#22 December 1887

[math1089]

Remembering Ramanujan: A Magic Square Tribute on His Death Anniversary

While asleep, I had an unusual experience. There was a red screen formed by flowing blood, as it were. I was observing it. Suddenly a hand began to write on the screen. I became all attention. That hand wrote a number of elliptic integrals. They stuck to my mind. As soon as I woke up, I committed them to writing. Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan was a renowned Indian mathematician who…

[yeoldenews]

(source: The St. Louis Post Dispatch, December 22, 1887.)

[whencyclopedia]

Battle of Kasserine Pass

The Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia (18-22 February 1943) was won by Axis German and Italian forces led by field marshal Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) against a combined Allied army of British, French, and US troops. The last fling of the famed Afrika Korps, Kasserine proved to be an inconsequential victory as the Allies rallied in force and definitively pushed the Axis armies out of North Africa just a few months later.

Grant Tank, Kasserine Pass

US Signal Corps Photograph Collection (Public Domain)

Operation Torch

The Allies (the United States and Britain and its empire) were keen to open a second front in Europe against Germany and Italy but first had to secure North Africa, which could provide a platform for an invasion of Italy. The Western Desert Campaigns had been swinging back and forth across the desert since 1940. Finally, the pendulum was ceasing to swing, beginning with the success of the British Eight Army at the Second Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942) and followed up a few days later by Operation Torch, a massive amphibious and air operation, which landed three Allied armies in French Morocco and Algeria. As the British Eighth Army led by General Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976) moved in from the east and the Allied army (US, British, and French forces) of Torch commanded by Lieutenant-General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) moved from the west, the Axis armies were reduced to holding a pocket in northern Tunisia. Without sufficient supplies, the Axis field marshal Erwin Rommel recommended to the leader of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), who was then wholly preoccupied with the Russian Front, that North Africa be abandoned. Rommel's advice was ignored, and he was ordered to continue the desert campaign as best he could. Aid did arrive in the form of 17,000 fresh Axis troops, who landed via Tunis through November. These reinforcements and an increase in the power of the German air force in the region, allowed the Axis armies to successfully defend their position in Tunisia at Longstop Hill (22-25 December).

The progress of the Allies was being seriously hampered by poor weather and the logistical problem of supplying the Eighth Army through the extensive minefields at El Alamein. Montgomery, too, was particularly careful to ensure the enemy could not push his army back at any point as it slowly advanced. In any case, as time pressed on and 1943 began, the Allies were only growing stronger in troop numbers and material as these poured into the multiple ports they controlled. The Axis army was gaining in strength, too, but was far from equal to that of the Allies. Allied air and sea superiority continued to ensure Axis supplies to North Africa were continuously in peril. In January 1943, 31 of the 51 Axis supply ships destined for Tunisia were sunk or damaged. Through January and February, the Axis powers lost 200,000 tons of shipping destined for Tunis.

Continue reading...

[edwinspaynes]

changing of topic when do you think the merry thieves birthdays are?

Cassie once confirmed that Matthew is a Capricorn, making his birthday anywhere between 22 December and 19 January. I think he probably is a January baby since he didn't seem to have his birthday in TLH. I'm going with 12 January 1886 because I can.

Thomas went for his travel year probably pretty shortly after turning 18. He got back 6 weeks ago as of August after 9 months abroad, which is a month and a half. Therefore his birthday is 11ish months before August, making him a September baby. Why not September 10 1885? Alastair's probably around September 20 1884. #soulmatescelebratetogether.

I think it was mentioned somewhere that James was a bit younger than Matthew. I may also think this because Charlotte was pregnant in the Wessa Baby comic. Also in the baby comic, it was snowing, meaning Matthew was probably born soon since he wasn't in the comic. I think it's around new year, making James an August or September baby like Thomas and Alastair. Maybe August 31 or Sept 1, walking the edge.

I have no idea about Christopher, I never really thought about it - but we do know he's younger than the other three. 1887. But he's in the same year as James and Matthew at school (and Thomas. Who was held back for Healh Reasons). He was probably born in the early half of the year then. I'm going with May 8th, because his lavender eyes scream Spring.

