What is Thomas Edison famous for?



What do the Wright Brothers, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Thomas Alva Edison have in common? All of them became immensely successful in their fields even without a college degree!



The Wright Brothers never graduated from high school; Jobs, Gates and Zuckerberg are all Harvard dropouts. And Edison, the inventor of the practical light bulb and other devices, too never went to college. In fact, Edison, who was homeschooled for a few years, could not afford further education. Instead, he used his genius to come up with inventions that changed the world.



Early life



Born in February 11, 1847 in Ohio, Edison attended school only for a few months before dropping out. His mother, who was a teacher, taught him at home. When the Civil War broke out, Edison worked as a telegraph operator to support his family. However, a childhood illness had left him hard of hearing. The problem intensified after a train conductor allegedly boxed his ears for setting up a makeshift laboratory inside a train compartment. Working on devices to improve his hearing, Edison found his calling!



As an inventor



A curious kid from the start, he loved conducting chemistry experiments, he set up a small laboratory and workshop in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where in 1877, he developed a carbon transmitter to improve the quality of sound on the telephone. His work further led him to build a phonograph, a device that recorded and reproduced sound. The phonograph played such an important role in the development of the music recording industry that the Grammy awards were initially going to be named the Eddys after the inventor. It earned him the sobriquet ‘the Wizard of Menlo Park.’



Sparking an idea



Almost anyone can name the inventor of the light bulb. For over 50 years, scientists had been grappling with inventing a safer alternative to the conventional gaslight, but it was Edison, who came up with the inexpensive and safe electric light bulb. With prominent financial backers such as J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family, Edison set up the Edison Electric Light Company and began research and development. He achieved a breakthrough in October 1879 which proved to be the key to the invention of a long-lasting and affordable light bulb. Edison’s invention became phenomenally successful and was even used at events such as Paris Lighting Exhibition in 1881 and the Crystal Palace in London in 1882. Riding on this success, he founded the General Electric Company in 1892.



Battery Life



Like Edison, automaker Henry Ford too was a pioneer in his field. At Ford’s request, Edison designed a car battery, which was introduced on the iconic Ford Model T. The nickel-iron batteries were longer-lasting compared to lead batteries, and were an early effort at developing an electric vehicle. It also marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship. They often went camping together and even built homes next to each other.



Rivalry with Tesla



The rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla is well known. Unlike Edison, Nikola Tesla’s inventions were not as celebrated in his day. Tesla, a brilliant scientist, was instrumental in the invention of x-ray and wireless communication, but would not market himself well and did not receive finding too. On the other hand, Edison had a business mindset in addition to his ingenuity, which helped steer his success. He held as many as 1,093 patents in the U.S., and more than 1,000 patents from 34 different countries.



Breathing his last



After years of pioneering research, Edison died on October 18, 1931 due to complications from diabetes. His last breath is reportedly contained in a test tube at the Henry Ford museum. BUT Edison’s legacy lives on every time we turn on the light or listen to a song, or even click a picture!



Oh really?




  • Edison used to carry a small notebook in his pocket to note down any new idea that might strike him. The ideas were also accompanied by rough sketches of the devices.

  • His first patent was for an automatic ‘vote recorder’, a predecessor of the modern EVM machines.

  • Edison’s first laboratory was built inside the compartment of an abandoned train. Edison pioneered the industrial research laboratory, where up to 200 inventors worked with him. The lab was a cradle of research, and paved the way for new research institutions, dedicated to innovation.



 



Picture Credit : Google


Who found Huckleberry Finn?



Sequestered among books, librarians lead relatively anonymous lives. The gatekeepers of knowledge work their way silently through cataloguing, preserving and issuing books. You do not usually read about them in the headlines nor remember their names.



So it was surprising when the demise of Barbara Testa, a modest librarian from Hollywood, was splashed across the pages of The New York Times. The news spread like wildfire and in a matter news and literacy mysteries of the 19th century!



Digging out the past



Rummaging through the attic in her home at Boulder Creek, California in the United States, Testa was looking for something valuable. She stumbled upon an old steamer trunk, which belonged to her grandfather James Gluck, who was a renowned attorney in the 19th century.



While clearing out his old letters and ledgers, she found a 600-page handwritten manuscript. Though its pages were old, the writing in black ink was clear. Her sixth sense started tingling. Her experience as a librarian and familiarity with Twain’s handwriting told her that this was no ordinary document.



And sure enough, it turned out that the manuscript was the missing first half of the original copy of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain. The book is considered to be one of the great American novels penned by Twain.



A strong friendship



So how did it end up in a dusty old box in the attic of a librarian’s home?



Besides being a prominent lawyer, Gluck also loved books and was the curator of the Buffalo library. Collecting manuscripts was his hobby. And he had developed an enviable collection of precious manuscripts including those of Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott and Henry James.



