Historical figures some may not have heard of.

[John]

I thought this could be a useful thread to start about figures from the past that others may not know of. We all know of the usual suspects but what about that individual that you come across that gets your attention in areas you have no knowledge of.

To get started I have just been reading about Antoine Lavoiser. As I slowly make my way through a book called A Brief History of Science the author Thomas Crump brings him to the attention fairly often. A huge figure in the fields of Biology and Chemistry he was seemingly a towering figure of his time, the 18th Century, who in the end unfortunalty lost his head during the Terror.
We can thank Lavoiser for being being on the committee that gave us the uniform standard of measurements, the metric system, and devising the system that was used in its development. Crump call him the Father of Chemistry. He discovered the true nature of fire. He coined the term Oxygen, though not discovered by him, he made advances in the explanation of air.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Lavoisier

http://www.chemheritage.org/discove...emes/early-chemistry-and-gases/lavoisier.aspx

 

[The_Reaper]

Srinivasa Ramanujan - a mathematical genius the equal of Euler and Gauss

 

[John]

Srinivasa Ramanujan - a mathematical genius the equal of Euler and Gauss

Very interesting. I just read this.

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Ramanujan.html

 

[Mofra]

This thread reminded me about this article:

http://www.cracked.com/article_19076_5-important-people-who-were-screwed-out-history-books.html

We've got good news and bad news. The good news is that if you're dedicated, hardworking and a little bit lucky, you can change the world. The bad news is that if you're un-white, a woman or if your name doesn't rhyme with anything cool, there's a strong chance no one will remember you.
So let's take a moment to remember those who got screwed out of history books in favor of some more famous or charismatic peers. Like...

 

[The Speaker]

Dominique Jean Larrey, head surgeon of Napoleon's armies.

Creator of flying ambulances, establisher of rule for triage, healer of friend and foe. Was specifically ordered by the Duke of Wellington to not be fired upon, and ate at Blucher's table, after saving his son's life.

 

[clogged]

I thought this could be a useful thread to start about figures from the past that others may not know of. We all know of the usual suspects but what about that individual that you come across that gets your attention in areas you have no knowledge of.

To get started I have just been reading about Antoine Lavoiser. As I slowly make my way through a book called A Brief History of Science the author Thomas Crump brings him to the attention fairly often. A huge figure in the fields of Biology and Chemistry he was seemingly a towering figure of his time, the 18th Century, who in the end unfortunalty lost his head during the Terror.
We can thank Lavoiser for being being on the committee that gave us the uniform standard of measurements, the metric system, and devising the system that was used in its development. Crump call him the Father of Chemistry. He discovered the true nature of fire. He coined the term Oxygen, though not discovered by him, he made advances in the explanation of air.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Lavoisier

http://www.chemheritage.org/discove...emes/early-chemistry-and-gases/lavoisier.aspx

IPA anti climate change off shoot is named after him.

 

[John]

IPA anti climate change off shoot is named after him.

Yeah? Any idea why?

 

[clogged]

Yeah? Any idea why?

Either because he disproved phlogiston theory or was guillotined, not sure.

 

[John]

Either because he disproved phlogiston theory or was guillotined, not sure.

He was guillotined for being involved in tax collection so it has to be for disproving phlogiston theory.

 

[clogged]

He was guillotined for being involved in tax collection so it has to be for disproving phlogiston theory.

I don't know, they are a right wing group, and he was a member of the nobility.

 

[blackcat]

IPA anti climate change off shoot is named after him.

HR NIchols?

 

[little graham]

I
We can thank Lavoiser for being being on the committee that gave us the uniform standard of measurements, the metric system, and devising the system that was used in its development.

Wasn't the great pyramid of Giza built using that same system?

 

[John]

Wasn't the great pyramid of Giza built using that same system?

No idea. Lavoisier is more known for chemistry. His involvement in standardising measurements was from being on the committee that set out to achieve that standardisation and devising the method used. The book I am reading covers the method over a couple of pages.

 

[KGBeast]

Henry Avery, early pirate and adventurer. Inspired many such as Sam Bellamy, Blackbeard and Charles Vane to take up piracy. A rarity in as much as he and his crew got to cash in their treasure and rejoin society.