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI The Patron of Immigrants Feast Day: November 13

Before she became the patron of immigrants, she was born Maria Francesca Cabrini on July 15, 1850, in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, in the Lombard Province of Lodi, then part of the Austrian Empire. She was the youngest of the thirteen children of farmers Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini. Only four of the thirteen survived beyond adolescence.

Born two months early, Maria was small and weak as a child and remained in delicate health throughout her life. During her childhood, she visited an uncle, Don Luigi Oldini of Livagra, a priest who lived beside a swift canal. While there, she made little boats of paper, dropped violets in them, called the flowers 'missionaries', and launched them to sail off to India and China. Francesca attended a school run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at thirteen, then she graduated cum laude with a teaching degree five years later.

After her parents died in 1870, she applied for admission to the Daughters of the Sacred Heart at Arluno. These sisters were her former teachers, but reluctantly, they told her she was too frail for their life.

Cabrini took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier (Saverio) to her name to honor the Jesuit saint, St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of missionary service. She had planned, like Francis Xavier, to be a missionary in the Far East.

In November 1880, Cabrini and seven other women who had taken religious vows with her founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The sisters took in orphans and foundlings, opened a day school to help pay expenses, started classes in needlework and sold their fine embroidery to earn a little more money. The institute established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Cabrini to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza, and of Pope Leo XIII.

In September 1887, Cabrini went to seek the pope's approval to establish missions in China. Instead, he urged that she go to the United States to help the Italian immigrants who were flooding to that nation, mostly in great poverty. 'Not to the East, but to the West' was his advice.

Along with six other sisters, Cabrini left for the United States, arriving in New York City on March 31, 1889. While in New York, she encountered disappointment and difficulties. Michael Corrigan, the third archbishop of New York, who was not immediately supportive, found them housing at the convent of the Sisters of Charity. She obtained the archbishop's permission to found the Sacred Heart Orphan Asylum in rural West Park, New York, later renamed Saint Cabrini Home. She organized catechism and education classes for the Italian immigrants and provided for many orphans' needs. She established schools and orphanages despite tremendous odds. She was as resourceful as she was prayerful, finding people who would donate what she needed in money, time, labor, and support. Cabrini was naturalized as a United States citizen in 1909.

While preparing Christmas candy for local children, Cabrini died on December 22, 1917 at the age of 67 due to malaria in Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Her body was initially interred at what became Saint Cabrini Home, the orphanage she founded in West Park, Ulster County, New York. She was beatified on November 13, 1938, by Pope Pius XI, and canonized on July 7, 1946, by Pope Pius XII, a year after World War II ended. In 1950, Pope Pius XII named Frances Xavier Cabrini as the patron saint of immigrants, recognizing her efforts on their behalf across the Americas in schools, orphanages, hospitals, and prisons.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (June 17)

Albert Chmielowski was born on 20 August 1845 in Igołomia, on the outskirts of Kraków Congress Poland, as Adam Hilary Bernard Chmielowski.

He was one of the saints who inspired the vocation of the young Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II.

Born into a wealthy and aristocratic family, Adam was the oldest of four children.

Actively involved in politics from his youth, Adam lost a leg fighting in an insurrection against Czar Alexander III at age 18.

In Krakow, he became a popular artist. His talent in the subject led him to study in Munich and Paris.

A kind and compassionate person, Adam was always deeply aware of human suffering and felt called to help those in need. 

Realizing that God was calling Him to a life of service, he returned to Krakow in 1874, determined to dedicate his talents to the glory of God. 

Instead of continuing his work as an artist, he decided to care for the poor and became a Secular Franciscan, taking the name Albert.

In 1887, Albert founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants of the Poor, known as the Albertines or the Gray Brothers. 

In 1891, he then founded a community of Albertine sisters, also known as the Gray Sisters.

The Albertines organized food and shelter for the poor and homeless of any age or religion. 

Albert preached on the great crisis that results from a refusal to see and aid the suffering individuals in society.

In 1949, Pope John Paul II, who was at the time Father Karol Wojtyla, wrote a well-received play about Albert called Our God’s Brother. 

John Paul II later said that he found great spiritual support for his own vocation in the life of St. Albert, whom he saw as an example of leaving behind a world of art, literature and theater to make a radical choice for the priesthood.

