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Approximately 1,801 AD: A punch card system to control machines (looms) is invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard
| -- 1801; Looming on the Horizon, A Brief History of Computing ["http://www.cnet.com/techtrends/0-1544318-7-1656936.html?tag=st.sr.1544318-7-1656936-rost.back2.1544318-7-1656936"], found on or about 4-15-2000 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
Approximately 1,802 AD: Seven cents in USAmerican currency today is roughly equivalent to one 1997 USAmerican dollar...
| -- Robot Wisdom WebLog for June 1998 ["http://www.robotwisdom.com/log1998m06.html"] citing http://www.nybooks.com/nyrev/WWWfeatdisplay.cgi?1998062522F |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
Approximately 1,804 AD: The total human population of Earth amounts to one billion| -- 6 billionth Earthling was born today By Margot Higgins, ENN Daily News -- 10/12/1999, Environmental News Network, http://www.enn.com/, and How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth? ["http://www.spiritone.com/~orsierra/rogue/popco/data/everlivd.htm"] By Carl Haub, found on or about 5-31-2000 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,811 AD: The most powerful earthquake to occur in recorded human history is an 8.7, and takes place now: the New Madrid earthquake in USAmerica|
The worst earthquake of known human history (in terms of energy unleashed) was the
1811 New Madrid quake in North America, at 8.7, which changed the path of the Mississippi River. The low density of population and lack of major constructions there at the time prevented a huge death toll. A similar quake there in 2001 would likely kill a quarter million people or more.
-- Analysis: Giant quakes shook human history by MARTIN SIEFF, United Press International, 31 January 2001 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,815 AD: The Tambora eruption among the islands of Indonesia takes place
|
-- Evidence of catastrophic volcanic events locked in Wyoming glacier ["http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/usgs-eoc022800.html"]; EurekAlert! 27 FEBRUARY 2000
Contact: Heidi Koehler
hkoehler@usgs.gov
303-202-4743
United States Geological Survey
There are 92,000 victims. -- Godzilla's Attacking Babylon: Grim Statistics, 1999, the Archaeological Institute of America, http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/godzilla/stats.html |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,816 AD: Mary Shelley writes Frankenstein
|
-- Borderlands of Science by Charles Sheffield ["http://www.baen.com/chapters/borders_1.htm"], http://www.baen.com, found in early 2000
Another source places publication of Frankenstein in 1818. -- Mankind Pursues Forbidden Fruit, Via Computer ["http://199.97.97.16/contWriter/cnd7/2000/04/11/cndin/3444-0004-pat_nytimes.html"] JAY BOOKMAN; COMPUTER NEWS DAILY - NYT SYNDICATE/Cox News Service (http://www.coxnews.com), found on or about 4-11-2000 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
Approximately 1,750 AD - 1,835 AD: A horrific research project in life extension is carried out for decades in secret by a wealthy elite of european scientistsSoon the unscrupulous scientists learn to accelerate their test subjects' aging by various means of harsh treatment, drugs, and adverse environments.
The accelerated aging they manage to force upon their subjects also serves to accelerate their progress in determining various life extension methods (as it seems to emphasize what works rather quickly), compared to what might be expected with 'average' metabolism subjects.
The sadistic researchers are surprised to find that some burdens placed upon subjects such as near starvation (low daily calorie intake in 1999 parlance) actually seem to slow metabolism and thereby lengthen lifespans significantly, as well as protecting from diseases like cancer, rather than speeding one's demise as expected-- at least in mature adults.
Physical activity also seems to improve mental and physical health, compared to inactivity.
Other benefits seem to be realized from particular mental and physical disciplines, such as meditation and yogic exercises.
Adequate amounts of quality sleep prove to have a substantial beneficial effect in terms of mental alertness and physical coordination-- especially over prolonged periods of days or weeks. And large adverse effects if withheld from subjects.
Gradually the group expands their research to include improvements in long term body preservation (both living and dead), alternative deep sleep/coma measures, and techniques of resuscitation for victims of various ills, such as drowning, poisoning, and the like.
Despite investing almost their entire personal lives in the project, and killing or injuring thousands of test subjects, the group finally ends its work in old age with only a handful of leads deemed worthy of further pursuit, and a far greater mass of other, less conclusive results.
One of the best leads in the end involves a witchdoctor potion from Africa that induces a death-like sleep of days to a week where the body typically doesn't expire or decay despite the lack of food, water, and even very much air, often exhibiting no detectable signs of life, and usually re-awakens towards the end on its own (if given the opportunity). However, many victims seem permanently brain-damaged by the process. Another intriguing item appears to be slightly better body and mind preservation during such near-death experiences if the body is stored in certain areas widely regarded as 'supernaturally active', or haunted. So physical location appears sometimes significant to survivability (several of the scientists purchase rare plots about the world which seem to display this mysterious life-extending effect, and build their retirement homes there). Electricity also seems to offer some amount of resuscitative potential as well-- though it must be administered within minutes of death, and then very carefully. Magnetic fields seem related to the life extending real estate effects, but useful details of the relationship elude the investigators. These and other findings are contained in several hundred notebooks and other papers, which are kept hidden primarily in several of the participants' homes for many years. Keep in mind the journals also contain evidence of massive atrocities committed by the group. Upon their owners' deaths some of the records find their way back to other still surviving participants, while some do not.
