[caption id=“attachment_2595” align=“alignright” width=“304”]Flammarion engraving from 1888[/caption] In the year 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded in Washington D.C. (Jan 13), slavery is abolished in Brazil (May 13), horse-driven trams begin operating in Tallinn, Estonia (Aug 24), George Eastman receives patent for his Kodak camera, using roll film (Sep 4), the Washington Monument, dedicated in 1885, opens to the public (Oct 9), John Boyd Dunlop patents the pneumatic bicycle tyre (Dec 7), Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear in a moment of madness (Dec 23), Camille Flammarion’s book L’atmosphère: météorologie populaire - with the Flammarion engraving - is published - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1893, the Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom has its first meeting (Jan 13), Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for the diesel engine (Feb 23), Gandhi arrives in South Africa where he will live until 1914 (May 23), New Zealand becomes the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote (Sep 19), Peder Krøyer completes his masterpiece Summer Evening on Skagen’s Southern Beach (Sep), the first car number plates appear in Paris, France (Oct 10), Edward Munch creates his most famous painting, The Scream - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading