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John Blagrave (1713-1787)
John Blagrave of Reading (d. 1611) was an English Tudor mathematician, astronomer and designer of astronomical and mathematical instruments. His astrolabe designs, which he described in his writings, were advanced for Britain. He devoted himself to mathematical study and was called, by Anthony à Wood, "the flower of mathematicians of his age" Biography John Blagrave was born as the second son to John Blagrave of Bullmarsh and Anne (daughter of Sir Anthony Hungerford of Down Ampney) in Berkshire at an unknown date sometime in the 1560s. The Blagraves were a branch of that landed gentry family of Calcot Park, Berkshire. He was educated in Reading School and went to St John's College, Oxford for an education in mathematics, though he never received a degree. Blagrave married the widow Dorothy Gunter (daughter of Simon Gunter of Milton Lilbourne in Wiltshire). He had no issue himself but had a step-daughter, Jane, from his wife. In 1591, his father gave him a lease on some South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Laurence's Church, Reading
St Laurence's Church is a Church of England mission and former parish church in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated alongside the site of Reading Abbey, formerly bounded by the main Compter Gate to the south and the Hospitium of St John to the north. What was once the private chapel of the latter institution still remains in the north aisle. The church is a Grade I listed building. History St Laurence's was one of the three original parish churches, along with St Mary's and St Giles', serving the medieval borough of Reading. It was built to serve the people of the eastern part of the town. Its location next to the Abbey stimulated trade in that part of the town and St Laurence's soon became surrounded by a large market place which included a pillory and stocks. The church dates from the Norman period but underwent major rebuildings in 1196, in the 15th century and in 1867. The building is of flint with ashlar quoins. The principal feature ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcot Park
Calcot Park is a English country house, country house, Estate (house), estate, and country club, golf club in the England, English county of Berkshire. It is situated between Calcot, Berkshire, Calcot and Tilehurst, suburbs of the town of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, and within the civil parish of Tilehurst.Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 159 — Reading''. . It is north of the Bath Road (now part of the A4 road (England), A4). History Calcot Park was originally the manor house of Tilehurst manor, and the estate was significantly larger than at present. A fore-runner of the present house is thought to have been built by the merchant and moneylender, Sir Peter Vanlore (1547–1627). Later, it was the home of the famous "Berkshire Lady," Frances Kendrick, who married her husband, Benjamin Child, after challenging him to a duel. It is said that when, as a widower, Child sold up to John Blagrave, he changed his mind and the lead from the roof had to be removed to force hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
16th-century English Mathematicians
The 16th century began with the Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion of the new sciences, invented the first thermometer and made substantial contributions in the fields of phy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alumni Of St John's College, Oxford
Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. The word comes from Latin, meaning nurslings, pupils or foster children, derived from "to nourish". The term is not synonymous with "graduates": people can be alumni without graduating, e.g. Burt Reynolds was an alumnus of Florida State University but did not graduate. The term is sometimes used to refer to former employees, former members of an organization, former contributors, or former inmates. Etymology The Latin noun means "foster son" or "pupil". It is derived from the Latin verb "to nourish". Separate, but from the same root, is the adjective "nourishing", found in the phrase '' alma mater'', a title for a person's home university. Usage in Roman law In Latin, is a legal term (Roman law) to describe a child placed in fos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1611 Deaths
Events January–March * January 26 – Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully is forced by Marie de' Medici, Queen regent Marie's Regency Council to resign as chief minister of France. He is replaced by Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy. * February 27 – Sunspots are observed by telescope, by Frisians, Frisian astronomers Johannes Fabricius and David Fabricius. Johannes publishes the results of these observations, in ''De Maculis in Sole observatis'' in Wittenberg, later this year. Such early discoveries are overlooked, however, and the first sighting is claimed a few months later, by Galileo Galilei and Christoph Scheiner. * March 4 – George Abbot (bishop), George Abbot is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury in England. * March 9 – Battle of Segaba in Begemder: Yemana Kristos, brother of Emperor of Ethiopia Susenyos I, ends the rebellion of Melka Sedeq. * March 19–March 20, 20 – The Moscow Uprising (1611), Moscow Uprising, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1560s Births
