Henry Laurens was born in Charleston, South Carolina back in 1724 to John and Hester. He married Eleanor Ball, the union netted them thirteen children however, most of them died in infancy or childhood.They moved to England with their surviving children for their education. They returned to the United States in 1776 just in time for the American Revolutionary War. He served in the militia and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel being involved in campaigns including the Cherokee Indians, French and Indian War among others.In 1779 the Congress named him their minister to the Netherlands where in 1780 he successfully negotiated Dutch support for the war. On his return voyage the British intercepted his ship and discovered the draft of the U.S.-Dutch treaty. The British charged him with treason... 10/26/2016

Willis Haviland was born in Angola, New York back in 1876 to Duane and Elizabeth. He studied at Cornell University graduating in 1901 with a BS in engineering. Being an engineer he set about coming up with a solution to a problem submitted by Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company of Brooklyn.He started working on the project and in 1906 was awarded U.S. Patent number 808.897 for his apparatus. However, it took several more years of refinement before he applied for another patent which was awarded to him in 1914 U.S. Patent number 1,085,971, and as they say the rest is history.In 1911 while awaiting the patent he wrote what is considered the most significand document ever for his invention. The paper was entitled Rational Psychrometric Formulae; it is considered as the Ma... 10/21/2016

Daniel McCartney was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania back in 1817. I don’t have a lot about his childhood however, what I can tell you is he was legally blind living with relatives for his entire lifetime, he never married.He died in 1887 at 70 in Wilton, Iowa. So not an eventful life you may say or be asking yourself. However, as you all know there is a reason I’m writing about him today and now you’ll know why. You see back then he was a walking, talking calculator of tremendous knowledge. He suffered from a (if you want to call it that) disability called Hyperthymestic Syndrome. Don’t know what that means? Well you’re in luck for here we go.He was famous for his mental ability in two specific areas. He could recall every single day in his life from the age of nine until his... 10/08/2016

Temple Lea was born in Austin, Texas back in 1860 to Samuel and Margaret. By the time he turned 7 both of his parents had died so he lived with his older sister. At 13 he left home and joined a cattle drive. He also worked on a riverboat on the Mississippi River. I don’t have a date however, with the help of a fried he gained an appointment as a page in the U.S. Senate working at Washington D.C. for three years.He returned to Texas in 1877 where he attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Texas A&M University) and later transferring to Baylor University in Waco. In 1880 he graduated with honors in law and philosophy. He was admitted to the bar and at the time was the youngest attorney in Texas.In 1884 he was elected to a single term in the Texas State Senate. In 1894 he mov... 10/07/2016

George Everett Day was born in Sioux City, Iowa back in 1925. In 1942 he dropped out of Central High School and joined the United States Marine Corps. After the war he attended Morningside College under the G.I. Bill earing a bachelor of science degree. He followed up at the University of South Dakota where he graduated with a Juris Doctor degree. He passed the bar exam in 1949 where he was admitted to the bar in South Dakota. He continued his education earning a Master of Arts degree from Saint Louis University and a doctor of humane letters from Morningside. Think this was enough not so as he also earned a doctor of laws from Troy State University.On a side note after the war he joined the Army Reserve, in 1950 he received a commission as a second lieutenant. He was called to active d... 10/01/2016

A mouse.Don’t know about you but I like a mouse. That’s right I like them. In fact, I have two of those little things. The one I use at home is about 5 years old and it has been giving up the ghost for the last two weeks. My attempts to revive it has not succeeded so it’s off to Wal-Mart for me today to buy another one.Not this mouse But this one   09/12/2016

Delbert D. Black was born in Orr, Oklahoma back in 1922.  After graduating from high school he enrolled in the United States Navy, he was assigned to the USS Maryland and was aboard the ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.  He served among many other ships during the war.  The list is quite extensive and there is not enough time or room for me to mention all of them in tis forum.  He advanced through the ranks, serving for 30 years with the Navy.  He retired in 1971.  After his retirement he continued to be involved with the Navy.  He was a member of the USO and the Fleet Reserve Association and co-chairman on the Secretary of Navy Committee on Retired Personnel.  He died in Winter Park, Florida in 2000.  He is buried at Arlington Cemetery.  However, he accompli... 09/09/2016

