Who discovered Antarctica?

Who discovered Antarctica?

Antarctica, the Earth’s southernmost continent is also the fifth largest, as well as the coldest, driest and windiest continent. It has no permanent population. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, fur seals mosses, lichens and many types of algae. It is indeed a strange yet beautiful place.

Though the famous Captain Cook circled the continent in 1775, he did not sight land. Many sailing and whaling ships followed him, and some of them might have had a glimpse of Antarctica. However, the first confirmed sighting of the continent occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. But the continent remained largely neglected because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolated location.

Three main expeditions later explored Antarctica. The French under JCS Dumont d’Urville planted their flag on an island off the coast of Adelie Land in 1840. The Americans under Charles Wilkes discovered Wilkes land in the same year. In 1841, a Britisher, James Clark Ross, discovered Ross Island shelf.

When was slavery abolished?

When was slavery abolished?

Slavery was a dreadful system where one human being actually owned another. A slave had no rights, and was considered to the property of his or her master.

Though slavery was abolished in England in 1772, the slave trade continued for many years more. About 20,000 Africans were sent to America every year. They traveled under the cruelest conditions on ships that set sail from Liverpool, Bristol and London. The opponents of this trade were called the Abolitionists, and they finally got Parliament to declare it illegal, in 1833.

In America, slaves were also brought in directly from Africa from about the 1640s until 1865. In the North, slaves were mainly house servants, while in the South slaves worked on the farms and plantations. By 1840, the issue of slavery had divided the nation into two. The North wanted to abolish slavery throughout the nation, while the South stoutly opposed any move by the North to dictate what the Southern states should do. This led to a long and bloody civil war, which ended in 1865. The North won the war, and slavery was abolished throughout America too. The man behind this historical victory was President Abraham Lincoln.

Where was the Morse Code first used?

Where was the Morse Code first used?

Do you know what the Morse Code was? It was a way of sending information from one place to another, using a system of dots and dashes that are transmitted telegraphic through electromagnetic recording.

The Morse Code was the brainchild of Samuel Morse, an American painter of portraits and historic scenes. The idea came to him when he was on a ship to New York. There he met Dr. Charles Jackson of Boston who was well schooled in electromagnetism. After witnessing various experiments with Jackson’s electromagnet, Morse became hooked on the concept of a telegraph. He was already devising his code even before the ship docked.

Morse did not have much money to spend on his invention. It was only in 1944 that the US Congress allocated the money to string a copper wire between Washington and Baltimore. Morse then tapped out the first telegraphic message from the Supreme Court Building. It read ‘What has God wrought’. In time, the Morse code would become the primary language of telegraphy in the world.

Who discovered electro magnetic induction?

Who discovered electro magnetic induction?

Electro magnetic induction is the generation of electric current in a conductor situated in a moving magnetic field, or a conductor moving through a stationary magnetic field. The great English scientist, Michael Faraday, made this revolutionary discovery in 1831. The principle of induction was a landmark in applied science, for it made possible the dynamo, or generator, which produces electricity by mechanical means.

Faraday is known for his pioneering experiments in electricity and magnetism. He had a passion for conducting scientific experiments. Many concepts that he learn from his experiments, have become common ideas in modern Physics.

Faraday received little formal education. After basic primary schooling, Faraday was apprenticed to a book binder when he was just 14 years old. During this period, he became interested in the physical and chemical works. After he heard a lecture by the famous chemist Humphrey Davy, he sent Davy the notes he had made of his lectures. Davy was so impressed, that he appointed 21 year old Faraday as his assistant in the laboratory of the Royal Institute in London. This paved the way for Faraday’s future as a great scientist.

Five Famous people who died young:
Name & Age of Death

1. Anne Frank, German Jew and diarist – 15
2. Tutankhamen, Egyptian pharaoh – 17
3. Joan of Arc, French heroin – 19
4. Beatrice Portinari, Italian noble woman immortalized by Dante in his Divine Comedy – 23
5. John Keats, English poet – 25

When and how was photography invented?

