makerbirthdays

Maker Birthdays: Douglas Engelbart

Maker Birthdays: Douglas Engelbart

Chances are you have Douglas C. Engelbart to thank for what you’re holding in your hand right now.

I’m talking about your computer mouse, of course.

Dr. Engelbart was born on this date in 1925. In 1967, while working at the prestigious Stanford Research Institute, he applied for a patent on an “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System,” which issued in 1970, although, per his Wikipedia article, he never actually received any royalties on it. He has been widely honored for his contributions to human-computer interface development.

Dr. Engelbart has four children and nine grandchildren, and today he’s 85. Congratulations and happy birthday, sir!

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan
Maker Birthdays: Isaac Newton

Maker Birthdays: Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 (died March 31, 1727). While this astoundingly-talented English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and natural philosopher is clearly one of the most influential scientists in human history, most of what’s generally known about him is more iconic/symbolic than real (think: countless Saturday morning cartoon depictions of apples falling on […]

Continue Reading Gareth Branwyn2
Maker Birthdays: Johannes Kepler

Maker Birthdays: Johannes Kepler

Happy Birthday Johannes Kepler! Kepler is best known for establishing laws of planetary motion (explained in the above vid series) which later helped form the basis of Isaac Newton’s work on gravity. His research in the field of optics resulted in the invention of the “Keplerian” refracting telescope. For more Keplerian info, check out JohannesKepler.info […]

Continue Reading Collin Cunningham
Maker Birthdays: Eli Whitney, Jr.

Maker Birthdays: Eli Whitney, Jr.

On this day in 1765, Eli Whitney, Jr. was born in Westborough, Massachusetts. Whitney would go on, most famously, to invent the cotton gin, which revolutionized cotton production in the antebellum South. He eventually became the most famous early American proponent of interchangeable parts, and also invented one of the world’s first milling machines. Whitney died January 8, 1825, and is buried with many of his famous descendants in an historic cemetery in New Haven.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan4
Maker Birthdays: H.G. Wells

Maker Birthdays: H.G. Wells

Happy birthday to H.G. Wells, born September 21, 1866. It would be hard to quantify the impact that ol’ Herbert George had on science fiction, science and technology, and even politics and culture. As with many sci-fi writers, I’m certain that countless scientists and engineers decided to go into their field inspired by his fantastic […]

Continue Reading Gareth Branwyn
Maker Birthdays: Guglielmo Marconi

Maker Birthdays: Guglielmo Marconi

On this day in way back in 1874 Marchese Guglielmo Marconi was born. At the beginning of the 20th century he played a pivotal role in the development of wireless communication. By incorporating and refining preexisting technologies, Marconi’s radiotelegraph sent messages over unprecedented distances. In 1902 his experimental transmissions made it all the way across […]

Continue Reading Collin Cunningham8