Brother Albert died on Christmas Day, 25 December 1916, due to stomach cancer in the shelter that he had established.

Pope John Paul II beatified him on 22 June 1983 and canonized on 12 November 1989.

The Church celebrates St. Albert’s feast day on June 17.

[scotianostra]

John Kirk was born in Barry, Angus, near Arbroath December 19th 1832.

Another Scot that few of us will know, but his story deserves a lot more attention than it gets, he was instrumental in ending slavery in Zanzibar through his influence with the then Sultan.

Born the second of the four children of the Rev. John Kirk who was himself a keen botanist. He became interested in botany at a very early age since it was his father’s principal hobby. His father tutored him at first then he attended the local high school in Arbroath and he matriculated at the age of 15 and entered Edinburgh University in 1847 at that age first the Arts faculty then the Medical School. By the time he was 22 he graduated from the medical faculty, MD, LRCS. He was also a pupil of the famous botanist Prof. I. H. Balfour during this period

He first took a post as resident physician at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary, one of his colleagues being Joseph Lister. The Crimean war had just started and like many other young doctors Kirk sailed for the area in 1855; there he stayed until 1856 being stationed mainly at Erenkevi in the Dardanelles and at Scutari. After the Crimean episode he collected plants on Mt. Ida and Mt. Olympus before returning to London in 1856. He was soon off again, however, this time to Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Italy arriving back in London once again in 1857.

From 1858–1863 he was physician, economic botanist and naturalist (and later chief officer) to Livingstone’s Zambesi Expedition. When Livingstone first approached him about this post Kirk is reported to have been so enthusiastic that he replied ‘be ready tomorrow’. Actually being a good Scot he was not quite that impetuous and wanted to have details of ‘the necessary expenses’. Livingstone’s classic reply of 4th January 1858 was ;

‘I am not quite clear as to what you mean with regard to necessary expenses. Suppose you shoot a buffalo there will be no expense incurred in cooking and eating it. There are no inns or hotels in the country. The lodging will all be free – expeditions of this kind cannot be successful unless all the members are willing to rough it and it will be well if we all thoroughly understand this before we start. The salary is £350 per annum.‘ 

Livingstone and Kirk got on very well and in a letter, Livingstone recorded his personal views as follows 

‘The Doctor has been I can assure you a most assiduous and painstaking collector – nothing ever deterred him from doing his duty and he did it like a man. If you can confer any favour on him you will never find a more deserving recipient – this I can say after five years of constant intercourse’. 

The reason Kirk remained friends with Livingstone when so many others failed is partly due to his outstanding qualities of forbearance and understanding and partly that Kirk was the only other member of the expedition with the physical toughness and the strength of will to match Livingstone’s own. His last association with Livingstone was to act as a pall-bearer on 18 April 1874 at Livingstone’s funeral in Westminster Abbey – the others included Stanley and Jacob Wainwright, one of the Africans who had carried Livingstone’s body to the coast after his death; a long and fantastic journey of 11 months.

From 1866 to 1873 Kirk was Vice Consul for Zanzibar and later Assistant Political Agent. In 1873 he was appointed Consul General at Zanzibar and under his influence the Sultan abandoned slavery in his dominions. In 1880 he was Political Agent at Zanzibar and was created KCMG in 1881. He retired in 1887 on account of ill-health. From 1889–1890 he was a diplomat for Britain at the Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference where his long association with the problem was of enormous value. He was created KCB in 1890. He was one of those many giants produced by the Victorian era and his great strength of character shows in the various portraits which exist.

He was very interested in the practical uses of plants and during the Zambesi expedition he made experiments with Strophanthus which was used as an arrow poison by the natives in the area. He discovered its effect on the heart and sent material back to Edinburgh for more detailed investigation. As a result strophanthinum was added to the pharmacopeia and a minor industry started in Central Africa. It is still used as a heart stimulant. He was quick to see the possibilities of an area and published a report on the natural products and capabilities of various areas he visited with Livingstone. He recommended the Shire Highlands for European settlement, the Manganja Hills for coffee planting and the Batoka Highlands for cattle ranching. Kirk fostered the Zanzibar copal industry, the resin from a leguminous plant important in the manufacture of varnish. He also developed the important india-rubber trade, the rubber being obtained not from Hevea (then not grown in the Old World) but from wild climbers of the genus Landolphia. 

