Portrait of inventor James Watt, oil on canvas, by Carl Fredrik von Breda, ca 1792, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London (artuk.org)

Portrait of inventor James Watt, oil on canvas, by Carl Fredrik von Breda, ca 1792, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London (artuk.org)

Carl Fredrik von Breda

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Carl Fredrik von Breda, a Swedish painter, died Dec. 1, 1818, at the age of 59. Breda trained at the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm, and then ...

Bonaventura Cavalieri

Bonaventura Cavalieri, an Italian mathematician and a member of the Jesuate order, died on Nov. 30. 1647; he was born sometime in 1598, making him ...

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

John Ray

John Ray, an English naturalist and cleric, was born Nov. 29, 1627.  Seven years ago, we wrote our first post on Ray, in which we credited Ray ...

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

William Brouncker

On Nov. 28, 1660, a small group of natural philosophers, a dozen or so, met at Gresham College in London, and decided to establish a society...

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

Philip Reinagle

Philip Reinagle, an English landscape painter, died Nov. 27, 1833, at age 84; his date of birth is not known. Reinagle painted hunting scenes ...

NOVEMBER 23, 2023

Raymond Dart

Raymond Dart, an Australian/South African anatomist and anthropologist, died Nov. 22, 1988, at the age of 95.   Dart was born near Brisbane in ...

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

Jacques de Vaucanson

Jacques de Vaucanson, a French inventor, died Nov. 21, 1782, at age 73.  Vaucanson was educated by Jesuits and for a while was a novice in the ...

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

Carl Akeley

Carl Akeley, an American taxidermist, sculptor, and animal collector, died Nov. 17, 1926, at age 62.  Akeley trained at Ward's Natural Science ...

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Willem de Sitter

Willem de Sitter, a Dutch mathematician and astronomer, died Nov. 20, 1934, at age 62.  De Sitter was educated at the University of Groningen, and ...

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Erasmus Francisci

Erasmus Francisci, a German encyclopedist, was born Nov. 16, 1627, in Lübeck.  He studied law, like his father, and worked for a while as a ...

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin

Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, an American geologist usually referred to as T.C. Chamberlin, died Nov. 15, 1928, at age 85.

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

Frederick Banting

Frederick Banting, a Canadian physiologist, was born Nov. 14, 1891. In the fall of 1920, Banting, who was then at the University of Western Ontario...

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

Pehr Högström

Pehr Högström, a Swedish clergyman, traveler, missionary, and linguist, was born Nov. 10, 1714, in what looks to be central Sweden, but is called ...

NOVEMBER 10, 2023