Topic: Biography (Page 11)
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๐ Nellie Bly
Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran; May 5, 1864 โ January 27, 1922), better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days in emulation of Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, and for an exposรฉ in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within. She pioneered her field and launched a new kind of investigative journalism.
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- "Nellie Bly" | 2025-02-05 | 87 Upvotes 14 Comments
๐ Ivan Chisov
Ivan Mikhailovich Chisov (Russian: ะะฒะฐะฝ ะะธั ะฐะนะปะพะฒะธั ะงะธัะพะฒ, Ukrainian: ะะฒะฐะฝ ะะธั ะฐะนะปะพะฒะธั ะงะธััะพะฒ; 1916โ1986) was a Soviet Air Force lieutenant who survived a fall of approximately 7,000 meters (23,000 feet). Some references give the spelling of his last name as Chissov (Russian: ะงะธััะพะฒ, Ukrainian: ะงะธััะพะฒ).
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- "Ivan Chisov" | 2019-10-04 | 69 Upvotes 31 Comments
๐ Count Binface
Count Binface is a satirical perennial candidate created by the British comedian Jonathan David Harvey in 2018. He was a candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the 2019 United Kingdom general election against the then prime minister, Boris Johnson. He also stood in the London Mayoral elections in 2021 and 2024.
In earlier elections, Harvey stood as Lord Buckethead, but was forced to change the character due to a copyright dispute with the American filmmaker Todd Durham, who created Lord Buckethead for his 1984 science fiction film Hyperspace. Since then Harvey has used the forced name change to his advantage by using the platform of Binface to promote electoral participation, with the slogan, "Make your vote COUNT".
In 2019, another individual contested the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat as Buckethead, representing the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, to which Binface said he "look[s] forward to both the hustings and to challenging [him] to take part in a receptacle-to-receptacle debate".
When Johnson resigned as an MP in 2023, Binface again stood as a candidate in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, finishing eighth of 17. Originally standing as an independent, since 2023 his affiliation has been given as Count Binface Party on ballot papers. Count Binface plans to contest the seat of current UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in Richmond and Northallerton, in the 2024 general election on 4 July.
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- "Count Binface" | 2024-06-25 | 56 Upvotes 41 Comments
๐ Goro Shimura has died
Gorล Shimura (ๅฟๆ ไบ้, Shimura Gorล, 23 February 1930 โ 3 May 2019) was a Japanese mathematician and Michael Henry Strater Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Princeton University who worked in number theory, automorphic forms, and arithmetic geometry. He was known for developing the theory of complex multiplication of abelian varieties and Shimura varieties, as well as posing the TaniyamaโShimura conjecture which ultimately led to the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
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- "Goro Shimura has died" | 2019-05-04 | 86 Upvotes 10 Comments
๐ Seki Takakazu
Seki Takakazu (้ข ๅญๅ, 1642 โ December 5, 1708), also known as Seki Kลwa (้ข ๅญๅ), was a Japanese mathematician and author of the Edo period.
Seki laid foundations for the subsequent development of Japanese mathematics known as wasan; and he has been described as "Japan's Newton".
He created a new algebraic notation system and, motivated by astronomical computations, did work on infinitesimal calculus and Diophantine equations. A contemporary of German polymath mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz and British mathematician Isaac Newton, Seki's work was independent. His successors later developed a school dominant in Japanese mathematics until the end of the Edo period.
While it is not clear how much of the achievements of wasan are Seki's, since many of them appear only in writings of his pupils, some of the results parallel or anticipate those discovered in Europe. For example, he is credited with the discovery of Bernoulli numbers. The resultant and determinant (the first in 1683, the complete version no later than 1710) are attributed to him. These achievements are astonishing, considering that Japanese mathematics before his appearance was at such a primitive stage. For example, comprehensive introduction of 13th century Chinese algebra was made as late as 1671, by Kazuyuki Sawaguchi.
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- "Seki Takakazu" | 2019-06-21 | 84 Upvotes 12 Comments
๐ Fazlur Khan: The engineer who made it possible to live in the sky
Fazlur Rahman Khan (Bengali: เฆซเฆเฆฒเงเฆฐ เฆฐเฆนเฆฎเฆพเฆจ เฆเฆพเฆจ, Fozlur Rรดhman Khan) (3 April 1929 โ 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of tubular designs" for high-rises, Khan was also a pioneer in computer-aided design (CAD). He was the structural engineer of the Sears Tower working with Architect Bruce Graham, since renamed Willis Tower, the tallest building in the world from 1973 until 1998, and the 100-story John Hancock Center.