John Kirk was also one of the earliest amateur photographers and certainly the first to take photographs of vegetation in the Zambesi area if not in tropical Africa. Wax negatives of the 1859 photographs are still extant and quite excellent prints taken from them. Many of these have been reproduced in Coupland’s fascinating book ‘Kirk on the Zambesi’ and by Foster in his "The Zambesi Journal and letters of Dr. John Kirk" and "The Zambesi Doctors".

Pics are of John Kirk, second is with his wife and daughter, the fourth pic is  Sultan of Zanzibar, Sayyid Sir Barghash bin Sa'id (ruled 1870-1888). Other pics were taken by Kirk during his years in Africa.

More about Dr Kirk and his time in Africa here https://www.abctales.com/story/angusfolklore/sir-john-kirk-and-end-slavery-zanzibar

[absolutedigitalbranding]

National Mathematics Day is celebrated every year on December 22 to mark the birth anniversary of legendary mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan. He was born in 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu in a humble Iyengar Brahmin family.

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[mediaheights]

National Mathematics Day is celebrated on 22nd December to commemorate the birth anniversary of the great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, born on 22 December 1887. In 2012, it was first celebrated by the Government of India as a part of its year-long centenary celebration of Ramanujan's birth anniversary.Build your brand with digital media & take the benefits of social media branding contact Media Heights. By Mediaheightspr.com#Inboundmarketing #MEDIAHEIGHTS #digitalmarketingcompany #searchengineoptimization #content #instagrammarketing #advertisingagency #web #MEDIAHEIGHTSPRCOM #best #public #relation #agency #in #chandigarh #mohali #punjab #north #india #buildingrelationships #globally #customer #internetbanding — at media heights #smo #branding #facebook #twitter #marketingonline #brand #searchengineoptimization #internetmarketing #follow #digitalagency #marketingagency #motivation #digitalmarketingtips #onlinebusiness #websitedesign #marketingonline #brand #searchengineoptimization #content #instagrammarketing #advertisingagency #web #technology #onlinebranding #branding360degree #SEO #SEObrandingagency #websiteranking #websitetrafic #Digitalmarketing #mediaheights #OnlineAdvertising #instagrammarketing #advertisingagency #web #marketingonline #brand

[amitshridhar]

Srinivasa Ramanujan (22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920)

01/06/2024, saturday 1 june 2024, 10:52 p.m, indore, madhya pradesh, india.

[livesanskrit]

Send from Sansgreet Android App. Sanskrit greetings app from team @livesanskrit .

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Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Srinivasa Ramanujan FRS (22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems then considered unsolvable.

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[brookstonalmanac]

Events 2.8 (before 1950)

421 – Constantius III becomes co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah. 1347 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos. 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, unsuccessfully rebels against Queen Elizabeth I. 1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the second-oldest institution of higher education in the Thirteen Colonies, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II. 1807 – Napoleon defeats the coalition forces of Russian General Bennigsen and Prussian General L'Estocq at the Battle of Eylau. 1817 – An army led by Grand Marshal Las Heras crosses the Andes to join San Martín in the liberation of Chile from Spain. 1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first and only Vice President of the United States chosen by the Senate. 1865 – Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, delaying the criminalization of slavery until the amendment's national adoption on December 6, 1865. The amendment is ultimately ratified by Delaware on February 12, 1901, the 92nd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. 1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes the adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.[22][23] 1879 – England's cricket team, led by Lord Harris, is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney. 1885 – The first Japanese immigrants arrive in Hawaii. 1887 – The Dawes Act is enacted, authorizing the U.S. President to divide Native American tribal land into individual allotments. 1904 – Japanese forces launch a surprise attack against Russian-controlled Port Arthur, marking the start of the Russo-Japanese war. 1904 – The Dutch Colonial Army's Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch a military campaign in the Dutch East Indies' Northern Sumatra region, leading to the deaths of thousands of civilians. 1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce. 1915 – D. W. Griffith's controversial landmark film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles. 1924 – The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada. 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Republican forces establish the Interprovincial Council of Santander, Palencia and Burgos in Cantabria. 1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore. 1945 – World War II: British and Canadian forces commence Operation Veritable to occupy land between the Maas and Rhine rivers. 1945 – World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet POWs from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde, Usedom. 1946 – The People's Republic of Korea is dissolved in the North and replaced by the communist-controlled Provisional People's Committee of North Korea.