Gluck, who was a pen pal of Twain, persuaded him to donate the manuscript of his masterpiece Huckleberry Finn to the library.



Twain was happy to oblige, but admitted that he could not find the first half of the manuscript which he believed to have been destroyed by the printers after the book was published. He sent the second half in 1885. Two years later, Twain found the first half and promptly sent it over to Gluck.



Before his death at the age of 45 in 1895, Gluck donated around 500 literary items to the library. Surprisingly, the first half of Huckleberry Finn was not among them. It is not clear whether the omission was a mere oversight on his part, or he deliberately kept the manuscript aside for his personal collection.



Legal hassles



For whatever reason, the manuscript ended up in an old trunk until Testa discovered it. Delighted, she sent the manuscript to Sotheby for authentication and planned to auction it off for a handsome sum. Its legitimacy was confirmed and its worth was estimated to be around $1.5 million.



However, when the news of the manuscript leaked out, the Buffalo library filed a legal suit to prevent Testa or her family members from selling it. The dispute was eventually settled and the manuscript went to the library. Testa allegedly received a finder’s fee of $1 million.



Reunion



Testa’s discovery helped in reuniting the first and second halves of the draft of Twain's classic novel. Once the manuscripts were studied together, scholars were able to see the extensive changes the author and his editors had made to the novel. Huge chunks of the story had been cut by the editors.



With the help of the manuscripts, scholars were able to restore some deleted scenes. One such scene was the one in which Huckleberry Finn and Jim, the runaway slave, hide in a cave while discussing ghosts. It was added to the reprints of the book. The scene adds tremendous value to the story and remains unforgettable even today.



Testa deserves credit for the amazing discovery that enhanced the story of Huckleberry Finn. Similarly, the Buffalo library’s prompt action ensured that the manuscript didn’t fall into the wrong hands.



Significance



Twain is one of the most celebrated American authors.



Huckleberry Finn was first published in 1884 in the U.K. It is a first-person account of Huckleberry ‘Huck’ Finn, the narrator of three other Twain novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer, Detective and Tom Sawyer Abroad. It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.



The book is known for its colourful descriptions of people living in the Mississippi belt. It is considered to be a scathing satire on slavery and racism.



Huck is described as a young misfit, who wears cast-off clothes and sleeps in doorways and empty barrels. The character is believed to be based on Tom Blankenship, Twain’s childhood friend.



Twain wrote the book over a period of seven years. He wrote 400 pages in 1876 and finished the book after a long break.



 



Picture Credit : Google


What makes Henry Longfellow Wadsworth special?



“Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime and departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time” – More than 200 hundred years after his death, the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow often greet us in the least expected places. Inside a get-well card; or a poster hanging on the restaurant walls, or stranger still, as a motivational message on a WhatsApp group. Such is the power of this gifted poet’s words that they have transcended time and truly left their immortal footprints.



Longfellow was nothing less than a celebrity in his time. From Abraham Lincoln and Nathaniel Hawthorne to Queen Victoria and Edgar Allan Poe, everyone was a fan of his lyrical and simple verses. And not just adults, he was adored by children, who found his verses to be playful and smart. He was second only to Lord Tennyson. Rarely has a poet received such recognition. But did you know that Longfellow was fluent in no less than eight languages?



A love for languages



Right from an early age, Longfellow displayed phenomenal linguistic skills. He picked up languages with an uncanny ease, without any special coaching. By 14, he was fluent in Latin, a language proficiency was so good that he was even offered the post of the professor of modern languages at his alma mater, Bowdoin College in Maine, immediately after graduating as the trustees were immensely impressed by his work.



Before taking up the job offer, Longfellow embarked on a three-year preparatory study tour across Europe. He travelled to France, Spain, Italy, Germany and England. In Madrid, he became friends with Washington Irving, author of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow. Irving encouraged the young Longfellow to pursue writing.



Longfellow, who started teaching at Bowdoin college on his return, translated textbooks from French, Italian, and Spanish. His first published book was a translation of the poetry of medieval Spanish poet Jorge Manrique in 1833.



He became the first American author to translate Dante’s Divine Comedy, which served as an inspiration for many generations of writers.



After Bowdoin, he taught Modern Languages at the prestigious Harvard College in Cambridge, where he spent the rest of his years.



Friendships



Longfellow had a close friendship with another great mind, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who also urged him to explore his literacy skills. At his behest, Longfellow published Voices of the Night, his debut book of poetry, which contained some of the poems he had written as a teenager. At Cambridge, Longfellow formed a literary society called the Five of Clubs, which included Charles Sumner and Cornelius Conway Felton. The house where it all began is now preserved as the Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site.



Simplicity is key



Longfellow penned lyrical poems, often presenting stories of mythology and legend. Though he was a huge success, he was also criticised for writing uncomplicated and simple verses. However, Longfellow loved writing poems that had a mass appeal. He wanted people to find pleasure and solace in his verse, regardless of whether they were rich or poor. The playful and musical nature of his poems made him a favourite among children too.