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Konrad Dippel was an alchemist and body-snatcher living between 1673 and 1734. For a while he actually resided at a castle named Frankenstein in Germany. At least one of Dippel's goals was life extension.
-- Frankenstein was not just figment of author's imagination by Steven Hunt, steven@exn.net, October 31, 1996, http://exn.ca/html/templates/mastertop.cfm?ID=19961029-01 A 30% reduction in calorie intake over the long term in monkeys cut their risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease, endometriosis, and cancer by 50%. Average monkey size was also reduced by about 20% by the restrictive diet, though physical activity was undiminished. Other animal studies indicate significant increases in lifespan stemming from reduced calorie intake. Such a reduction in daily calorie intake would likely be difficult for most people of the developed countries without some sort of artificial aids. -- Cutting Calories May Prevent Disease By Merritt McKinney, Reuters Health/Yahoo! Health Headlines, December 7, 2000 Moderate amounts of physical activity/exercise appear to benefit all age groups, including the elderly, by boosting their physical stamina and capabilities. -- Exercise Is Good, Even in the Hospital, Reuters Health/Yahoo! Health Headlines, December 7, 2000, citing Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2000;48 Improvements in physical capabilities and mental well being appear to be garnered from regular participation in a T'ai Chi exercise regimen by sufferers of osteoarthritis. -- T'ai Chi May Benefit Those with Arthritis By Charnicia E. Huggins, Reuters Health/Yahoo! Health Headlines, December 6, 2000, citing Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2000;48:1553-1559 -- Low-cal diet may reduce cancer in monkeys John Travis, From Science News, Vol. 158, No. 22, Nov. 25, 2000, p. 341, Science Service Reducing overall food intake (to around 76% normal) appears to help prevent brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Other health benefits also accrue. Such a reduced calorie diet is the only method known today for slowing the aging process in several different species of animals. Besides extending lifespans, it also seems to improve life quality at older ages. -- Eating Less Seems To Fend Off Brain Diseases, By Terry Devitt, 27-Jun-2000, http://www.unisci.com Those who sleep less than six hours a night suffer reduced lifespans compared to those who get at least seven hours. Regular and sustained sleep deprivation affects the body in ways similar to accelerated aging. -- Losing Sleep Over Fatigue ["http://www.latimes.com/news/science/science/20000316/t000025199.html"] By ROBERT LEE HOTZ, March 16, 2000 Physically demanding jobs lead to a death rate from all causes twice as high as other employment, among men. The most frequent cause of death here appears to be traffic accidents, or other violent means. It's believed physical fatigue is the cause of the higher accidental death rate. By contrast, recreational physical exertions reduce the risk of death. -- Physical activity at work linked to higher risk of death Reuters/Yahoo! Health Headlines, February 10 2000 Airline pilots suffer as much as 25 times more skin cancers than others, perhaps due somewhat to disrupted sleep patterns. -- Pilots Have Higher Rates of Skin Cancer - Study By Patricia Reaney, Reuters/Yahoo! Science Headlines February 16, 2000 Getting six to eight hours of sleep per night improves learning and memory capacities, compared to getting less. In areas involving particularly challenging material, as much as a 20%-50% difference in learning and memory can occur on a daily basis between one person getting at minimum six hours sleep a night, and the other getting less. -- Sleep longer, learn better ["http://exn.ca/html/templates/mastertop.cfm?ID=20000307-53"] by: Cynthia Reynolds, March 7, 2000, Discovery Channel Canada 2000 -- ABCNEWS.com : Dreams May Help Us Remember ["http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/dreaming_000718.html"] By Joseph B. Verrengia, The Associated Press, July 18, 2000 One study shows that 17-19 continuous waking hours can slow a person's reaction time as much as 50% more than alcohol intake. Task accuracy is also worse than under the influence of the tested amount of alcohol (100 mg/dl or less). The longer subjects went without sleep, the worse they became. -- Too Few Hours' Sleep Slow Responses As Much As Alcohol ["http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/09/000919080457.htm"], Source: Center For The Advancement Of Health (http://www.cfah.org), 9/19/2000, http://www.cfah.org/website2/Newsrelease/long9-19-00.htm |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,830s AD: Labor forces in the industrialized nations begin to organize effectively for the first time in USAmerica in the 1830s| -- page 850, "union, labor" or "trade union", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 1989, Columbia University Press |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,834 AD: The British government cuts off funding to Charles Babbage for the construction of his 'Difference Engine" (a mechanical computer)Yes, the computing revolution could have begun now, around 100 years earlier than will be recorded by circa 1999 AD history books, had the British government fully realized the implications of this project. The British Empire too might not have declined in global power but rather expanded, with such a technological advantage at its disposal. In this year and the years that follow, Babbage has in his possession the basic working concepts of modern computers circa 1999 AD, albeit in mechanical rather than electronic form.
