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1831
Charles Darwin visits his uncle, Josiah Wedgwood II, to discuss his father’s opposition to his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin is enthusiastic about the opportunity, but his father considers it a waste of time that would only delay his son’s anticipated career in the clergy. Darwins uncle will write a letter to Robert Darwin, reassuring him of the value of such a trip, and ultimately changing his mind.
1842
The U.S. Naval Observatory, one of the oldest scientific agencies in the U.S., is authorized by an act of Congress. Its primary task is to act as a depot for the Navy’s charts, navigational instruments, and chronometers, which are calibrated by timing the transit of stars across the meridian. Visit the agency’s official website.
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It is a small world. You do not have to live in it particularly long to learn that for yourself. There is a theory that, in the whole world, there are only five hundred real people (the cast, as it were; all the rest of the people in the world, the theory suggests, are extras) and what is more, they all know each other. And it’s true, or true as far as it goes. In reality the world is made of thousands upon thousands of groups of about five hundred people, all of whom will spend their lives bumping into each other, trying to avoid each other, and discovering each other in the same unlikely teashop in Vancouver. There is an unavoidability to this process. It’s not even coincidence. It’s just the way the world works, with no regard for individuals or for propriety.
1831
Charles Darwin replies to the letter from Reverend Henslow, telling him of the offer to sail on the HMS Beagle. Darwin had learned natural history from Henslow, who had recommended him for the unpaid position as a naturalist. Darwin told Henslow that his father would not permit him to leave on such a the voyage. Meanwhile, his father had written to his brother-in-law, Josiah Wedgwood II, about his concerns regarding the proposed two-year voyage.
1953
The NBC network broadcasts the first compatible color TV program to have been publicly announced, “St. George and the Dragon,” on the “Kukla, Fran, and Ollie Show.”
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Privacy is not something that can be counted, divided, or “traded.” It is not a substance or collection of data points. It’s just a word that we clumsily use to stand in for a wide array of values and practices that influence how we manage our reputations in various contexts. There is no formula for assessing it: I can’t give Google three of my privacy points in exchange for 10 percent better service.
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1831
Charles Darwin returns home from a geology field trip in North Wales to find letters from Reverend John Henslow and George Peacock informing him that he will soon be invited on a scientific voyage of HMS Beagle. He is just twenty-two years old and has just graduated from Cambridge University. The offer is to be a naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle for a two year survey of South America, leaving on September 25th. Although he immediately accepts the offer, his father and sisters are opposed to the trip. They regard the trip as an idle pursuit that will delay his expected career in the clergy. His father is prepared to change his mind, but only if Darwin can find a qualified man who views the exploit as worthwhile. Darwin will spend the next two days doing just that.
English chemist Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction using his “induction ring,” the first electric transformer. Faraday discovered that changing the intensity of a magnetic field produces an electric current in a wire. Induction will become the fundamental principle behind electric generators.
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