On This Day
1295 – The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris.[2]
The Auld Alliance (Scots for “Old Alliance”; French: Vieille Alliance; Scottish Gaelic: An Seann-chaidreachas)[1] was an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word auld, meaning old, has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting association between the two countries. Although the alliance was never formally revoked, it is considered by some to have ended with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560.[2]
The alliance played a significant role in the relations among Scotland, France and England during those 265 years. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that period except Louis XI.[3] By the late 14th century, the renewal occurred regardless of whether either kingdom was at war with England at the time.[4]
The alliance began with the treaty signed by John Balliol and Philip IV of France in 1295 against Edward I of England. The terms of the treaty stipulated that if either country were attacked by England, the other country would invade English territory. The 1513 Battle of Flodden, where the Scots invaded England in response to the English campaign against France, was one such occasion. Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, negotiated the renewal of the alliance in 1326. The alliance played an important role in the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Hundred Years’ War, the War of the League of Cambrai and the War of Rough Wooing.
Born On This Day
1894 – Emma Vyssotsky, American astronomer and academic (d. 1975)
Emma Vyssotsky (October 23, 1894 – May 12, 1975, born Emma T. R. Williams) was an American astronomer who was honored with the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy in 1946.[1]
Biography
Emma earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Swarthmore College in 1916[1] and worked at Smith College as an astronomy[2]/mathematics[1] demonstrator for a year before finding work at an insurance company as an actuary. In 1927, after receiving a Whitney Fellowship and a Bartol Scholarship, she enrolled in astronomy at Radcliffe College (now part of Harvard).[2] There, she worked with Cecilia Payne on the “spectral line contours of hydrogen and ionized calcium throughout the spectral sequence.”[2]
Emma received her PhD in astronomy from Harvard College in 1930 for her dissertation titled, A Spectrophotometric Study of A Stars.[2] At the time, she was only the third individual to be awarded a PhD in astronomy from Harvard.[1]
She followed her husband, astronomer Alexander N. Vyssotsky, to the University of Virginia, where he was offered a professorship; she was offered an instructor position.[1] She spent her astronomy career at the McCormick Observatory at the university,[2] where her specialty was the motion of stars and the kinematics of the Milky Way. The couple worked together.
[They were] studying stellar parallaxes by applying trigonometric functions to observations made on multiple photographic exposures. They discovered many of these parallaxes by attaching a special objective prism to the observatory’s astrograph. Their research led to accurate calculations of stellar motions and the determination of the structure of galaxies.[1]
She worked at the observatory “for more than a dozen years” before the university promoted her to professor in 1945, but by then she had taken a medical leave of absence after contracting a debilitating illness, Malta Fever, which restricted her activities. Still, she continued to publish.[1]
Personal life
Emma Williams married the Russian-born astronomer Alexander N. Vyssotsky in 1929 and they published jointly and worked together at the McCormick Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia.[2] They had one son, Victor A. Vyssotsky (a mathematician and computer scientist), who was involved in the Multics project and co-created the Darwin computer game.
Emma died in Winter Park, Florida two years after her husband’s death.[1]
Awards
In 1946, she was awarded the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of her contributions to the field of stellar spectra.[1][3]
Select publications
Emma published much of her research under the name E. T. Williams. The couple would alternate the lead author role on their joint papers, with her name appearing first sometimes, and his name appearing first at other times.[1]
Vyssotsky, E. T. W. (1929). A Spectrophotometric Study of A Stars (Doctoral dissertation, Radcliffe College).
Vyssotsky, A. N., & Williams, E. T. (1933). Color indices and integrated magnitudes of fifteen bright globular clusters. The Astrophysical Journal, 77, 301.
Williams, E. T., & Vyssotsky, A. N. (1935). Color Indices and Integrated Magnitudes of Fifteen Bright Globular Clusters, by AN Wyssotsky and Emma TR Williams. University of Virginia.
Vyssotsky, A. N., & Williams, E. T. (1943). Mccormick Spectral Statistics. The Astrophysical Journal, 98, 185.
Williams, E. T., & Vyssotsky, A. N. (1946). Distribution of faint red giants in galactic longitude as compared with faint A stars. The Astronomical Journal, 52, 51.
Vyssotsky, A. N., & Williams, E. T. (1948). An investigation of stellar motions. XII An interpretation of peculiar motions in terms of galactic structure (Astron. J., vol. 56, 1951, p. 62).
FYI
Huh?
When Edgar Allan Poe was 17 years old, he and John Allan loaded up the family station wagon with all his clothes, posters, and books, and made the 70-mile trek west to Charlottesville, Virginia. Among the rolling hills of that town, Thomas Jefferson had recently founded a university meant to serve the sons of the state—at least, those sons who could afford to spend a few years drinking, gambling, goofing off, and, on occasion, attending the odd lecture, maybe sitting an exam or two. Poe saw his own place in these ranks, and longed to distinguish himself in this fresh social and academic setting.
Recipes
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- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for July 16 July 16, 2026Picture of the day Emerald swift (Sceloporus malachiticus) Finca El Pilar, Antigua Guatemala. Also known as the green spiny lizard.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for July 15 July 15, 2026Picture of the day Adult woman of the Laarim Tribe smoking in a pipe, Kimotong, South Sudan.
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