13 May 2018 Interesting tidbits:
13 May 2018
Interesting tidbits:
1607 - English colonists, led by John Smith, land near James River in Virginia.
1637 - Cardinal Richelieu of France creates the table knife.
1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
1880 – In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
1913 - First four engine aircraft built and flown (Igor Sikorsky in Russia).
1958 – Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometres (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey.
1995 – 33-year-old British mother Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.
Today's birthday crew:
1895 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian parapsychologist was one of the leading authorities on poltergeists, haunting and mediumship. Fodor, who was at one time Sigmund Freud's associate, wrote on subjects like prenatal development and dream interpretation, but is credited mostly for his magnum opus, Encyclopedia of Psychic Science, first published in 1934. Among the subjects he closely studied was the case of Gef the talking mongoose. Fodor took a psychoanalytic approach to supernatural phenomena. He pioneered the theory that poltergeists are external manifestations of conflicts within the subconscious mind rather than autonomous entities with minds of their own. Fodor also studied dream telepathy and came to the conclusion that some kind of communication could take place between people with close emotional ties.
1907 – Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (Rebecca).
1922 – Bea Arthur, American actress.
1934 – Ehud Netzer, Israeli archaeologist (Tomb of Herod the Great).
1937 – Roger Zelazny, American writer of fantasy and science fiction, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series. He won the Nebula award three times and the Hugo award six times, including two Hugos for novels: This Immortal and Lord of Light.
1939 – Harvey Keitel, American actor (From Dusk till Dawn).
1944 – Armistead Maupin, American author (Tales of the City).
1946 – Marv Wolfman, American comics writer, best known for lengthy runs on Marvel Comics The Tomb of Dracula, for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics' The New Teen Titans.
1949 – Zoë Wanamaker, English-American actress known as Madam Hootch in the Harry Potter franchise.
1971 – Imogen Boorman, English actress (Hellbound: Hellraiser II).
1986 - Robert Pattinson, who started his career by playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and later the leading role of Edward Cullen in the Twilight series.
Happy birthday guys!