The Great Geek Manual

1497
Nicolaus Copernicus first begins recording his astronomical observations.

1611
Dutch astronomer Johannes Fabricius becomes the first person to observe sunspots as he observes the rising sun through his telescope. Observing the Sun becomes painful, so Fabricius and his father will soon switch to making observations using a camera obscura. Johannes will later become the first to publish information on the phenomena in his book, Narratio de maculis in sole observatis et apparente earum cum sole conversione (“Narration on Spots Observed on the Sun and their Apparent Rotation with the Sun”). The dedication of the book will be dated June 13, 1611.

1932
The Ford Motor Company assembly line produces the first Ford Flathead engine. The Flathead is the first independently designed and built V8 engine to be produced by Ford for mass production.
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1618
Johannes Kepler formulates his Third Law of Planetary Motion. The third law states that, “The squares of the orbital periods of planets are directly proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axis of the orbits.” In other words, the period of a planet’s orbit around the Sun is determined by its distance from the Sun.

1775
Joseph Priestley, having discovered oxygen, experiments with mice in his home laboratory to determine whether or not it is necessary to support life.

1946
In New York City, a helicopter is licensed for commercial use for the first time history.
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Art

• Avengers Lego Figures Unveiled
• Build your own Transformer!
• Claymore cosplay
• The last thing I’d do if I could afford this car is let someone draw on it.
• Super Mario Wedding Cake
• A tribute to Eighties Video Games
• The world’s largest game of Jenga or art? You decide.

Comics

• News: Dark Horse Comics Arrive on the Kobo Vox eReader
• News: Salvador Larroca (Iron man artist) caught in blatant tracing.
• 10 Easy Ways To Drive Comic Book Fans Insane
• How To Sell Your Comic Book Collection
• Nick Sousanis has been approved to write and submit what may be the first ever Ph.D. dissertation in comic book form. Here’s a a taste of the dissertation. (PDF)
• Top 5 Design Elements Added to Make Comic Characters More Edgy

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The performance cut of Kirby Krackle’s new video for their latest single “I Wanna Live In A World Full Of Heroes” is now live.

1876
Alexander Graham Bell, age 29, receives a patent for an “Improvement in Telegraphy,” which will later come to be known as the variable resistance telephone. (US No. 174,465) It will go on to become one of the single most hotly-contested patent in history. The patent application was submitted on February 14th, allegedly just two hours ahead of Elisha Gray. This first telephone has only one transducer for both listening and speaking. Originally envisioned as a way to transmit music to homes from a central location, the phone will soon gain popularity as a means of communication, becoming indispensable and highly lucrative. On March 10th, Bell will speak the famous words “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you” through a phone to his assistant after spilling some acid in their workshop. The message will be the first transmitted over a telephone. At the time of his patent is granted, Bell’s device had never yet worked. Due to suspicious circumstances surrounding this critical patent, many historians will later credit Gray and not Bell with the invention.
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Amidst the attention given to the sciences as how they can lead to the cure of all diseases and daily problems of mankind, I believe that the biggest breakthrough will be the realization that the arts, which are conventionally considered ‘useless,’ will be recognized as the whole reason why we ever try to live longer or live more prosperously.

- John Maeda, as quoted in “The universe will fly like a bird“

Why do we explore? Simply put, it is part of who we are, and it is something we have done throughout our history. In NASA’s new video, “We Are the Explorers,” we take a look at that tradition of reaching for things just beyond our grasp and how it is helping us lay the foundation for our greatest journeys ahead.

1646
The very first patent in the the New World (America) is issued by the General Court of Massachusetts to Joseph Jenkes, to protect his scythe mill engine from competition for fourteen years. The patent comes four years before the first U.S. corporate charter, which will also be issued by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts. The patent reads, in part, “The Cort considringe ye necessity of raising such manifactures of engins of mils to go by water for speedy dispatch of much worke wth few hands, F.r being sufficiently informed of ye ability of ye petitionr to pforme such workes grant his petition (yt no othr pson shall set up, or use any such new invention, or trade for fourteen yeares w’hout ye licence of him ye said Joseph Jenkes) so farr as concernes any such new invention, & so as it shalbe alwayes in ye powr of this Corte to restrain ye exportation of such manifactures, & ye prizes of them to moderation if occasion so require.”
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