| -- Babbage ["http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Babbage.html"], found on or about 5-30-99 |
Tom Standage in Feed Magazine acknowledges the groundbreaking work of Babbage in his Difference Engine and especially his more advanced concept, the Analytical Engine, but then puzzlingly goes on to belittle the accomplishments because of the real cost at the time of building them (around $2.5 million in modern cash value for the Difference Engine). Never mind that this sample cost puts them well into the range of doable government projects during Babbage's lifetime, or that over the past 1000 years governments have often undertaken projects of this size/expense if they felt them worthwhile. Standage minimizes the potential of Babbage's mechanical computer designs for changing the world of its time because the mechanical architecture itself could not spiral downwards in costs as rapidly as electronic transistors could and did in the second half of the 20th century, to spread computing power widely throughout business and consumer concerns (Babbage's design declined only 66% in 150 years in cost of production, compared to almost that much decline (50%) in only 18 months according to Moore's Law for electronic components).
Standage admits that a few Babbage machines could have been built for government/military use during Babbage's time, but then refuses to consider what might have followed, merely assuming a dead end for the technology afterwards.
I disagree with Standage on his conclusion. Sure, there was a substantial chance the technology would be ignored or forgotten soon after the first one or several computers were built, as often happened with other advanced concepts in the past-- but that chance may be no larger than 50%.
I propose that there were enormous amounts of useful work available for such computing hardware near the beginning of the Industrial Age, regarding military purposes alone. Add in potential uses for industry and other concerns, and you get enough work to keep dozens, perhaps even hundreds of such devices profitably busy for decades.
And surely the accelerated calculations the machines provided would help increase the pace of technology development in general? Look what happened in documented history: the west first used primitive vacuum tube computers in 1946 primarily to create more accurate ballistic charts for artillery, to improve military effectiveness of their big guns. But so many other uses were found for the calculating power that those crude devices were continually improved upon (and more built), and the accumulative effect of their results on technology in general seemed to help lead to transistor development within only another couple years (1948). Could not a similar path have been followed by Babbage's hardware in its own time? First uses involving increasing accuracy in cannon fire for military purposes, and perhaps improving sea navigation charts too-- then expanding in scope to be applied to other things like improving railroad technologies and more-- finally with a cumulative effect leading to vacuum tube computers like those of 1946-- only maybe in 1864 or so-- and thereby advancing much of modern history (technology-wise) by perhaps almost a century?
Yes, if Babbage were to be better supported in 1834, then by 2000 many areas of technology might be 82 years more advanced over what takes place when Babbage's work is discarded instead.
|
-- The Little Engine That Couldn't ["http://www.feedmag.com/essay/es160_master.html"] by Tom Standage, FEED magazine, found in early 2000
-- page 184, "computer", and page 835, "transistor", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 1989, Columbia University Press |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,836 AD: The US Patent Office is created to resolve problems and excesses with the previous patenting processPatents were originally granted only to individuals in medieval times.
| -- page 629, "patent", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (2nd edition), Columbia University press, 1983, 1989 |
An important reason for this action now is as a remedy to many problems and excesses in regards to the patent process stemming from a 1793 act.
| -- "Patent", pages 354, 355, Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Volume 18, Funk & Wagnalls, Inc., MCMLXXIX |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,837 AD: American Samuel Morse patents the telegraph| -- Milestones in Technology, February 26, 1999, The Knoxville News-Sentinel ["http://www.knoxnews.com/"] |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,838 AD- 1,843 AD: After almost fourteen centuries of myth, rumor, and speculation, Terra Australis Incognita, the mysterious unknown (and surprisingly difficult to locate) southern continent, is proven to exist after all; Antarctica is realized to be a full-scale continent, rather than merely a handful of ice-covered islands| -- Antarctica, page 111, McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2nd Edition, 1989 |
Explorers were actively looking for the southernmost continent on Earth (which they called Terra Australis Incognita) for hundreds of years before they found it. Amazing, but true. Basically, it seems no one could believe how far south one had to go to find it.
Vasco De Gama proved Africa wasn't connected to Terra Australis Incognita in 1497 by navigating the Cape of Good Hope. Ferdinand Magellan in 1520 found and passed through the Strait of Magellan off the tip of South America, thinking the land sighted to the south to be Terra Australis Incognita. But Sir Francis Drake proved in 1578 that Magellan had only spotted the island of Tierra del Fuego-- not the legendary southern continent.
Around 1600 Dutch explorers came tantalyzingly close to discovering the continent, only to lose their way again.