John Forkum was born in State Island, New York back in 1915. I have no information about his parents or his early childhood. His father was apparently a successful painter and as such he spent time in Oslo, Copenhagen, London and Paris while growing up. He studied at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City, New York.I was listening to Radio Classics on Sirius Radio. One of the series has a group of people and the main character was known as “The Whistler”. Well John was the lead player in the series. He also stared in the radio classic Gunsmoke. Philip Marlowe and the radio version of Have Gun-Will Travel.His span of radio and acting covered 47 years appearing in over 260 films and television programs. Giving my age away after seeing his photo I recognized him immediately. BTW ... 09/05/2016

William George was born in Walthamstow, London back in 1904. He was educated at the Royal Naval College and entered the Royal Navy in 1920 at 16. He started out as a boy seaman and was promoted to lieutenant-commander in 1939. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his part in the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.He took part in the sinking of the Bismarck while serving as gunnery officer aboard the HMS Rodney in 1941. He served in the Navy for nearly thirty years retiring in 1949. He ran for political office on several occasions after his retirement. He was a major advocate of pedestrian and non-motor vehicle traffic rights. He once had a car painted with zebra stripes before switching to his armored bicycle. In the 1950’s he was involved in several legal cases where he launched ... 08/23/2016

Sarah Tabitha Babbitt was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts back in 1779. In 1793 she became a member of the Shakers at the Harvard Shaker community in Massachusetts. She grew up around the logging industry watch men use the two-men whipsaw. She noticed there was a lot of wasted motion so she set out to find a way to make it easier and stop all the wasted effort what she came up with forever changed the logging industry.What she invented was the first circular saw ever used in a saw mill back in 1813. The saw was hooked up to a water powered machine to reduce the effort to cut timber. She is also credited for the process of the manufacture of false teeth and an improved spinning wheel head. Being a Shaker she never applied for a patent. It was patented in the United States by two French m... 08/22/2016

Camilla Mieth was born in Dresden back in 1843. She joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1855 and emigrated to the United States on the packet ship Tuscarora in 1857. She settled in Utah in 1860.She married James in 1864, the marriage produced seven children. In 1874 while visiting her husband’s relatives in New York she was trained as a teacher. In the fall of 1874 she returned to Utah. May as well tell you now I’m writing about Camilla Mieth but you may know her better by her married name of Camilla Cobb.Remember I told she when she was in New York she was trained as a teacher, well she was trained as a kindergarten teacher. If you haven’t guessed it by now when she returned to Utah she founded the first kindergarten in Utah. The school was only opened for two yea... 08/13/2016

Peter Buck was born in South Portland, Maine back in 1930. He graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine earning a master’s and doctoral degree in physics at Columbia University.He was working as a nuclear physicist for several companies from 1957 to 1978. He loaned a family friend $1,000.00 in 1965. He told the friend to open up a sandwich shop to help him pay for college at the University of Bridgeport. The friend took him up and named the restaurant after Peter. The two formed Doctor’s Associates to oversee operations of the franchise.The first two restaurants were not financial successful however they continued to expand their operations. By 1973 they had 16 locations throughout Connecticut. In 1974 they began franchising out the restaurants. Maybe you don’t recognize the na... 08/12/2016

Harry Chandler was born in Landaff, New Hampshire back in 1864 to Moses and Emma. He received his education at Dartmouth College. While attending Dartmouth on a dare he jumped into a vat of starch that had frozen which led to severe pneumonia. He moved to Los Angeles for his health.He worked at various jobs including the fruit fields. He started a small delivery company that soon became responsible for delivering many of the city’s morning newspapers. The publisher at the time Harrison Otis liked what he saw so he hired him as the Times general manager. When Otis died Harry took over the reins and as they say the rest is history.No questions just the facts so here we go, are you ready? He had boundless energy (like me) which he transformed to Los Angeles. He was directly involved in the... 08/05/2016

