Post by Steam Girl on Jan 1, 2009 0:52:12 GMT -5
Today in Victoriental History
Victorian Era: 1837-1901
Edo Period: 1603-1868
Meiji Period: October 23, 1868-July 30, 1912
January 1st is not only the first day of the New Year, it is also the day that in…
1852 British chemist, mineralist, and zoologist, John George Children died at age 75
1873 Japan begins using the Gregorian Calendar
1877 Queen Victoria of Britain is proclaimed Empress of India
January 2nd
1886 Apsley Cherry-Garrard, an English Antartic exploror, was born
1892 Sir George Biddell Airy, British Astronomer Royal, died
1893 Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America introduced railroad chronometers
January 3rd
1733 Sir Richard Arkwright, English industrialist and inventor, was born
1835 Sakamoto Ryoma, leader of the movement to overthrow the Takugawa bakufu, was born
1886 The Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Choshu seize power
January 4th
In 1848 Prince Katsura Taro, general of the Imperial Japanese Army and three-time Prime Minister of Japan, was born.
In 1882 Jon Willian Draper, English-born scientist who took the first astrophotography and made portrait photography possible, died at age 70.
In 1884 the Fabian Society, a group of intellectual socialists, was founded in London.
January 5th
It seems a lot of people slept in on this day…
January 6th
In 1840 Fanny Burney aka Madame d’Arblay, English novelist who inspired such authors as Jane Austen and William Thackeray with her novels Evelina, Cecilia, Camilla, and The Wanderer, died at age 88.
January 7th
In 1837 the HMS Beagle, originally a 10-gun brig-sloop that was adapted into a survey barque and used in three expeditions, dropped anchor on the coast of the Chronos Archipelago
In 1894 inventor William Dickson received the patent for motion picture film
Today is the celebration of Nanakusa-no-sekku (Festival of Seven Herbs) in Japan. On this day the Japnese eat rice porridge mixed with seven herbs (Daikon, Nipplewort, Cudweed, Chickweed, Turnip, Water Dropwort, and Shepherd’s purse) to bring longevity and health.
January 8th
In 1824 Wilkie Collins, novelist and editor for Charles Dickens, was born.
In 1843, Investigator Frederick Abberline, a prominent police figure in the Jack the Ripper case, was born.
January 30th
In 1867 Emperor Komei died at age 35 of small pox (odd since he was never ill previously in his life) and was the last emperor to be given a posthumous name.
January 31st
In 1836 John Cheyne, English doctor and author, died after struggling with his health since his retirement in 1831
In 1892 “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, died after years of ill health both mentally and physically.