1561
Baird’s inventions didn’t always work as well as his televisions.
Scotsman John Logie Baird (1888-1946) built and demonstrated the first working TV, which he assembled largely from ordinary household objects in his own home.
Picture: Photo by Orrin Dunlap Jr, in ‘Popular Radio’ (1926). Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1562
The wise old philosopher had learnt that popular entertainments rot the soul.
Seneca knew something about cruelty: he was tutor and counsellor to the Emperor Nero. Here, he writes to Lucilius, Procurator of Sicily, about the moral effect of mass entertainments such as the brutal gladiator contests of Rome.
Picture: © Hoshidoshi, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain image.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1563
A widow cast her precious icon into the sea rather than see it dishonoured by government agents, but that wasn’t the end of the story.
In the days of the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus (829-842), it was illegal to possess religious art depicting people. Houses were searched, and offenders saw their precious icons destroyed with dishonour.
Picture: . Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1564
Ruth Lorimer’s strangely comfortless life changes when she finds a scruffy little cat on the stairs, but not everyone is pleased.
Little Ruth Lorimer has nice toys and a nice house, but she is dreadfully lonely. Then one day a scruffy little cat brings some warmth into her life.
Picture: © John Lord, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1565
The Duke of Argyll was pleasantly surprised to find one of his gardeners reading a learned book of mathematics - in Latin.
Edward Stone (1702-1768), mathematician, Fellow of the Royal Society, and the man who gave us aspirin, was self-taught. His story reminds us that the purpose of education is not to tell us what to think, but to give us the tools we need to think for ourselves.
Picture: © Michael Garlick, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1566
John Lambton goes fishing on a Sunday, and lets loose all kinds of trouble.
This tale from County Durham is one of the best-known local legends. A ‘worm’ is an Old English word for a dragon, in this case something strangling and slimy rather than fire-breathing. The hero (if that is the right word) is John Lambton, a much-travelled Knight of Rhodes whose father died in 1431 and left him the Lambton estates.
Picture: © Antony Dixon, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015