Edward Gowen was born in Delaware back in1870. He studied engineering in Philadelphia in 1888. He took his knowledge of pressed steel and worked in the railroad industry. He started with the Pullman Company on a contract for the Pennsylvania Railroad.He started his own company in 1912 which in turn landed him a deal with the Dodge brothers.   Due to his success with the Dodge brothers he was contacted by William Morris, founder of Morris Motors Limited in the United Kingdom. Other joint ventures included Ambi Maschinenbau and Andre Citroen. He helped create the Pioneer Zephyr however during WWII he was the original maker of the Bazooka projectile and the rifle grenade. His company was also instrumental in the development of the radial disk brake. I guess now is as good s a time to tell ... 07/26/2016

Cleveland Abbe was born in New York City back in 1838 to George and Charlotte. He excelled in mathematics and chemistry attending David B Scott Grammar School. He went on to graduate from the Free Academy with a Bachelor of Arts in 1857. After graduating he tutored mathematics at the Trinity Latin School in New York City. In 1858 he moved to Michigan where he taught engineering as an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.During the Civil War he tried to join the Union Army, however his poor vision kept him out of the Army. So he went back to school graduating with a Master of Arts in 1860 from City College. During his work he came into contact with William Ferrel who piqued his meteorological curiosity. His first job in astronomy was at the United States Naval Observatory, t... 07/13/2016

Amantine-Lucile Aurore was born in Paris, France back in 1804. She was mostly raised by her grandmother, Marie-Aurore de Saxe, near Nohant. At 18 she married Casimir and the marriage bore two children, Maurice and Solagne. In early 1831 she left her husband and entered upon a four or five-year period of “romantic rebellion”. She entered into several loves affairs including one with another woman, Marie Dorval.Her first published novel happened in 1831. She drew upon her childhood experiences of the countryside. Strange for her time she began sporting men’s clothing in public. However, she complained that men’s clothing was a lot less expensive than women’s clothing of the same or superior quality.   Sorry if you haven’t figured it out by now I’m writing about Anantine-Lucile Aurore Dupi... 07/09/2016

Decatur Dorsey was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland back in 1836. He worked on a large tobacco plantation. He joined the Union Army in 1864, assigned to Company B as a private. However, he was promoted to corporal less than two months after enlisting.He fought in the Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia where he helped to dig a tunnel due to a stalemate in the battle. He long with others set explosives in the tunnel, after the explosion some troops were sent in but Decatur’s forces were held in reserve. The Confederate forces re-grouped and began firing at the Union forces. Now his forces were ordered to attack. During the attack he was the color bearer moving ahead of his forces. The attack faltered however he was able to have the soldiers rally around the flag for a secon... 07/01/2016

 Frank JamesThanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy.Frank was born in Helena, Montana back in 1901 to Charles and Alice.  His father emigrated from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire and became a prominent lawyer, eventually becoming a Montana Supreme Court justice.  In 1908 they bought a 600-acre farm where Frank leaned to hunt, fish and ride horses.  At 15 he injured his hip due to an automobile accident, this left him with a characteristic still, off-balanced walk.  Wayne Martin I hope I haven’t given you too much information so you’ll know who I’m writing about.  Anyway he graduated from Gallatin Co... 05/16/2016

Corinne AnitaThanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy.Corinne was born in Sisson, California back in 1889 to Richard and Minnie. When she was four the family moved to San Francisco. Her father was an alcoholic and she would go with him fishing where she made friends with the locals she recalled them as loose women and lowlifes. In 1897 she and her sister performed in the San Francisco stock company’s production of Quo Vadis. With that she became hooked. She tried working in the industry but it did not turn out well. She moved several times and tried to get into the business, including production, s... 05/06/2016

Arthur SchopenhauerThanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy.Arthur was born in Danzig, Germany back in 1788 to Heinrich and Johanna.  His family was quite wealthy, he devoted his early years wholly to studies at the Gotha gymnasium.  He later studied at the University of Gottingen.  His focus was on metaphysics and psychology.  His works are so varied I’ll just cut right to the chase.  He wrote “The World as Will and Representation”.  He also wrote about aesthetics, morality and psychology.  One of his writings is: the ultimate aim of all love affairs....is more important than all other aims in man... 04/19/2016