Poet’s corner



Longfellow’s life was marked by tragedy. He lost his first wife shortly after marriage. His second wife died in a freak accident at home. Both the losses cast a shadow on his life till the poet passed away at the age of 72 on March 24, 1882. As a tribute to the literary giant, a life-size bust of the poet was placed in the Poet’s Corner Westminster Abbey in 1884 – the first non-British writer to receive this honour.



Oh really?




  • Longfellow was born in the seaside of Portland, Maine, in the U.S., over 200 years ago. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers in the U.S. They had come to the country on the historical Mayflower in search of a new and better life.

  • He was the first U.S. author to translate Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.

  • In 1867, Longfellow hosted Charles Dickens for Thanksgiving dinner.

  • A bridge in Cambridge, which he frequently crossed while walking home from Cambridge, was later named after him. In 1906, the Boston Bridge was replaced and renamed the Longfellow Bridge.

  • Longfellow sustained facial injuries that prevented him from shaving his face and he grew a full beard as his trademark.

  • Paul Revere’s Ride is Longfellow’s best-known poem.



 



Picture Credit : Google


Why is Gerald Durrell famous?



A scraggly looking Newt Scamander with his magical suitcase packed with fantastical creatures captured our imagination after Harry Potter. But did you know J.K. Rowling based the character partly on the British naturalist and writer, Gerald Durrell? The wildlife conservationist strove to turn zoos into sanctuaries for endangered species giving a new direction to conservation.



A magical childhood



Childhood, it is said, is a magical time that shapes us into our future selves. And Durrell was lucky to spend a part of his childhood surrounded by books and a part of his childhood surrounded by books and animals on the Corfu island in Greece. From catching the glittering purple-and-orange agamas lounging on the gypsum cliffs and watching dung beetles in action to getting a ringside view of the dragonfly larvae hatching. Durrell could witness the most intimate and magical moments of the animal world. Later, he recounted his childhood fascination with the animal kingdom in his delightful autobiographical account The Corfu Trilogy – My Family and Other Animals; Birds and Relatives; and the Garden of the Gods.



Born in Jamshedpur in India on January 7, 1925, Durrell had moved to Corfu with his family when he was 10, after his father’s death. On Corfu, he met Theodore Stephanides, a Greek-British scientist, who mentored the curious Durrell. The brilliant scientist who played a huge role in Durrell’s development features in the Corfu Trilogy.



Pursuit of a dream



With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Durrell was forced to move in England. Without a formal education, he found it difficult to find work in England. So he followed his passion and started working as a helper in aquariums and pet stores.



Durrell yearned to go on wildlife expeditions to explore the animal world. His lack of experience, however, threw very few opportunities his way. Finally, he got his lucky break in 1947. He travelled to the British Cameroon) with the acclaimed ornithologist John Yealland. He returned home with a collection of exceptional animals, which he sold to prominent zoos including the London zoo. But Durrell was unhappy with how the zoos treated animals. He dreamed of turning the zoos into breeding grounds and sanctuaries for endangered species, instead of merely places where animals are kept in captivity for public environment.



Writing for conservation



That’s when Durrell started writing humorous autobiographical accounts to raise money for conservation as well as more expeditions. The success of his books The Overloaded Ark and My Family and Other Animals helped him travel and acquire an enviable collection of wild and endangered animals. But instead of giving them away to other zoos, where he wasn’t sure how they would be treated. Durrell set up his own menagerie. And the Jersey Zoo opened its doors in 1959. He dedicated it to ‘saving species from extinction.’ Through Durrell’s vision, the zoo has today become the home of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. It runs breeding programmes and rehabilitates endangered species such as gorillas, lemurs and tortoises before releasing them into the wild.



Legacy



Durrell believed that the wiping out of an animal species should be considered “a criminal offence.” In 1988, a time capsule was buried in his park, with a letter to future generations written by Durrell, “We hope that there will be fireflies and glow-worms at night to guide you and butterflies in hedges and forests to greet you. We hope that your dawns will have an orchestra of birdsong and that the sound of their wings and the opalescence of their colouring will dazzle you. We hope that there will still be the extraordinary varieties of creatures sharing the land of the planet with you to enchant you and enrich your lives as they have done for us. We hope that you will be grateful for having been born into such a magical extinction today, the world truly needs another Durrell!



Oh Really?




  • Durrell attended St. Joseph’s (North Point) School, Darjeeling. His father worked as an engineer in the British Raj. His older brother, Lawrence was a popular British poet and travel writer.

  • The Durrell Wildlife Conservation List comes out with the “Red List of Endangered Species.” The ploughshare tortoise, Madagascar big-headed turtle, mountain chicken, and pygmy hog are some of the endangered species that feature on this list.



 



Picture Credit : Google