From very ancient times, men preserved images by drawing pictures. People had long cherished the dream of preserving images immediately, and by mechanical means. During the course of study and experimentation, people learned that sunlight reflected from an object, which passes through a small hole into a dark room or a box, will form its inverted image on the wall or on the side of the box.

It was later discovered that if a metal plate is coated with bitumen and place in the room/box, the image could be permanently fixed. This idea was discovered by Joseph Niepce in 1826. Later on, he entered into a partnership with Louis Jacques Daguerre. Both of them worked to refine this method and unveiled the daguerreotype. In 1879, George Eastman invented a method to produce these photographic plates on a large scale basis. This was later developed into the film rolls that we see today. This invention of the film roll paved the way for the growth of the motion picture industry.

Star factor
5 rulers who reigned the longest:

1. Pepi II, King of Egypt, 90 years (2566 BC – 2476 BC)
2. Louis XIV , King of France, 72 years (1643 – 1715)
3. John II, Prince of Liechtestein, 71 years (1858 – 1929)
4. Franz Josef, King of Austria Hungary, 67 years (1848 – 1916)
5. Victoria, Queen of England, 64 years (1837 – 1901

Who was George Stephenson?

Who was George Stephenson?

There is something very exciting about watching a train thundering past, isn’t there? Today, trains run mostly on electricity or diesel, but did you know that the very first trains ran on steam? The steam engine was invented by an engineer called George Stephenson. His life is an excellent example of how a poor boy can ultimately win eminence and fame by industry and perseverance.

Stephenson started his career as an engine-man at a coal mine. For the next ten years, his knowledge of steam engines increased, until in 1812 he stopped operating them for a living, and started building them. Stephenson designed his first locomotive in 1814. It was a traveling engine designed for hauling coal on a coal site. In 1825, he built a steam locomotive for the first passenger railway.

Stephenson gained fame as the designer of the historically important steam locomotive named Rocket. He is known as the ‘Father of Railways”. His invention really changed the way people traveled in the nineteenth century.

Who was the father of the computer?

Who was the father of the computer?

Charles Babbage is called the ‘father of the computer’. He was a professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. In 1823, he began work on calculating machine, but it was not completed. The second machine, which he called an ‘analytical engine’, too did not reach completion. Nonetheless, the analytical engine as Babbage conceived it is regarded as the predecessor of the modern digital computer.

When did Beethoven write the Ninth Symphony?

When did Beethoven write the Ninth Symphony?

Ludwig van Beethoven is one the greatest composers of all times. He wrote his ninth and last symphony in 1823, when he had turned almost completely deaf. Although he was depressed, it is not reflected in this symphony which is indeed glorious. It was planned as early as 1816 and written for the London Philharmonic Society.

Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770. He went to Vienna in 1792, to study music, and soon became well-known as a pianist. His fame increased rapidly, while simultaneously, he was growing deaf. This made him dejected, but he refused to give up. ‘I will seize fate by the throat’ he vowed. He went on to produce a profusion of wonderful music that was innovative too. Beethoven’s influence is such, that he is so to music, what Shakespeare to literature.

Who invented the stethoscope?

Who invented the stethoscope?

A French doctor, Rene Laennec, is credited with the invention of the stethoscope, in 1816. It was a landmark in the area of medical treatment. The stethoscope, as we know it now, is an instrument used by doctors to listen to the sounds made by the heart, lungs and other organs in the patient’s body. But the one designed by Laennec was first made as a paper tube, and later as a wooden pipe, the modern stethoscope which can be plugged into the ears was developed later

Why was Sir Humphrey Davy so famous?

Why was Sir Humphrey Davy so famous?

Sir Humphrey Davy was the person who invented the Miner’s Safety Lamp in 1815. He was a British chemist who had a very brilliant and inventive brain that was also bubbling with new ideas. One of Sir Davy’s ideas was the use of laughing gas as an anaesthetic. However, this came to be used only after his death.