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

The history of the History Center, Part II

By Jonathan Monfiletto

A trustee of the Yates County History Center once asked me to look into the happenings of the History Center from the time it was founded in 1860 as the Yates County Historical Society until it was re-chartered in the 1920s as the Yates County Genealogical and Historical Society. My answer back to him was, indeed I could not find much of a record of activity of the historical society from about the mid-1880s until the late-1920s when the organization was re-formed.

In fact, from its incorporation on February 4, 1860, the Yates County Historical Society – despite being founded and operated by some of the pioneers of the county and their descendants – seems to have petered out rather quickly. Within a quarter of a century, the organization may have gone dormant – or it may just not have been as active and noticed in the community as it once was.

A newspaper notice dated December 18, 1885 states: “Why not reorganize the Yates County Historical Society? … We should be very glad to see this society placed on solid footing. There is a vacancy in the office of President. Important work could and ought to be done this winter. What say the members of the Society to a thoro [sic] organization.” However, an article in the Penn Yan Express of May 11, 1887 carries the proceedings of the Historical Society’s annual meeting, so perhaps the latter statement in the last sentence of the above paragraph is the true one.

Still, the Historical Society did apparently go dormant or extinct over the next 20 years or so. Beginning November 29, 1907, the Rushville Chronicle (whose content largely seems to duplicate that of the Yates County Chronicle) put calls out for the group. “If some of the people of Penn Yan would get together and call a meeting for the organization of a Yates County Historical Society there are a number of interested citizens of Jerusalem who would gladly join in such a commendable enterprise,” the first notice states. “Many interesting and important matters would thus be conserved, and new developments would be brought to light that are in the background, and which would be of inestimable value. The shadows of time too swiftly obliterate the footprints of our race. Every township in Yates county is storied with a rich fund of local history, wanting only the patient research of one who loves the work of developing the facts, to render a service of signal gratification to many people of the present period and of greater moment to succeeding generations, as the only means of any information of the people and events of the past upon the soil and scenes of the newly inhabitants. Every true man has a just pride in his ancestral domain, and will treasure its history, if developed, and perpetuate it as an heir loom [sic]. Who will start the nucleus in Penn Yan? Other counties have flourishing Historical Societies. Why not our own loved Yates?”

On March 27, 1908, the Rushville Chronicle (and probably the Yates County Chronicle) asserted: “Yates county furnishes abundant material to warrant the organization of a historical society. Little Yates is rich in tradition, in incident and in interesting experiences. … We trust the matter of organizing a Yates County Historical Society will receive active encouragement. There are an abundance of reasons why it should exist.” In response, on April 10, 1908, Miles A. Davis wrote to the newspapers: “I, for one, most heartily approve your recent suggestive article for the organization of a Yates County Historical Society. There is a wealth of historical material in every township which can be developed and conserved through organization, with stated meetings and suitable quarters.”

Nearly a decade later, the Rushville Chronicle of September 22, 1916 recites a story that “was reported at a meeting of the Yates County Historical Society,” though an article in the newspaper on December 21, 1917 seems to indicate the society was in the process of being organized. Yet, this process appears to have taken place in fits and starts, as the Rushville Chronicle of July 18, 1919 put out another call: “Do we wish to forget? Are we going to allow all of our traditions to fade away and be gone because we are too dull, or stupid, or indifferent to realize the value of a past which is wondrously rich in good things, and from which we constantly may draw healthful inspiration? We hope and believe not. And because we believe the undercurrent of devotion to that which has gone before us is strong and steady, we want to see a Yates County Historical Society organized.”

