On This Day
1910 – John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.
The Duigan pusher biplane (often simply called the Duigan biplane) was an early aircraft which made the first powered flight by an Australian-designed and built machine when it flew in Victoria in 1910.[5] The aircraft was constructed by John Duigan with help from his brother, Reginald, on their family farm at Mia Mia. The effort was especially significant in that the brothers built the aircraft almost entirely by themselves and without input from the pioneering aviation community; a photo-postcard of the Wright Flyer inspired the design and Sir Hiram Maxim’s book Artificial and Natural Flight provided the theoretical basis.
The aircraft was an open-framework biplane with a three-bay, equal-span, unstaggered wing cellule, organised in a pusher configuration. Horizontal stabilisers were carried to both the front and rear, with a single rudder above the rear surface. A fixed tricycle undercarriage was fitted, and the pilot sat on the leading edge of the lower wing. Lateral control was by ailerons on both upper and lower wings, and an elevator was attached to the rear stabiliser. The only components not built by the Duigans themselves were the engine (made by the J. E. Tilley Engineering Company of Melbourne) and the propeller. However, both of these components were extensively modified by John before they could be used.
The aircraft flew for the first time on 16 July 1910, taking off under its own power and flying 7 metres (24 feet). Within two months, this had been extended to 90 metres (300 feet), and soon thereafter to 180 metres at an altitude of 3.5 metres (590 ft at an altitude of 12 ft). By the end of the year, Duigan had made a flight of 1 km (⅝ mile) at an altitude of 30 metres (100 ft).
Duigan informed the Department of Defence of his achievements, hoping to claim a £5,000 prize that had been offered in September 1909 for the construction of an aircraft suitable for military purposes. Duigan was ineligible for the prize, which had expired at the end of March 1910, but was asked to demonstrate his aircraft for the military anyway. He also flew it in a public demonstration in front of a crowd of 1,000 spectators at Bendigo Racecourse in January 1911. In 1920, Duigan donated the aircraft to the Industrial and Technological Museum of Victoria, which was later absorbed into Museum Victoria.
Museum Victoria also preserves a flying replica of the Duigan biplane, built by Ronald Lewis and flown in 1990. It was donated to the museum in 2000.
1453 – Battle of Castillon: The last battle of Hundred Years’ War, the French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed in the battle in Gascony.
The Battle of Castillon between the forces of England and France took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille). Historians regard this decisive French victory as marking the end of the Hundred Years’ War.
On the day of the battle, the English commander, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, believing that the enemy was retreating, led his army in an attack on a fortified French encampment without waiting for reinforcements. Talbot then refused to withdraw even after realizing the strength of the French position, causing his men to suffer severe casualties from the French artillery. Castillon was a major European battle won through the extensive use of field artillery.
The battle led to the English losing almost all their holdings in France, especially Gascony (Aquitaine), an English possession for the previous three centuries. The balance of power in Europe shifted, and political instability ensued in England.[4]
477 BC – Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.[1]
The Battle of the Cremera was fought between the Roman Republic and the Etruscan city of Veii, in 477 BC (276 AUC).
It most likely occurred on 18 July,[1] although Ovid gives a different date of 13 February.[2]
Born On This Day
1529 – Petrus Peckius the Elder, Dutch jurist, writer on international maritime law (d. 1589)
Petrus Peckius the Elder (born Pieter Peck, also known as Pierre Peckius; 16 July 1529 in Zierikzee – 16 July 1589 in Mechelen), was an eminent Netherlandish jurist, one of the first to write about international maritime law,[1] and the father of Petrus Peckius the Younger.
He was an orthodox Catholic and remained loyal to the Crown during the Eighty Years’ War. In 1582 he was appointed a justice in the Great Council, the supreme law court of the Seventeen Provinces, which normally sat in Mechelen but due to the Dutch Revolt was then meeting in the city of Namur.
He was married to Catharina Gillis (sister of a secretary of Margaret of Parma, and of a governor of Ostend) with whom he had several children.
1823 – Leander Clark, American businessman, judge, and politician (d. 1910)
Leander Clark (July 17, 1823 – December 22, 1910) was an American businessman, Iowa state legislator, Union Army officer during the Civil War, and Indian agent who was the namesake for Leander Clark College.[1]
Clark was born July 17, 1823 in Wakeman, Huron County, Ohio, where he spent his childhood on his family’s farm. He was educated in the public schools and at the Academy of Oberlin College. In 1846 he moved from Ohio to Port Washington, Wisconsin where he worked as a surveyor, in a drug store owned by an older brother, and as deputy sheriff. In 1849, he undertook an overland journey to California to join the Gold Rush there. In California, he engaged in mining, packing, and trading, principally in the vicinity of Shasta and Yreka. He returned east via sea and the isthmus of Panama in 1852 after accumulating between $3,000 and $4,000.[2]
In 1852, after his sojourn in California, he settled in Tama County, Iowa. In 1855 he became a justice of the peace in Tama County, in 1857 he began a four-year term as county judge, and in 1861 he began a term as the county’s representative in the Iowa General Assembly.[1][3]
After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1862, he resigned his legislative seat to enlist in the 24th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He enlisted as a private but was elected captain of his company. He remained in the Army throughout the war, receiving minor wounds at the battles of Champion Hill (Mississippi) and Winchester (Virginia). He was promoted to major in September 1864 and lieutenant colonel in January 1865 and mustered out in August 1865.[1]
Upon returning to civilian life after the war, he served another term in the General Assembly, and in 1866 became Indian agent for the Sac and Fox.[1][4]
In 1882, Clark Township, Tama County, Iowa was named in honor of Judge Leander Clark. This is documented on page 662 of the book “History of Tama County Iowa, 1883”.[5]
Clark became wealthy through the buying and selling of land, first in Iowa and later also in the Dakotas and Missouri. He also served for many years as president of the Toledo Savings Bank in Toledo, the county seat of Tama County where he made his home.[1]
1013 – Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1013)[18]
Blessed Hermann of Reichenau (18 July 1013 – 24 September 1054), also known by other names, was an 11th-century Benedictine monk and scholar. He composed works on history, music theory, mathematics, and astronomy, as well as many hymns. He has traditionally been credited with the composition of “Salve Regina”, “Veni Sancte Spiritus”,[1] and “Alma Redemptoris Mater”,[2][3] although these attributions are sometimes questioned. His cultus and beatification were confirmed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1863.
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- Nutella Stuffed Cookies November 22, 2024Nutella Stuffed Cookies. Yes, they are as naughty and indulgent as they look. But so much easier to make than you think! No electric beater, just a wooden spoon. That moment when the melty Nutella floods in your mouth…. send help! Nutella Stuffed Cookies This is no ordinary cookie. This is a cookie that is... […]Nagi
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- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 28 November 28, 2024Picture of the day Gjipe Beach, Albania. Today is Albania's Independence Day.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 27 November 27, 2024Picture of the day Eruption of Strokkur (Icelandic for "churn"), a fountain geyser located in the Haukadalur geothermal area, southwest of Iceland.
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