James Cook eliminated as possible locations for Terra Australis Incognita latitudes in the temperate and tropical zones, as well as proved New Zealand to be only islands and not a continent, around 1770. A few years later he actually sailed completely around the continent without finding it. He was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, and did so twice, searching high and low in latitude for the continent. A stroke of bad luck had his nearest approach to Antarctica take place in the Bellingshausen Sea-- or one of the regions where the Antarctic coast lays nearest to the south pole itself-- which finally persuaded Cook to turn back before sighting land. Note that his very ship may have been in peril here due to lots of floating ice in the vicinity.
Cook decided any continent which might exist further south than his own explorations would likely never be useful to humanity.
Though Cook didn't discover Antarctica he did help narrow down its location and find immense populations of valuable fur seals which would later help lure still others into further exploration of the region.
| -- Antarctic Exploration - The Beginnings ["http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/antarctic/exploration/beginings.html"] (1492-1800), Nigel Sitwell & Tom Ritchie / Quark Expeditions |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,848 AD: The struggle for a woman's right to vote in USAmerica (and other developed nations) is in full swing; Science magazine is first published
| -- page 905, "woman suffrage", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 1989, Columbia University Press |
Science magazine debuts, from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
| -- Strange Science: Timeline ["http://turnpike.net/~mscott/timeline.htm"] by Michon Scott |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,850 AD: World population stands at around 1.1 billion| 1.1 billion estimate from: Why Are There So Many of Us? Description and Diagnosis of a Planetary Ecopathological Process by Warren M. Hern, University of Colorado, Why Are There So Many of Us? ["http://www.drhern.com/fulltext/why/paper.html"], found on or about 1-17-2000 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
Approximately 1,200 AD-1,850 AD: The Little Ice Age; this is the coldest period for world climate since the last deglaciation.| -- page 99, "Ice on the World", National Geographic magazine, October 1988 |
Or was it 1645-1715? There's varying time periods offered by my sources. The Little Ice Age may have coincided with a Maunder Minimum-- or a time when sunspot activity becomes very rare. It seems the Sun actually expands in girth during such minimums, perhaps lessening its radiative heat output as well.
|
-- A LARGER SUN DURING THE MAUNDER MINIMUM From Science Frontiers Digest of Scientific Anomalies ["http://www.knowledge.co.uk/frontiers/"] #51, MAY-JUN 1987 by William R. Corliss, citing E. Ribes, et al; "Evidence for a Larger Sun with a Slower Rotation during the Seventeenth Century," Nature, 326: 52, 1987
Yet another varying esitmate of the period of the Little Ice Age is given as the 1400's to around 1850. With the period ending abruptly over just ten years around 1840-1850. -- Evidence of catastrophic volcanic events locked in Wyoming glacier ["http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/usgs-eoc022800.html"]; EurekAlert! 27 FEBRUARY 2000 Contact: Heidi Koehler hkoehler@usgs.gov 303-202-4743 United States Geological Survey A roughly 600 year colder than normal period in much of Europe is known as the "Little Ice Age", and is thought by some to have extended from 1300 AD to 1850 AD. New research indicates that the cold reached even into the tropics-- and so this may have been more of a global phenomena than previously believed. For example, temperatures in the Caribbean were 4 or 5 degrees Farenheit cooler than normal. One implication is that tropical climates are less stable than once believed. -- Cold From Little Ice Age Also Chilled Caribbean Sea ["http://unisci.com/stories/20004/1018006.htm"] [Contact: Dr. John Christy, Dr. Amos Winter, Phillip Gentry] 18-Oct-2000 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,854 AD: USAmerica's GOP or Republican political party first takes shape in Michigan|
-- The Learning Kingdom's Today in History for July 6, 2000, http://www.LearningKingdom.com
The Republican political party of USAmerica first emerged to prevent slavery from being legally extended from existing regions in the south into new US territories. If the previously existing parties of Democrats and Whigs could have been persuaded to take a stronger stand against the expansion of slavery in the young country during this time, the Republican party might never have appeared, or at least would have been delayed in its emergence. In the turmoil which followed, the Whig party collapsed, and the Democratic party fractured into the separate Democratic and Republican parties with which USAmericans will be familiar in 2000 AD. The term "Republicans" was taken from an old name previously used for a group professing loyalty to the principles of Thomas Jefferson. The Republican party became the first USAmerican third party to ever seize a position as one of the top two parties in the nation. As of 2000 AD it will remain the only one to ever do so. -- Encyclopedia Americana: Republican Party ["http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/rparty.html"] possibly by George H. Mayer, University of South Florida, Grolier Incorporated |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,859 AD: American Edwin Drake drills the first oil well| -- Technology, page 591, The 1996 Universal Almanac, Andrews and MacMeel, 1995 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,861-1,865 AD: The USAmerican Civil War leads to the formal abolition of slavery in USAmerica and introduces ironclad warship technology to the world| -- pages 169-170, "Civil War", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (2nd edition), Columbia University press, 1983, 1989 |
From 1619 to 1865 about four million men, women, and children-- mostly Africans and African-Americans-- were kept as slaves in the United States and related colonies.
| -- Lawmakers Ask Congress to Apologize for Slavery, By Christopher Wilson, Yahoo!/Reuters, June 19 2000 |
Over half a million people die due directly or indirectly to the war. Almost another half million are injured.