More fit and starts happened over nearly another decade, until the pace of the processed seemed to pick up in the late 1920s. The Chronicle Express of September 9, 1926 reports, “A number of citizens of Yates county during the past few weeks have been urging the organization of a county-wide historical society to preserve the many articles and relics of great historic value which are now in the county but which may at any time be lost.” On December 8, 1927, the newspaper reported a board of directors for the historical had been named. An advertisement a few months later on February 16, 1928 sought suggestions for a new name for the organization. Apparently, the Yates County Historical Society was an organization still chartered by the New York State Education Department, but its reincarnation could not charter itself under that name.

“Inasmuch as this organization has long been inactive, attempts were made to have the new organization substituted for the old. The department has refused to do this. Furthermore, the old membership corporation cannot be dissolved since there are no living members,” the item reads. “The new organization is therefore anxious to secure another name that will be appropriate and seeks the help of the public in securing a proper title.” This is apparently the moment when the Yates County Genealogical and History Society – the addition of an extra word constituting a new name for a new organization – was born. Indeed, the Penn Yan Democrat of January 11, 1929 notes the organization had received a charter under that name. In a letter in the Democrat on December 6, 1929, Society President Herbert D. Winters outlined the mission and objectives of the new historical society.

According to The Chronicle-Express of February 12, 1931, YCGHS held its annual meeting in its new museum space inside the Penn Yan Public Library, “giving the members of the society their first opportunity of enjoying the newly painted room, and of seeing the four new display cases and the several interesting historic articles already given or loaned for display.” Whether the historical society of 1860 had any kind of public museum space, this may have marked the first time YCGHS – or YCHS before it – had such a room. Subsequent newspaper articles reveal historical artifacts donated to YCGHS and its museum, including items connected to the Public Universal Friend.

In September 1942, it was reported the Oliver family had donated its home on the corner of Main and Chapel streets in the village of Penn Yan to the village as a community house, museum, and reading room. However, it wasn’t until January 1946 that YCGHS took action toward occupying space in what has become known as the Oliver House Museum. Then, the historical society would use the two north rooms on both the first and second floors for storage and display of historical artifacts, moving the museum collection from the library to the Oliver House. The village would make other rooms available to the organization as necessary, as other community groups shared the space inside the home built in the mid-19th century. Even then, it wasn’t until July 25, 1948 that YCGHS opened its new museum to the public, opening the space twice a week.

Starting October 1, 1949, the village trustees hired full-time custodians – Mr. and Mrs. Walter Abel – who lived in an apartment in the rear of the house and took responsibility for caring for the building. At the time, the Penn Yan Chamber of Commerce, the Penn Yan Recreation Commission, and the Yates County Red Cross had offices inside the home in addition to YCGHS’s museum. Starting July 1, 1963, the museum was open every day from 1:30 to 4 p.m. and seems to have taken on more space in the Oliver House. The basement contained displays of Native American artifacts, early carpentry and barrel making tools, and early Penn Yan fire equipment, while the attic featured displays of artifacts associated with homes, farms, and early grocery stores. On the second floor were arranged more than 200 early photographs of Penn Yan and Yates County.

In The Chronicle-Express of July 3, 1969, YCHGS advertised it had “four floors of interesting and valuable exhibits” that were available for public viewing on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons the last Saturdays of July and August, indicating the organization had taken on almost the whole of the space inside the Oliver House. In addition to the basement displays, there was a room dedicated to the Oliver family who built and lived in the home, a room highlighting the Public Universal Friend, and a room with local history books along with a collection of toys and dolls, a display of military paraphernalia, and other exhibits. In November 1974, the members of YCGHS met for the first time in three years for an open house at the Oliver House to plan a re-opening event the following May to show the public the renovations the village had completed on the building.

In February 1990, two rooms on the second floor that comprised the research suite were named in honor of Frank L. Swann, a former YCGHS president and a former Yates County historian. “Much of the research material now available in this room came from Swann’s extensive personal collection of local history files, donated to YCGHS in 1987 [the year Swann died],” an article in The Chronicle-Express notes. In August 2004, members of YCGHS opened the L. Caroline Underwood Museum next door on Chapel Street to the Oliver House Museum, in honor of the longtime Penn Yan Academy teacher who loved traveling, collecting, and history.

