Happy Birthday, Nikola Tesla!
Though Edison gets most of the credit for electrifying the early 20th century, Tesla’s inventions have had more lasting impact. He was the father of alternating current, as well as doing much of the founding research on electromagnetic waves and three-phase motors. Nearly all the electronic devices in use today are built on principles developed by Tesla. Happy birthday, you weird genius.
Update: Here’s a great three minute video that breaks down the highlights of Tesla’s career.
I want need this, four feet wide, painted on velvet.
An Important Anniversary
No, that’s not Halloween makeup. That is what smallpox looks like. Most people alive today have never seen this disease, which killed several million people per year in the first half of the 20th century. The reason we’ve never seen it is because starting in 1950, the governments of the world decided that enough was enough, and went on a global crusade to wipe it out. Unlike most global crusades, this one actually worked.
On this day in 1977, the last case of smallpox was diagnosed.
Since then, no person has had to endure the painful, debilitating, and often fatal virus. How was this horrible disease destroyed? Through organic diets, homeopathy, application of magic crystals, and prayer. A vaccine.
Keep that in mind the next time some dingbat celebrity tries to tell you vaccines are the devil and that your children will be healthier if treated with happy thoughts and unicorn farts. We’ve been free of smallpox for 32 years. Hopefully in another 32, we’ll have eliminated more maladies and avoided more pointless suffering. If we do, it will be through science and legitimate medicine, not through nonsense and quackery. (via Discover Magazine)
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Time.com has a great spread on the people behind the greatest acheivement of modern science. Read it.
Funny, I just had a discussion the other day about how I didn’t know nearly as much British history as I’d like to. Now the BBC has a wonderful interactive timeline of just that subject. Good stuff. (via Digg)
“So many memorable things happened in 2007. We’d better start hiding the evidence, now.”
The original cynic. (via Digg)