USAmerican political party dominance immediately before and during this noteworthy time
Contemporary/short term party precedence in power regarding this period (in power during noted events and/or during the 4-6 years preceding same events):
President: Republican, Abraham Lincoln, contemporary; 1857-1861
James Buchanan, Democrat, preceding term
| -- The Universal Almanac 1996, Andrews & McMeel, pages 70-91, and other sources |
Senate: Republican majority, contemporary (37th and 38th Congresses)
Democrat controlled 34th, 35th, and 36th during the preceding 4-6 years
| -- U.S. Senate Statistics: Majority and Minority Parties ["http://www.senate.gov/learning/stat_13.html"] and Senate Statistics Vice Presidents ["http://www.senate.gov/learning/learn_history_statistics.html"] |
House of Representatives: Republican majority, contemporary (37th and 38th Houses)
Democratically controlled 35th, Republican controlled34th and 36th, during the preceding 4-6 years
| -- Political Divisions of the House of Representatives (1789 to Present) ["http://clerkweb.house.gov/histrecs/househis/lists/divisionh.htm"], Source: Committee on House Administration. Charlie Rose, Chairman. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1994. History of the United States House of Representatives, 1789-1994 Washington: 1994 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,860s AD: Gregor Mendel is performing genetics research with peas; Jules Verne sees a dark future ahead for the world (but is urged to keep his fears to himself); Labor unions emerge in Britain| -- Long road to inheritance, 1 December, 1999, Sci/Tech, BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ |
In 1863 Jules Verne writes a novel titled "Paris in the 20th Century", which will be touted in 1999 as surprisingly accurate in regards to described technological advances. However, alongside the technology Verne also includes a characterization of 20th century life as being filled with a mix of frustration, loneliness, and desperation, and all under the thumb of a totalitarian government.
His publisher does not believe the book will sell and so it is not brought to market. Note that at least twice in the 20th century the world will indeed be strongly threatened with the prospect of a totalitarian take over, or heavy domination by same (World Wars One and Two). So Verne's expectations will come perilously close to being 100% realized over following decades. Indeed, despite the fact that overt global government oppression will be postponed in many quarters until at least 2000 AD, its shadow will still haunt many (even within democracies) circa 2000 AD. And daily life will also resemble the mix of frustration, loneliness, and desperation foreseen by Verne in 1863, for many people, during many years, of the 20th century.
Prodded by his publisher to be more upbeat, Verne obliges with more than 60 books over his lifetime describing future technologies and feats such as air conditioning, motion pictures, television, steel framed and glass walled skyscrapers, global communications, submarines, airplanes, helicopters, computers, guided missiles, space exploration (including Moon landings), and more.
| -- Journey to the Center of Jules Verne ["http://www.vision.org/jrnl/9901/verne.html"] by EDWIN STEPP |
Labor forces in Britain begin to organize effectively for the first time in the 1860s. Miners and textile workers lead the way there. Later on similar factions in underdeveloped nations will succeed in achieving independence for their native nations from the colonial yoke of more developed countries.
| -- page 850, "union, labor" or "trade union", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 1989, Columbia University Press |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,866 AD: New technology cuts delays in communications between London and New York from a week to just minutes|
1866: The new transatlantic telegraph cable reduces the time required to send a message between New York and London to several minutes down from the week necessary before.
-- The slowing pace of progress ["http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/001225/change.htm"] By Phillip J. Longman, US News & World Report, found on or about 12-30-2000 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,867 AD: American Latham Sholes invents the typewriter| -- Technology, page 591, The 1996 Universal Almanac, Andrews and MacMeel, 1995 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,868 AD: DNA is discovered by Swiss scientist Friedrich Miescher| -- Milestones in Technology, February 26, 1999, The Knoxville News-Sentinel ["http://www.knoxnews.com/"] |
The St. Petersburg Declaration outlaws the use of exploding bullets in warfare.
| -- Humane killing by Rob Edwards, From New Scientist, 4 December 1999 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,869 AD: Nature magazine is founded| -- Strange Science: Timeline ["http://turnpike.net/~mscott/timeline.htm"] by Michon Scott |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,870 AD: USAmerica is forced to modify patent laws again to remedy various problems with the process| -- "Patent", pages 354, 355, Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Volume 18, Funk & Wagnalls, Inc., MCMLXXIX |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,871 AD: German Heinrich Schliemann begins excavations which will ultimately prove the up-to-now mythical city of Troy actually existed|
-- The UnMuseum - The Treasure of Troy ["http://www.unmuseum.org/troy.htm"] by Lee Krystek, about 7-11-2000
The city of Troy was apparently destroyed by earthquake and rebuilt, over and over again. -- Analysis: Giant quakes shook human history by MARTIN SIEFF, United Press International, 31 January 2001 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,874 AD: A flurry of scientific activity by many of the Earth's greatest human powers occurs on and about Kerguelen islandA few years later it will be determined that Kerguelen offers only poor quality coal for mining operations.
