educated as a teacher at the Culham Diocesan Training College near Abingdon,…
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John Fothergill – Physician and Gardener

John Fothergill – Physician and Gardener

On March 8, 1712, English physician, plant collector, philanthropist and Quaker John Fothergill was born. He was first to describe coronary arteriosclerosis (hardening and thickening of the arterial wall, with a loss of elasticity and reduced blood flow) associated with angina pectoris. John Fothergill Background and Early Years John Fothergill was born at Carr End, near Bainbridge in Yorkshire, the son of John Fothergill, a Quaker preacher and farmer. John went to…
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The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society

The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society

On March 6, 1665, the very first issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society was published. The journal published by the Royal Society was the first journal in the world exclusively devoted to science. Moreover, it is also the world’s longest-running scientific journal. “Had I been a literary man I might, perhaps, have moralised upon the futility of all ambition. But as it was, the thing that struck me with…
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The Literary Decadence of Arthur Machen

The Literary Decadence of Arthur Machen

On March 3, 1863, Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machen was born. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. Stephen King has called it “Maybe the best horror story in the English language“. “For, usually and fitly, the presence of an introduction is held to imply that there is something of…
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To Jupiter and Beyond – The Pioneer 10 Mission

To Jupiter and Beyond – The Pioneer 10 Mission

On March 2, 1972, American space probe Pioneer 10 was launched. Pioneer 10 was the first spaceprobe that completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter. Thereafter, Pioneer 10 became the first of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System. As a child, I remember how much i was impressed and amazed by the very first pictures of the colorful clouds of the gas giant.…
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Rudolf Goclenius the Elder and the Philosophical Discipline of Ontology

Rudolf Goclenius the Elder and the Philosophical Discipline of Ontology

On March 1, 1547, German scholastic philosopher Rudolph Goclenius the Elder was born. Goclenius made significant contributions to the field of ontology. Since he introduced the term “ontology” in German language, he is also referred to in my lectures on ontologies in computer science [13]. Goclenius extended the development of many ideas from Aristotle and is often credited with coining the term “psychology” in 1590. Rudolph Goclenius – Early Years He was born…
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Herman Hollerith and the Mechanical Tabulator

Herman Hollerith and the Mechanical Tabulator

On February 29, 1860, American statistician and inventor Herman Hollerith was born. He is best known for his invention of the mechanical tabulator based on punchcards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of the Tabulating Machine Company that later merged to become IBM. Hollerith is widely regarded as the father of modern automatic computation. Herman Hollerith  and the Idea for the Punchcard Herman Hollerith…
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