John Barry's Philadelphia Spelling Book Arranged Upon a Plan Entirely New becomes the first American book copyrighted.
John Barry was a schoolmaster of the Free School of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. While no complete copy of the book exists today, the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress has the printed title page and two pages of text that Barry originally deposited.
English physician and suffragist Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was born #OTD in 1836.
In 1865, Elizabeth Anderson became the first woman in Britain to qualify as a physician and surgeon. In 1872, she founded the New Hospital for Women in London, which was staffed entirely by women. In 1874, she co-founded the London School of Medicine for Women, where served as the dean of the school, guiding its development and ensuring high standards of education for women students.
Austro-Bohemian noblewoman, pacifist and novelist Bertha, baroness von Suttner was born #OTD in 1843.
Bertha's most famous work, "Die Waffen nieder!", was published in 1889. The novel depicted the horrors of war through the eyes of its protagonist, Martha von Tilling. Bertha's correspondence with Alfred Nobel influenced his decision to establish the Nobel Peace Prize. She is often credited with inspiring him to include a peace prize in his will.
"Remember, to the last, that while there is life there is hope."
English novelist and social critic Charles Dickens died #OTD in 1870.
Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years; wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles; lectured and performed readings extensively; was an indefatigable letter writer; and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
British mathematician Charlotte Scott was born #OTD in 1858.
Her research focused on algebraic geometry, a field dealing with solutions to systems of polynomial equations. Notable works include her paper on binary forms and her research on the properties of algebraic curves. She co-authored "An Introductory Account of Certain Modern Ideas and Methods in Plane Analytical Geometry," which became a widely used textbook. She was awarded an honorary degree by the UPenn in 1906.
He had a great influence on the thoughts and ideas which led to the American Revolution and the United States Declaration of Independence. He wrote three of the most influential and controversial works of the 18th Century: Common Sense, Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason.
French novelist, memoirist and journalist George Sand died #OTD in 1876.
Sand's writing combines elements of Romanticism and early Realism, with rich descriptions, strong emotions, and detailed character studies. Her novels often critique societal norms, particularly the limitations placed on women and the injustices faced by the lower classes.
"Peut-être que la conscience de la nullité n'est que le premier pas vers un noble essor. Les sots ne l'ont jamais. L'ignorance peut se passer longtemps de modestie ; mais, si elle vient un jour à rougir d'elle-même, elle n'est déjà plus l'ignorance."
Œuvres (1832), George Sand, éd. M. Lévy, 1856, Melchior, II., p. 338.
Irish mathematician Alicia Boole Stott was born #OTD in 1860.
She discovered & described many four-dimensional polytopes & coined the term “polytope” to generalize polygons & polyhedra to higher dimensions. She extensively used Schläfli symbols to categorize and describe polytopes. Later in life, Alicia worked with Harold Coxeter and their collaboration furthered the understanding of regular polytopes and three-dimensional projections of four-dimensional figures.
Italian mathematician, astronomer and engineer Giovanni Domenico Cassini was born #OTD in 1625.
His observations & calculations helped to confirm & refine Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. He formulated Cassini’s Law, describing the rotational behavior of the Moon, which was crucial for understanding the Moon's synchronous rotation with the Earth. He was involved in measuring the meridian arc of Paris, contributing to the accurate determination of the shape of the Earth.
Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist Knud Rasmussen was born #OTD in 1879.
He went on his first expedition in 1902–1904, known as The Danish Literary Expedition, with Jørgen Brønlund, Harald Moltke and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, to examine Inuit culture and traditions. Rasmussen is best known for leading the Thule Expeditions, a series of seven major expeditions between 1912 and 1933.
English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing died #OTD in 1954.
During World War II, he played a crucial role in deciphering the Enigma code used by the German military, significantly contributing to the Allied war effort. In his paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," he proposed the famous Turing Test as a criterion for determining whether a machine can exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from that of a human.
@gutenberg_org I'm not sure the Turing test proves anything more than the gullibility of humans, not the consciousness of machines.
(Alan Moore & Kevin Nowlan)
Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted hormone treatment, a procedure commonly referred to as chemical castration, as an alternative to prison. Turing died on 7 June 1954, aged 41, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as suicide, but the evidence is also consistent with accidental poisoning.
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"Colour! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.... Color which, like music, is a matter of vibrations, reaches what is most general and therefore most indefinable in nature: its inner power."
The writings of a savage
French painter and sculptor Paul Gauguin was born #OTD in 1848.
Florentine physician, philosopher and botanist Andrea Cesalpino was born #OTD in 1524.
"De Plantis Libri XVI" (1583), is one of the earliest systematic treatises on plants. This book laid the groundwork for modern botanical classification. He organized plants based on their fruits and seeds rather than their medicinal properties, which was the common practice at the time. This method was a precursor to the binomial nomenclature system later developed by Carl Linnaeus.
French film director, producer, and screenwriter Louis Jean Lumière died #OTD in 1948.
Alongside his brother Auguste, Louis is best known for inventing the Cinématographe, a motion picture camera, projector, and printer all in one. The Lumière brothers' work laid the foundation for the film industry and revolutionized visual storytelling.