Khan, more than any other individual, ushered in a renaissance in skyscraper construction during the second half of the 20th century. He has been called the "Einstein of structural engineering" and the "Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century" for his innovative use of structural systems that remain fundamental to modern skyscraper design and construction. In his honor, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat established the Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal, as one of their CTBUH Skyscraper Awards.
Although best known for skyscrapers, Khan was also an active designer of other kinds of structures, including the Hajj airport terminal, the McMathโPierce solar telescope, and several stadium structures.
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- "Fazlur Khan: The engineer who made it possible to live in the sky" | 2014-06-12 | 86 Upvotes 9 Comments
๐ Kane Kramer is credited with inventing the digital audio player in 1979
Kane Kramer is a British inventor and businessman. He is credited with the initial invention of the digital audio player, in 1979.
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- "Kane Kramer is credited with inventing the digital audio player in 1979" | 2012-10-21 | 68 Upvotes 27 Comments
๐ Ichiki Shirล
Ichiki Shirล (ๅธๆฅ ๅ้, January 29, 1828 โ February 12, 1903) was a pioneering Japanese photographer.
Ichiki was born in Satsuma Province (now Kagoshima Prefecture) in Kyลซshลซ on 24 December 1828. He excelled in the study of topics related to gunpowder production in the Takashima-ryลซ school of gunnery. This talent was recognized by Shimazu Nariakira, the daimyล of Satsuma, who selected Ichiki to be one of his personal retainers. In 1848, Shimazu obtained the first daguerreotype camera ever imported into Japan. Ever fascinated by Western technology, he ordered his retainers (including Ichiki) to study it and produce working photographs. Due to the limitations of the lens used and the lack of formal training, it took many years for a quality photograph to be created, but on 17 September 1857, Ichiki created a portrait of Shimazu in formal attire. All this was recorded in detail in Ichiki's memoirs, which were compiled in 1884.
This photograph became an object of worship in Terukuni jinja after Shimazu's death, but it later went missing. Lost for a century, the daguerreotype was discovered in a warehouse in 1975 and was later determined to be the oldest daguerreotype in existence that was created by a Japanese photographer. For this reason, it was designated an Important Cultural Property by the government of Japan in 1999, the first photograph so designated.
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- "Ichiki Shirล" | 2023-12-22 | 87 Upvotes 8 Comments
๐ Ilya Zhitomirskiy
Ilya Zhitomirskiy (12 October 1989 โ 12 November 2011) was a Russian-American software developer and entrepreneur. Zhitomirskiy was a co-founder and developer of the Diaspora social network and the Diaspora free software that powers it.
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- "Ilya Zhitomirskiy" | 2013-01-13 | 86 Upvotes 7 Comments
๐ Freeman Dyson Has Died
Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923ย โ 28 February 2020) was an English-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his work in quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. He was professor emeritus in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, a member of the Board of Visitors of Ralston College and a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Dyson originated several concepts that bear his name, such as Dyson's transform, a fundamental technique in additive number theory, which he developed as part of his proof of Mann's theorem; the Dyson tree, a hypothetical genetically-engineered plant capable of growing in a comet; the Dyson series, a perturbative series where each term is represented by Feynman diagrams; the Dyson sphere, a thought experiment that attempts to explain how a space-faring civilization would meet its energy requirements with a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output; and Dyson's eternal intelligence, a means by which an immortal society of intelligent beings in an open universe could escape the prospect of the heat death of the universe by extending subjective time to infinity while expending only a finite amount of energy.
Dyson believed global warming is caused merely by increased carbon dioxide but that some of the effects of this are favourable and not taken into account by climate scientists, such as increased agricultural yield. He was skeptical about the simulation models used to predict climate change, arguing that political efforts to reduce causes of climate change distract from other global problems that should take priority. He also signed the World Climate Declaration that there "is no Climate Emergency".
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- "Freeman Dyson Has Died" | 2020-02-28 | 91 Upvotes 2 Comments