English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing died #OTD in 1954.
During World War II, he played a crucial role in deciphering the Enigma code used by the German military, significantly contributing to the Allied war effort. In his paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," he proposed the famous Turing Test as a criterion for determining whether a machine can exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from that of a human.
Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist Knud Rasmussen was born #OTD in 1879.
He went on his first expedition in 1902–1904, known as The Danish Literary Expedition, with Jørgen Brønlund, Harald Moltke and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, to examine Inuit culture and traditions. Rasmussen is best known for leading the Thule Expeditions, a series of seven major expeditions between 1912 and 1933.
"Colour! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.... Color which, like music, is a matter of vibrations, reaches what is most general and therefore most indefinable in nature: its inner power."
The writings of a savage
French painter and sculptor Paul Gauguin was born #OTD in 1848.
French film director, producer, and screenwriter Louis Jean Lumière died #OTD in 1948.
Alongside his brother Auguste, Louis is best known for inventing the Cinématographe, a motion picture camera, projector, and printer all in one. The Lumière brothers' work laid the foundation for the film industry and revolutionized visual storytelling.
Florentine physician, philosopher and botanist Andrea Cesalpino was born #OTD in 1524.
"De Plantis Libri XVI" (1583), is one of the earliest systematic treatises on plants. This book laid the groundwork for modern botanical classification. He organized plants based on their fruits and seeds rather than their medicinal properties, which was the common practice at the time. This method was a precursor to the binomial nomenclature system later developed by Carl Linnaeus.
On this day in history: morning of June 6, 1944, the Brécourt Manor assault. If you ever needed an illustration that training in fundamentals, understanding and awareness of the situation, and small teams led by competent individuals as part of a large and meaningful undertaking where everyone knows what's at stake makes all the difference, this is it.
47 years ago today
Johnny Rotten with Johnny Ramone in a relaxed conversation backstage at The Roundhouse, London before a Ramones gig (with Talking Heads and The Saints supporting) June 6, 1977.
American writer William Sydney Porter died #OTD in 1910.
O. Henry's stories are known for their memorable characters, vivid descriptions, and especially their surprise endings. Some of his most famous stories include "The Gift of the Magi," "The Ransom of Red Chief," "The Last Leaf," and "The Cop and the Anthem."
"What can any individual do? Of that, every individual can judge. There is one thing that every individual can do, — they can see to it that they feel right."
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.
Venetian scholar Elena Cornaro Piscopia was born #OTD in 1646.
She was the first woman in the world to receive a doctoral degree. On June 25, 1678, Elena became the first woman to be awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Her doctoral examination was held in the cathedral of Padua to accommodate the large audience, including prominent scholars and nobles. The next female doctorate was granted by the University of Bologna in 1732 to Laura Bassi.
22 years ago today
In memory of Dee Dee Ramone, founding member, songwriter, bassist and actual fixture and heart of the Ramones, died on this day in 2002 of a heroin overdose.
#OTD 4 June 1694 François Quesnay was born. He is known for publishing the "Tableau économique" in 1758, which provided the foundations of the ideas of the Physiocrats. It was perhaps the first work analytical economic treatise.
#OnThisDay, 4 Jun 1972, civil rights activist Angela Davis is acquitted in a trial over her alleged involvement in the 1970 Marin County Civic Centre attack.
Davis had been prosecuted for three capital felonies, including conspiracy to murder, after guns she owned were used in the attack. The all-white jury cleared her of all charges.
The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first for biography (for Julia Ward Howe), Jean Jules Jusserand the first for history with With Americans of Past and Present Days, and Herbert B. Swope the first for journalism for his work for the New York World.
48 years ago today
The Sex Pistols appeared at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester. The now legendary night is regarded as a catalyst to the punk rock movement. In the audience were Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook & Mark E Smith
Remembering Stiv Bators, lead singer of The Dead Boys, The Lords of the New Church and The Wanderers, who died on this day in 1990 as a result of a car accident in Paris
‘not everyone has the same colour, the same language, or the same customs, but they have the same heart, the same blood & the same need for love.’ #art#history: i couldn't decide which image i'd draw to celebrate the birth (#otd in 1906) of the glorious josephine, so here are two. if anyone merits multiple illustrative odes, it's la baker. why? [A THREAD] #josephineBaker#illustration#france#music#film#stLouis#resistance#civilRights
Kafka's works were not widely known during his lifetime, and he published only a few of his stories. Most of his major works were published posthumously by his friend and literary executor, Max Brod, despite Kafka's instructions to destroy his manuscripts.
#OTD 3 June 1906 Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis Missouri. She became involved in the Harlem Renaissance before moving to France where she became a world-famous supermodel. She served as a top-level spy in the Resistance, then a Civil Rights leader in the 1960s. #pride
“Of aal the fish there iss in the sea,” said Para Handy, “nothing bates the herrin’; it’s a providence they’re plentiful and them so cheap!”
Neil Munro (1863–1930) – journalist, novelist, short-story writer, & poet – was born #OTD, 3 June. Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of Herring discusses Munro’s PARA HANDY stories, as well as giving the full text of the tale “The Herring – A Gossip”