| -- About Kerguelen ["http://www.kerguelen.org/kerguelen.html"] by Jaap Boender, September 12, 2000, and Kerguelen ["http://www.crozet.demon.co.uk/kerg.htm"] Kerguelen Archipelago found on or about 9-16-2000 |
Signposts 2,000 BC-1,800 AD Contents
1,876 AD: Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone; German Karl von Linde invents the refrigerator; Is deep sea dredging underway around Kerguelen?|
-- Milestones in Technology, February 26, 1999, The Knoxville News-Sentinel ["http://www.knoxnews.com/"]
-- Technology, page 591, The 1996 Universal Almanac, Andrews and MacMeel, 1995 |
Alexander Graham Bell tries to sell his telephone invention as a future replacement for letter writing to the U.S. Post Office, Western Union, and the British Post Office. They all turn him down.
|
-- Skeptics who were wrong, Alternative Science Website, http://www.alternativescience.com, Richard Milton, Last revised: October 17, 1999
-- Captain James Ross' Challenger Expedition arrives in Kerguelen during 1876. The Challenger undertakes deep sea dredging as part of its operations. Is such dredging performed in the vicinity of Kerguelen itself? If so, do they turn up anything interesting from the long sunken continent? -- Kerguelen Island, South Indian Ocean ["http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_islands.html"] by Paul Carroll, January 2000 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,879 AD: Thomas Edison invents the incandescent light bulb.| -- Milestones in Technology, February 26, 1999, The Knoxville News-Sentinel ["http://www.knoxnews.com/"] |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,883 AD: The island of Krakatoa between Java and Sumatra is destroyed by volcanic eruption; Albert Robida is predicting radio, television, jet planes, submarines, and biochemical warfare
| -- Krakatoa by The Regents of the University of Michigan, The Earth's Surface & Interior |
There are 36,000 victims.
| -- Godzilla's Attacking Babylon: Grim Statistics ["http://www.he.net/~archaeol/online/features/godzilla/stats.html"], 1999, the Archaeological Institute of America, http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/godzilla/stats.html |
In France Albert Robida's Twentieth Century is published, predicting radio, television, jet planes, submarines, and biochemical warfare.
| -- The Ultimate Hugo Gernsback ["http://www.twd.net/ird/forecast/1997Auultimate.html"] Introduction to Hugo Gernsback's Novel "Ultimate World" by Sam Moskowitz (1921-1997) Forecast AUGUST 1997 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,885 AD: USAmerican Westinghouse buys patents for AC electric systems from Serbian American Nikola Tesla; German Gottlieb Daimler's gasoline fueled internal combustion engine cranks to life, while Karl Benz builds the prototype of the modern automobile|
-- Technology, page 591, The 1996 Universal Almanac, Andrews and MacMeel, 1995
Samuel Morey obtained a patent for internal combustion engines way back in 1826 -- The Learning Kingdom's Today in History for April 1, 2000, http://www.LearningKingdom.com |
Although few will know his name in 2000 AD, Tesla will arguably be either primarily or partially responsible for an astonishing range of the technology which sustains humanity by that time. AC electrical systems, induction motors, steam and gas turbines, improved transformers and generators, radio, radar, and fluorescent lights comprise some elements of his contribution to human welfare and progress worldwide. Tesla also patented VTOL aircraft, cryogenic engineering designs, ideas related to super-conduction, and may have done some preliminary work regarding spacecraft construction, as well as voiced some ideas regarding weather control and guided missiles. Tesla demonstrated wireless remote controlled boats and designed torpedoes for military purposes. His concepts regarding ELF (Extra Low Frequency) waves will roughly a century later become realized in the USA's most secure global communications method with its nuclear submarines.
Tesla will later claim to have produced stable ball lightning at will as early as 1900-- a feat of so-called 'plasma confinement' which will elude others even decades into the future. Matters like these will prove extremely important to 21st century research regarding subjects like practical nuclear fusion. Tesla also apparently picks up interstellar radio waves (generated by stars) decades before anyone else will officially recognize such phenomena. The eerie rhythm of the signals convinces Tesla they are being beamed from intelligent sources, and spurs in him a fervent desire to respond. Ahead of his time in so many ways, Tesla also believes solar and wind power should be developed to conserve nonrenewable resources.
In 1900 Tesla will begin attempting to design and construct a global system of wireless communications and power transmission surprisingly similar in concept to that which the world will not in actuality possess for more than another century later. The system he envisions apparently would resemble very much the pocket radios, cell phones, and Global Positioning System citizens of the developed states circa 2000+ will be familiar with-- only with no need for batteries to power the devices (note that such technologies would allow for internet-type workings as well).
