Day in Engineering History Archive - July 4
July 4
Today is Independence
Day!
1753:
Jean-Pierre-François Blanchard, who was the first to fly across
the English Channel (in a balloon), was born. 1776: The amended
Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, was
approved and signed by John Hancock, President of the Continental
Congress in America. 1817: Construction started on the
Erie Canal.
1868: Astronomer
Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who discovered the relationship between
period and luminosity in Cepheid variables, was born. 1883: The
first 3-wire central-station incandescent-lighting plant, built
by the
Edison Electric Illuminating Co., started operations in Sunbury,
PA. 1883:
Rube Goldberg, engineer famous for his drawings of Mouse Trap-like
contraptions, was born. 1903: President Theodore Roosevelt sent
the
first official message over the new cable across the Pacific
Ocean between Honolulu, Guam, Midway and Manila. 1906:
Vincent Schaefer, who invented cloud seeding for making rain,
was born. 1922:
Lothar von Richthofen, WWI flying ace and brother of the Red
Baron, died. 1933:
William Coolidge obtained a patent for the X-ray tube. 1934:
Chemist
Marie Marja Sklodowska Curie, discoverer of radium and polonium,
died. 1960: The
50-star U.S. flag made its debut in Philadelphia, PA. 1976:
Israeli commandos rescued the
Entebbe Airport hostages held by Arab terrorists. 1997: The
Mars
Pathfinder, an unmanned space vehicle, landed on the Martian
surface.
Today is Independence
Day!
1753:
Jean-Pierre-François Blanchard, who was the first to fly across
the English Channel (in a balloon), was born. 1776: The amended
Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, was
approved and signed by John Hancock, President of the Continental
Congress in America. 1817: Construction started on the
Erie Canal.
1868: Astronomer
Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who discovered the relationship between
period and luminosity in Cepheid variables, was born. 1883: The
first 3-wire central-station incandescent-lighting plant, built
by the
Edison Electric Illuminating Co., started operations in Sunbury,
PA. 1883:
Rube Goldberg, engineer famous for his drawings of Mouse Trap-like
contraptions, was born. 1903: President Theodore Roosevelt sent
the
first official message over the new cable across the Pacific
Ocean between Honolulu, Guam, Midway and Manila. 1906:
Vincent Schaefer, who invented cloud seeding for making rain,
was born. 1922:
Lothar von Richthofen, WWI flying ace and brother of the Red
Baron, died. 1933:
William Coolidge obtained a patent for the X-ray tube. 1934:
Chemist
Marie Marja Sklodowska Curie, discoverer of radium and polonium,
died. 1960: The
50-star U.S. flag made its debut in Philadelphia, PA. 1976:
Israeli commandos rescued the
Entebbe Airport hostages held by Arab terrorists. 1997: The
Mars
Pathfinder, an unmanned space vehicle, landed on the Martian
surface.| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
Note: These historical tidbits have been collected from various sources, mostly on the Internet. As detailed in
this article,
there is a lot of wrong information that is repeated hundreds of times because most websites do not validate with authoritative
sources. On RF Cafe, events with hyperlinks have been verified.
Please submit significant historical events and
dates for inclusion in these lists. I will be glad to include your name and birthday. Please do not submit your death
date ;-) A couple years ago, I began commemorating the birthdays of notable people and events with
special RF Cafe logos. Where available, I like to use images
from postage stamps from the country where the person or event occurred.