1471
The engineer put his own life on the line for the safety of his fellow-workers in the coal industry.
Cornish Professor of Chemistry and multi-award-winning scientist Sir Humphrey Davy invented a safety-lamp for mines in 1815; but up in Newcastle, colliery employee George (‘Geordie’) Stephenson (1781-1848) was already working on his own design – as if his life depended on it.
Picture: © Bill Henderson, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted December 17 2015
1472
A Cornish professor of chemistry with a poetic turn who helped make science a popular fashion.
Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), rather like the more recent American astronomer Carl Sagan, was not only an authority in his field, but a gifted communicator who inspired others to take an active interest in science.
Picture: Via Wikimedia Commons.. Source.
Posted December 17 2015
1473
A prince falls for a dazzling dance-partner who teasingly vanishes at midnight.
An unhappy young woman treated as a serving-maid by her step-sisters is magically transformed into the belle of the ball. But the prince whose heart she has captured is not content with a lover who vanishes at midnight.
Picture: © H. Zell, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted December 16 2015
1474
A misfit duckling grew up with rejection as a way of life, until he thought all hope was gone.
The Ugly Duckling is one of the best-loved of all the fairy tales of Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, a contemporary and friend of Charles Dickens. Below you will find a very brief précis of the story, which reminds us that it’s not where you came from that matters, it’s where you belong.
Picture: © Sander van der Wel, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted December 16 2015
1475
The most important English-born composer of Handel’s day, known for his tuneful music and very busy diary.
Though little-known today, Charles Avison (1709-1770) led a busy life composing, teaching and giving daily concerts in North East England, justly gaining a reputation as the 18th-century’s finest English-born composer.
Picture: © Andrew Curtis, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted December 15 2015
1476
Eli Parish of Teignmouth in Devon became one of Europe’s most celebrated virtuosos.
Eli Parish (1808-1849) was a boy from Teignmouth in Devon who went on to become one of Europe’s most celebrated and dextrous concert harpists, and a prolific composer.
Picture: © David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted December 11 2015