One consuming ambition of Tesla's is the wireless transmission of electrical power to all the world's people. He believes there is a way to provide such power from one or several locations to anyone equipped with a minimal receiver station, antenna, and ground.
All the above may represent only a fraction of Tesla's genius. Wealthy businessmen like J. P. Morgan will withdraw their support for Tesla's research and development projects while the genius is still in his prime, thereby possibly robbing civilization of still greater innovations which may have come from the inventor under more fortuitous circumstances. The financiers themselves also may lose great fortunes by pulling out when they do-- because Tesla was apparently putting them into the ground floor of advanced radio broadcasting, among other things, which could have profitably competed with the transatlantic communications cable as well as other concerns of the time.
Yes, the world might take a wholly different course in the centuries ahead, if only Tesla were permitted sufficient capital to continue his efforts in the time left to him.
In his later years Tesla claims to be working on cosmological concepts surpassing Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, as well as revealing a whole new source of tappable energy humanity had not yet realized exists. These things may or may not have been related to Tesla's lifelong beliefs regarding a media faster than light. In his expectations for the future, Tesla describes all nations possessing defensive force fields and other technologies which make war obsolete. He also frequently speaks of ideas regarding the creation and use of various particle beam technologies.
Eventually some portions of Tesla's personal papers will apparently be confiscated by US government agents, and many references to his concepts among federal government archives will vanish without explanation. After Tesla's death a confusing scramble involving various authorities (including the FBI) as well as heirs and biographical journalists will swirl around decades worth of Tesla's papers and prototype models (apparently consisting of at minimum two truckloads of materials, plus another 30 barrels/bundles or so). The result will be great uncertainty regarding just what the great inventor did or did not accomplish in his later years. Similar suspect episodes will recur a couple years later, involving USA military intelligence or research efforts, possibly relating to Tesla's papers regarding beam weaponry.
Tesla is undeniably brilliant, and possesses an uncanny understanding of electromagnetic phenomena. But he is also obsessive and only sporadically concerns himself with practicality or commercial needs. Beyond middle-age his brilliance will seem to fade in and out, as well as do battle with the quirks of Tesla's own personality...
Tesla himself in his last years often implies there are restrictions on what he can tell others about his most recent works.
Tesla will die in early 1943.
Unfortunately for those who will try to match Tesla's engineering feats many decades later, many of his secrets Tesla never committed to paper, but kept only in his head-- so they will die with him.
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-- Tesla: Man out of Time by Margaret Cheney, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1981
-- Milestones in Technology, February 26, 1999, The Knoxville News-Sentinel ["http://www.knoxnews.com/"], and Nikola Tesla - Serbian/American Inventor ["http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96jul/tesla.html"] (Tesla site found 5-30-99) |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,888 AD: Brazilian Princess Isabel puts into effect a new law ending slavery in that nation; The cliff city of Mesa Verde is found in America nearly 700 years after it was built.
| -- Today in History for May 13, 2000, http://www.LearningKingdom.com |
The lost city of Mesa Verde, or Cliff Palace, is discovered in Colorado. It's a veritable castle built into the side of a cliff by native americans, capable of housing some 400 people. In 20 nearby canyons exist some 500 plus other native american ruins as well. The natives lived in the area as early as 1 AD, then suddenly took to building settlements into caves and cliff faces around 1200 AD, apparently for protection from the elements as well as human enemies. Only some 80 years later they abandoned their cliff dwellings, apparently due to a severe 24 year drought in the area which began around 1276. It seems they eventually merged with the Pueblo Indians to the south.
| -- The Palace in the Cliff, The Unnatural Museum - Lost Cities ["http://www.unmuseum.org/lostcity.htm"] by Lee Krystek |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,880s AD: Germany enacts programs of social security and health insurance for its citizensHealth insurance prorgams also are different among nations, but usually consist of either voluntary or mandatory prepaid plans for the financing of medical services.
Germany's health insurance program of this time is mandatory.
| -- page 764, "social security", page 357, "health insurance", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 1989, Columbia University Press |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,890 AD: The USAmerican federal government begins trying to curb the social and economic damages and injustices incurred by business monopolies, via the Sherman Antitrust Act| -- United States History: 1890, page 501, The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996, World Almanac Books |
The law is designed to curb excesses determined to exist in the steel, oil, and railroad industries of the time. It will eventually lead to events like the dissolution of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil into 34 separate companies by 1911.
