Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher. Among the leading intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the first United States Postmaster General. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions. He founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company, Philadelphia's first fire department, and the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation. Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat." To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."
Chess is a board game played between two players. It is sometimes called Western, international or modern chess to distinguish it from related games such as xiangqi. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from the medieval game of Shatranj (Arabic) or chatrang, which itself evolved from the ancient (Indian) game, Chaturanga. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.
October 14 is the 287th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 78 days remain until the end of the year.
September 21 is the 264th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 101 days remain until the end of the year. It is occasionally the day of the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the day of the vernal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere, though this usually falls on September 22 or September 23.
1860 (MDCCCLX) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1860th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 860th year of the 2nd millennium, the 60th year of the 19th century, and the 1st year of the 1860s decade. As of the start of 1860, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Pavia is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, 35 kilometres south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards from 572 to 774.
This page indexes the individual year in art pages; see also art periods. This list is exclusively for the visual arts; for music, see Timeline of musical events.
The 103rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1993, to January 3, 1995, during the final weeks of George H. W. Bush's presidency and the first two years of Bill Clinton's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Twenty-first Census of the United States in 1990.
This is a list of scientific phenomena and concepts named after people. For other lists of eponyms, see eponym.
The Washington and Lee University School of Law is the professional graduate law school of Washington and Lee University. It is a private American Bar Association-accredited law school located in Lexington in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. Facilities are on the historic campus of Washington and Lee University in Sydney Lewis Hall. W&L Law has a total enrollment of approximately 365 students in the Juris Doctor program and a 6-to-1 student to faculty ratio.
Adams is a common surname of English and Scottish origin, meaning "son of Adam".
This article documents the progress of significant human–computer chess matches.
William Edward "Butch" Hanford was an American chemist who is best known for developing the modern process to make multipurpose material polyurethane. Hanford's most notable discovery occurred while working with fellow chemist Donald Fletcher Holmes at DuPont. On June 2, 1942, Hanford was awarded a patent for his process. Currently, this method is responsible for manufacturing many of the plastics that are used in medicine, the automotive industry, and consumer products. Hanford's later accomplishments included the development of the first liquid household detergent and a new kind of ammunition for Winchester-Western Company. For his work, Hanford was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991. The New York Times has noted that Hanford's developments were "monumental."
Edvard Beneš was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the President of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938 and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 1945, during World War II.