engineering

Jon Postel – Editor in Chief of the Internet

Jon Postel – Editor in Chief of the Internet

On August 6, 1943, American Computer Scientist and Internet pioneer Jonathan Postel was born. He is known principally for being the Editor of the Request for Comments (RFC) document series, and for administering the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) until his death in 1998. If you are familiar with the internet, sooner or later you will have to do with so-called RFCs. RFCs are Request for Comments and are the basic documents that…
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Louis Blèriot’s famous Flight across the English Channel

Louis Blèriot’s famous Flight across the English Channel

On July 25, 1909, French aviation pioneer Louis Blériot successfully crossed the English Channel from Calais to Dover Castle in a heavier than air aircraft. Louis Bleriot – Military Service and Inventions Louis Bleriot was born on July 1, 1872, in Cambrai, France, as the first of five children to Clémence and Charles Blériot. In 1882, Blériot was sent as a boarder to the Institut Notre Dame in Cambrai. By the age of…
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It’s a computer! – The fabulous Commodore Amiga

It’s a computer! – The fabulous Commodore Amiga

In 1985 Commodore revolutionized the home computer market by introducing the high end Commodore Amiga with a graphic power that was unheard of by that time in this market segment. Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor series the Amiga was most successful as a home computer, with a wide range of games and creative software, although early Commodore advertisements attempted to cast the computer as an all-purpose business machine. In addition, it was  also…
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Always Find Your Way – The Global Positioning System (GPS)

Always Find Your Way – The Global Positioning System (GPS)

On July 17, 1995, the Global Positioning System (GPS), the world’s first space-based satellite navigation system is declared operational. GPS provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. Navigation History Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or…
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The Miraculous World of Buckminster Fuller

The Miraculous World of Buckminster Fuller

On Juli 12, 1895, American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was born. He is well known for numerous inventions, mainly architectural designs, including the widely known geodesic dome. “The difference between mind and brain is that brain deals only with memorized, subjective, special-case experiences and objective experiments, while mind extracts and employs the generalized principles and integrates and interrelates their effective employment.” – Buckminster Fuller (1963) Buckminster…
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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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John Gorrie and the Wonders of Air Condition

John Gorrie and the Wonders of Air Condition

On June 29, 1855, American physician, scientist, inventor, and humanitarian John Gorrie passed away. He is considered the father of refrigeration and air conditioning. Today, refrigeration as well as air condition has become a commodity. But, the importance of refrigeration to modern civilization as a means for conservation of food cannot be overestimated. A Brief History of Refrigeration Actually, even already in prehistoric times man was using ice to refrigerate and thus…
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Black Vinyl at 33⅓ RPM

Black Vinyl at 33⅓ RPM

On June 21, 1948, Columbia Records introduced the long-playing record album, in short the LP, in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, New York, which soon was adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl “albums”. It all starts with the Player Piano To…
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Carl Bechstein and his famous Grand Pianos

Carl Bechstein and his famous Grand Pianos

On June 1, 1826, Carl Bechstein was born, who became widely known for his German piano manufacture. His pianos met the demands mostly of Romantic Era musicians such as Franz Liszt or Hans von Bülow at first, which made the company famous globally. Bechstein Background Carl Bechstein was the stepson of the teacher, cantor and plant breeder Johann Michael Aght. At the age of 14, Carl Bechstein was apprenticed at a piano…
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Elly Beinhorn and the Loneliness of the Long Distance Flights

Elly Beinhorn and the Loneliness of the Long Distance Flights

On May 30, 1907, German aviatrix and stunt pilot Elly Beinhorn was born. In the 1930s she broke several long distance flight records including flying over three continents in a single day. When it comes to the history of aviation, there seem to be less gender issues compared to other technological disciplines, as our growing list of women aviation pioneers here at SciHi blog can proof (cf. below). We already reported on Amy…
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