| -- Antitrust Law Intended to Maintain Competition, Tech Headlines, Yahoo/Reuters, June 7, 2000 |
USAmerican political party dominance immediately before and during this noteworthy time
Contemporary/short term party precedence in power regarding this period (in power during noted events and/or during the 4-6 years preceding same events):
President: Republican, Benjamin Harrison, contemporary; 1889-1893
Grover Cleveland, Democrat, preceding term
| -- The Universal Almanac 1996, Andrews & McMeel, pages 70-91, and other sources |
Senate: Republican majority, contemporary (51st Congress)
Republican controlled 48th, 49th, 50th during the preceding 4-6 years
| -- U.S. Senate Statistics: Majority and Minority Parties ["http://www.senate.gov/learning/stat_13.html"] and Senate Statistics Vice Presidents ["http://www.senate.gov/learning/learn_history_statistics.html"] |
House of Representatives: Republican majority, contemporary (51st House)
Democratically controlled 48th, 49th, 50th, during the preceding 4-6 years
| -- Political Divisions of the House of Representatives (1789 to Present) ["http://clerkweb.house.gov/histrecs/househis/lists/divisionh.htm"], Source: Committee on House Administration. Charlie Rose, Chairman. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1994. History of the United States House of Representatives, 1789-1994 Washington: 1994 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,894 AD: New Zealand establishes a law regarding minimum wages for workersVirtually all world nations will soon follow the lead of New Zealand in this matter.
| -- page 532, "minimum wage", The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 1989, Columbia University Press |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
1,899 AD: Certain types of bullets are outlawed for war use; By 12-31-1899 the Dow Jones Industrial Average stands at 66.08
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-- Humane killing by Rob Edwards, From New Scientist, 4 December 1999
-- INVESTOR'S GUIDE 2002 Warren Buffett on the Stock Market ["http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=205324"] By Carol Loomis; FORTUNE; December 10, 2001 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
Around 1900: The status quo among people living in the developed nationsAverage life expectancy at birth circa 1900 is around 46 years (this is apparently a statistic for USAmericans).
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45 years average life expectancy at birth from...US Health Experts List Century's 'Top Ten' Health Goals, Reuters Health/Yahoo!, October 3, 2000, SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association 2000;284:1696
Another source gives 47.3 as the life expectancy in 1900. At this time professional medicine remains more an art than a science, with the primary treatment aids available being alcohol and opiates. The public-at-large doesn't enjoy the safety benefits of anti-biotics, food refrigeration, or sanitary environments. Most have no indoor plumbing. There's no radio or telephone. The stink of manure and decaying trash is ubiquitous. There's no electricity generally available. Even the wealthy have to make do with expensive gas lighting which is also very dangerous, due to explosion risks. But the very richest can own an automobile-- though the lack of many paved roads limits their usefulness. -- The slowing pace of progress ["http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/001225/change.htm"] By Phillip J. Longman, US News & World Report, found on or about 12-30-2000 According to still other sources, 46 was the average life expectancy at birth around 1900 (this figure is apparently for USAmerica and perhaps other developed countries of the time). -- Scientists seek secrets of centenarians By ANJETTA McQUEEN, Associated Press; May 1, 2001; Nando Media/Nando Times |
The leading causes of death in USAmerica include pneumonia, influenza, and tuberculosis.
The death rate in USAmerica is about 1,719 per 100,000.
| -- Changes in Leading Causes of Death in U.S., 1900-1993, page 220, Health and Medicine, The United States, The Universal Almanac 1996, Andrews and McMeel, 1995 |
The average adult USAmerican will be sleeping nine hours per night in 1910.
| -- DATA POINTS: The Need for Zzz's, Scientific American: Science and The Citizen: IN BRIEF: August 2000 ["http://www.sciam.com/2000/0800issue/0800inbrief.html"] |
In 1,899 half of all American adults had lost all their natural teeth.
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-- Upcoming Conference Highlights Changes In Dentistry, http://www.unisci.com, 20-Dec-1999
Around 1900 multiple technological revolutions are in the offing. Radio, the telephone, the automobile, and electrification among them. -- New Economy's Unnatural Resources by Clay Shirky, From the December 26, 2000 issue, http://www.business2.com/content/magazine/breakthrough/2000/12/18/23345 |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents
Around 1900: The status quo of the worldThe median age of people worldwide today is about 20. This value may have remained pretty much unchanged for centuries or even millennia, up to now.
| -- Congressional Briefing 23Feb98, World Population Implosion? Nicholas Eberstadt, Population Research Institute |
Global average life expectancy at birth around 1900 may be about 30. In 1900 empires and monarchies are the predominant governments worldwide. Only 12.4% of world-wide humanity live today within 25 somewhat democratically governed nations.
| -- Good Times By Ronald Bailey; Reason Magazine; April 25, 2001 |
Note that the average human life expectancy at birth in 1900 as given above-- if accurate-- marks the low end of such numbers for the human race, reaching back as far as 3500 BC. And an expectancy of 30-40 was pretty much a consistent trend for the entire period between 3500 BC and 1900 AD.
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By 3,500 BC (the beginning of recorded history),
average life expectancies at birth were no more than 30-40 at most.
-- book reviews about aging in Scientific American, found on or about 1-1-97 |
Worldwide Christianity in 1900 is mostly a european religion (including the european dominated north american population).
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80% of Christians in 1900 were North Americans or Europeans.
-- The Changing Face of the Church By Kenneth L. Woodward; NEWSWEEK; MSNBC; April 16, 2001, and other sources |
Signposts 1,801 AD-1,900 AD Contents