 

[little graham]

The book I am reading covers the method over a couple of pages.

Does it cover the metric system was used thousands of years earlier?

 

[John]

Does it cover the metric system was used thousands of years earlier?

No. The book is A Brief History of Science by Thomas Crump with an emphasis on BRIEF.

 

[John]

Henry Avery, early pirate and adventurer. Inspired many such as Sam Bellamy, Blackbeard and Charles Vane to take up piracy. A rarity in as much as he and his crew got to cash in their treasure and rejoin society.

I have a book on another character of similar persuasion called John Ward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ward

 

[Lester Burnham]

I find early American history fascinating. There's a lot going on and it's well documented.

Andrew Jackson was a very interesting character. He was born of common colonial stock and limited education. But went on to have a distinguished legal, military and political career culminating in two terms as President of the USA. The ramifications from his battle with the banks continue to this day.

 

[Mofra]

Henry Avery, early pirate and adventurer. Inspired many such as Sam Bellamy, Blackbeard and Charles Vane to take up piracy. A rarity in as much as he and his crew got to cash in their treasure and rejoin society.

He did inspire the early Royal Navy practice of taking defeated enemy ships back to port to sell and divide the bounty amongst the crew. Anecdotally, the RN lost more sailors after the Battle of Trafalgar than during it as the crew (after many grog rations and little food) were so pissed that when they tried to salvage enemy ships many fell overboard and drowned!

 

[John]

Another pirate but female and Chinese.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Shih

https://adventuresinhistoryland.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/the-pirate-queen/

http://www.annebonnypirate.com/famous-female-pirates/ching-shih/

 

[clogged]

I find early American history fascinating. There's a lot going on and it's well documented.

Andrew Jackson was a very interesting character. He was born of common colonial stock and limited education. But went on to have a distinguished legal, military and political career culminating in two terms as President of the USA. The ramifications from his battle with the banks continue to this day.

He's on the $20 bill!

 

[medusala]

John Harrison solved the problem of longitude which had long been a very important yet unsolved issue. An uneducated watchmakers solved what all the experts could not

 

[Lester Burnham]

He's on the $20 bill!

Yeah maybe doesn't qualify in the 'figures you've never heard of'. But plenty of other interesting characters around that era - such as Osceola. Jackson had won a series of military victories over the Seminoles in Florida. A few years later Osceola led a fierce and continued fightback, by which time Jackson was president. The Seminole wars were partly about territory but also tied up with slavery. The Seminoles harboured escaped slaves from all over the South, which did not go down well with the plantation owners. Osceola was never defeated, his end came after General Thomas Jesup seized him under white flag conditions - a dog act that made international headlines at the time.

 

[John]

John Harrison solved the problem of longitude which had long been a very important yet unsolved issue. An uneducated watchmakers solved what all the experts could not

Self taught watchmaker. This book about him is supposed to be very good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book)

To add a little to your choice interestingly I read about Harrison last year (though not the book mentioned above) and to say the least one of the more important people in the history of the development of travel and navigation.

More a technocrat than scientist but the Longitude Act of 1714 played a big part of his drive to solve the problem of Longitude and his story is worth a read even if only the wiki. James Cook took his H4 model on his 2nd voyage and said it was "our never failing guide".

 

[clogged]

Yeah maybe doesn't qualify in the 'figures you've never heard of'. But plenty of other interesting characters around that era - such as Osceola. Jackson had won a series of military victories over the Seminoles in Florida. A few years later Osceola led a fierce and continued fightback, by which time Jackson was president. The Seminole wars were partly about territory but also tied up with slavery. The Seminoles harboured escaped slaves from all over the South, which did not go down well with the plantation owners. Osceola was never defeated, his end came after General Thomas Jesup seized him under white flag conditions - a dog act that made international headlines at the time.

Oh I agree, he is relatively unknown internationally despite his prominence in American culture. Most people either know the figures of the revolution or the figures of the civil war. Anyway, being on the $20 bill is a bit of an irony considering his distaste for central banking.

His dispossession and march to Oklahoma of the native Americans somewhat foreshadowed the Nazis.