Year 156 ( CLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silvanus and Augurinus (or, less frequently, year 909 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 156 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place America * The La Mojarra Stela 1 is produced in Mesoamerica. By topic Religion * The heresiarch Montanus first appears in Ardaban (Mysia). Births * Dong Zhao, Chinese official and minister (d. 236) * Ling of Han, Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty (d. 189) * Pontianus of Spoleto, Christian martyr and saint (d. 175) * Zhang Zhao, Chinese general and politician (d. 236) * Zhu Zhi, Chinese general and politician (d. 224) Deaths * Marcus Gavius Maximus, Roman praetorian prefect * Zhang Daoling, Chinese Taoist master (b. AD 34 AD 34 ( XXXIV) was a common y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Good Friday
Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. Members of many Christian denominations, including the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Oriental Orthodox, United Protestant and some Reformed traditions (including certain Continental Reformed, Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches), observe Good Friday with Fasting in religion#Christianity, fasting and church services. In many Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches, the Three Hours' Agony, Service of the Great Three Hours' Agony is held from noon until 3p.m.—the hours the Bible records crucifixion darkness, darkness covering the land until Jesus' death on the cross. In the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican traditions of Christianity, the Stations of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir George Russell, 4th Baronet
Sir George Russell, 4th Baronet (23 August 1828 – 7 March 1898) was a British barrister, judge, and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1898. Early life Russell was the third son of Sir Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet and his wife Marie Clotilde Mottet de la Fontaine, a daughter of Baron Benoît Mottet de La Fontaine. He was educated at Eton and Exeter College, Oxford. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1853 and went to the Oxford Circuit. In 1862 he became recorder of Wokingham.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.'' Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, pp. 3442-3443. Career He was a County Court Judge of County Circuit No. 19 from 1866 to 1874, and of Circuit No. 49 from 1874 to February 1884. He succeeded his brother Charles as 4th baronet in 1883. In the 1885 general election, Russell was elected the Conservative Member of Parliame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sundial
A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat plate (the ''dial'') and a gnomon, which casts a shadow onto the dial. As the Sun diurnal motion, appears to move through the sky, the shadow aligns with different hour-lines, which are marked on the dial to indicate the time of day. The ''style'' is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, though a single point or ''nodus'' may be used. The gnomon casts a broad shadow; the shadow of the style shows the time. The gnomon may be a rod, wire, or elaborately decorated metal casting. The style must be polar alignment, parallel to the axis of the Earth's rotation for the sundial to be accurate throughout the year. The style's angle from horizontal is equal to the sundial's geographical latitude. The term ''sundial'' can r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David A
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damascus in the late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE to commemorate a victory over two enemy kings, contains the phrase (), which is translated as " House of David" by most scholars. The Mesha Stele, erected by King Mesha of Moab in the 9th century BCE, may also refer to the "House of David", although this is disputed. According to Jewish works such as the '' Seder Olam Rabbah'', '' Seder Olam Zutta'', and '' Sefer ha-Qabbalah'' (all written over a thousand years later), David ascended the throne as the king of Judah in 885 BCE. Apart from this, all that is known of David comes from biblical literature, the historicity of which has been extensively challenged,Writing and Rewriting the Story of Solomon in Ancient Israel; by Isaac Kalimi; page 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Ibn Khalaf
Alī ibn Khalaf () was an Andalusian astronomer who belonged to the scientific circle of Ṣāʿid al- Andalusī. He devised, with help from al-Zarqali, the universal astrolabe. Both Khalaf and al-Zarqali's design were included in the ''Libros del Saber'' (1227) of Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1 ....Koenraad Van Cleempoel. "The Migration of Instrumental Knowledge from Flanders to Spain," in: ''Silent Messengers: The Circulation of Material Objects of Knowledge in the Early Modern Low Countries,'' Sven Dupré and Christoph Herbert Lüthy (eds.), (Transaction Publishers, 2011), p. 76. References {{Islamic astronomy 11th-century astronomers 11th-century people from al-Andalus Astronomers from al-Andalus Scientific instrument makers from al-An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar System as Earth's North Pole. Due to Earth's axial tilt of 23.439281°, there is a seasonal variation in the lengths of the day and night. There is also a seasonal variation in temperatures, which lags the variation in day and night. Conventionally, winter in the Northern Hemisphere is taken as the period from the December solstice (typically December 21 UTC) to the March equinox (typically March 20 UTC), while summer is taken as the period from the June solstice through to the September equinox (typically on 23 September UTC). The dates vary each year due to the difference between the calendar year and the Year#Astronomical years, astronomical year. Within the Northern Hemisphere, oceanic currents can change the weather patterns that aff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
