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1909 Births
Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across drift ice, ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * January 9 – The British Nimrod Expedition, ''Nimrod'' Expedition to the South Pole, led by Ernest Shackleton, arrives at the Farthest South, farthest south reached by any prior expedition, at 88°23' S, prior to turning back due to diminishing supplies. * January 16 – Shackleton's expedition claims to have found the magnetic South Pole (but the location recorded may be incorrect). * January 24 – The White Star Liner RMS Republic (1903), RMS ''Republic'' sinks the day after a collision with ''SS Florida'' off Nantucket. * January 28 – The last United States troops leave Cuba, after being there since the Spanish–American War of 1898. * February 2 – The Paris Film Congress opens. It is an attempt to create ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
January 4
Events Pre-1600 *46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. * 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army. 1601–1900 *1649 – English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial. *1717 – The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance. * 1762 – Great Britain declares war on Spain, which meant the entry of Spain into the Seven Years' War. *1798 – Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire. *1853 – After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir ''Twelve Years a Slave'' later becomes a national bestseller. *1854 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the ''Samarang''. *1863 – The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RMS Republic (1903)
RMS ''Republic'' was a steam-powered ocean liner built in 1903 by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and lost at sea in a collision in 1909 while sailing for the White Star Line. The ship was equipped with a new Marconi wireless telegraphy transmitter, and issued a CQD distress call, resulting in the saving of around 1,500 lives. Known as the "Millionaires' Ship" because of the number of wealthy Americans who traveled by her, she was described as a "palatial liner" and was the flagship of White Star Line's Boston service. This was the first important marine rescue made possible by radio, and brought worldwide attention to this new technology. History White Star acquisition The ship was originally built in Belfast, United Kingdom for the International Mercantile Marine's Dominion Line (a sister company to the White Star Line) and was named . She was launched on 26 February 1903 and made her maiden voyage in October 1903 from Liverpool to Boston. After two voyages with the Dominion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpensive to produce, has led to its widespread use. Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives. 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic are estimated to have been made between 1950 and 2017. More than half this plastic has been produced since 2004. In 2020, 400 million tonnes of plastic were produced. If global trends on plastic demand continue, it is estimated that by 2050 annual global plastic production will reach over 1, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bakelite
Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York in 1907, and patented on December 7, 1909 (). Because of its electrical nonconductivity and heat-resistant properties, it became a great commercial success. It was used in electrical insulators, radio and telephone casings, and such diverse products as kitchenware, jewelry, pipe stems, children's toys, and firearms. The "retro" appeal of old Bakelite products has made them collectible. The creation of a synthetic plastic was revolutionary for the chemical industry, which at the time made most of its income from cloth dyes and explosives. Bakelite's commercial success inspired the industry to develop other synthetic plastics. In recognition of its significance as the world's first commercial synthet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Baekeland
Leo Hendrik Baekeland (November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893, and Bakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry" for his invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, non-flammable and versatile plastic, which marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry. Early life Leo Baekeland was born in Ghent, Belgium, on November 14, 1863, the son of a cobbler, Charles Baekeland, and a house maid, Rosalia Merchie. His siblings were: Elodia Maria Baekeland; Melonia Leonia Baekeland; Edmundus Baekeland; Rachel Helena Baekeland and Delphina Baekeland. He told ''The Literary Digest'': "The name is a Dutch word meaning 'Land of Beacons.'" He spent much of his early life in Ghent, Belgium. Proudly, he graduated with honours from the Ghent Municipal Technical School and was awarded a scholarship by the City of Ghent to study chemistry at the Ghent University, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
February 5
Events Pre-1600 * 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. * 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion. * 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society. 1601–1900 * 1783 – In Calabria, a sequence of strong earthquakes begins. * 1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins. * 1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway. * 1852 – The New Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public. * 1859 – Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldavia, is also elected as prince of Wallachia, joining the two principalities as a personal union called the United Principalities, an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire, which ushered in the birth of the modern Romanian state. * 1862 &n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motion Picture Patents Company
The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC, also known as the Edison Trust), founded in December 1908 and terminated seven years later in 1915 after conflicts within the industry, was a trust of all the major US film companies and local foreign-branches ( Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, Essanay, Selig Polyscope, Lubin Manufacturing, Kalem Company, Star Film Paris, American Pathé), the leading film distributor (George Kleine) and the biggest supplier of raw film stock, Eastman Kodak. The MPPC ended the domination of foreign films on US screens, standardized the manner in which films were distributed and exhibited within the US, and improved the quality of US motion pictures by internal competition. But it also discouraged its members' entry into feature film production, and the use of outside financing, both to its members' eventual detriment. Creation The MPPC was preceded by the Edison licensing system, in effect in 1907–1908, on which the MPPC was modeled. During the 1890s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Film Congress
The Paris Film Congress was a major meeting of European film producers and distributors in the French capital Paris from 2–4 February 1909. It intended to create an association to protect the interests of the participants through the formation of a trade organisation, a plan that ultimately failed. Amongst the major companies taking part were Pathé, Gaumont and Éclair of France, Cines and Ambrosio Film of Italy, Messter Film of Germany, Hepworth Pictures of Britain and Nordisk of Denmark. Vitagraph an American producer and member of the MPCC, but who had extensive distribution and production interests in Europe, also attended. It was called mainly in response to the formation of the MPCC, a cartel of the leading film producers in the United States, organised by Thomas Edison. For the major European producers, this threatened their traditionally strong position in America. The formation of the MPCC in late 1908, encouraged those European producers excluded from the pact to se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
February 2
Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III of France is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony. * 962 – ''Translatio imperii'': Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years. * 1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy. * 1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda. * 1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established. * 1438 – Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt are executed at Torda. * 1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross results in the death of Owen Tudor. * 1536 – Spaniard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1898
Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island. * January 13 – Novelist Émile Zola's open letter to the President of the French Republic on the Dreyfus affair, ''J'Accuse…!'', is published on the front page of the Paris daily newspaper ''L'Aurore'', accusing the government of wrongfully imprisoning Alfred Dreyfus and of antisemitism. * February 12 – The automobile belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton rolls out of control down a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on a public highway. * February 15 – Spanish–American War: The USS ''Maine'' explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba, for reasons never fully established, killing 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clockwise from top left) , date = April 21 – August 13, 1898() , place = , casus = , result = American victory *Treaty of Paris (1898), Treaty of Paris of 1898 *Founding of the First Philippine Republic and beginning of the Philippine–American War * German–Spanish Treaty (1899), Spain sells to Germany the last colonies in the Pacific in 1899 and end of the Spanish Empire in Spanish colonization of the Americas, America and Asia. , territory = Spain relinquishes sovereignty over Cuba; cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippine Islands to the United States. $20 million paid to Spain by the United States for infrastructure owned by Spain. , combatant1 = United State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola ( Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is (without the territorial waters) but a total of 350,730 km² (135,418 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants. The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney people from the 4th millennium BC with the Gua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