What is now known as the Yates County History Center celebrates 164 years since its original incorporation this week. Its mission remains to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of Yates County, increasing knowledge and understanding of the history for the betterment of present and future generations.

[filaantrocrowdfunding]

Celebrate the wonders of mathematics and unlock the true beauty of numbers on National Mathematics Day.

Calculations and mathematics play a crucial role in our daily lives. We must recognize mathematics, from the lessons we learn in school to the applications we make in our daily lives. Moreover, learning mathematics is enjoyable. It’s more engaging because of the hints and techniques. National Mathematics Day is observed annually to increase public awareness of the value of studying mathematics so that we can use it daily. Mathematicians like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Mahavira, Bhaskara II, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and many more have contributed to studying mathematics. People honour and commemorate Srinivasa Ramanujan on this unique day, remembering him for his contributions to mathematics.

Born in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India, on December 22, 1887, Srinivasa Ramanujan was an extraordinary mathematician who taught himself. Despite many obstacles, Ramanujan made a significant contribution to number theory, infinite series, continuous fractions, and mathematical analysis. His contributions to mathematics have had a lasting impact and continue to motivate mathematicians everywhere.

The foundation of critical thinking and problem-solving abilities is mathematics. It encourages people to think logically by helping them assess events, create hypotheses, and draw logical conclusions. Let’s emphasise the value of fostering these abilities in our educational institutions as we commemorate National Mathematics Day, equipping the next generation to face the difficulties of a constantly changing world.

Although some may view the field of advanced mathematics as complicated, its applications are widely used in everyday life. Mathematics is essential for everything from handling personal money to figuring out the complexities of technology. We are reminded to value the applications of mathematics that enable us to solve issues in the real world and make wise decisions.

This day is used by educational institutions, instructors, and enthusiasts to plan outreach initiatives, workshops, and seminars aimed at igniting students’ enthusiasm for mathematics. We contribute to the development of the next generation of thinkers and innovators by encouraging a love of numbers and problem-solving.

Filaantro along with Child Help Foundation has contributed to educating many underprivileged children and thanks to the donors and supporters the organisation has helped many children pass with flying colours. Technological advancements and various activities of interest in difficult subjects have helped children gain further knowledge.

Celebrate the marvels of mathematics and the beauty of numbers on National Mathematics Day. This day serves as a reminder that mathematics is a vital component of daily life and has a profound effect on the environment. We may discover mathematics’ real beauty and utilise it to solve challenging issues and improve our lives if we comprehend and value it. Thus, let’s celebrate the strength and beauty of this incredible topic by embracing the spirit of National Mathematics Day.

[mikegunnill]

First World War Kent Spies.

There were so many spies before and during World War One, that they were almost, falling over each other.

The trouble with spies of course, is that they are so hard to track down and even harder to research, changing names, birth dates, and addresses.  My mission starts in Sheerness, Kent in the United Kingdom.

Under the orders of Gustav Steinhauer 1870-1930, the head of the German Admiralty Intelligence Service, many spies were in key locations and well established locally years before the outbreak of war.  Steinhauer was so proud of his achievements he wrote a book, ‘telling-all’ after the war.

Ten years later, Losel had taken over the business and was living alone at the rear of 2 High Street in Sheerness.  He was listed as a photographer and maker of frames, of German nationality and the ‘employer.’   John Hunt died in the first quarter of 1887, aged 74 still living on the Isle of Sheppey as did his wife Mary Ann Hunt, who  died December 31 st. 1891.

In 1901 his address was Beach House, Sheerness which had a huge glass conservatory, which was used as a photographic studio.  It was noted later in the magistrates court, it also provided “uninterrupted views to Sheerness dockyard, showing the arrival and departure from the area.”  Losel had first been reported to the authorities in 1904 and a year later had been detained for taking photographs on the sea-wall at Sheerness.

Karl Hentschel ran a successful family spy ring in Chatham and visited Sheerness often.  In Central Intelligence Agency files released in 2015, they gave  1884-1959 as his birth and death. 

Part of his bargaining with the British authorities forwards the end of his spy days in Kent, he provided Scotland Yard with details of his previous spy-ring.  

 Hentschel said Losel was a German agent in a statement of August 1914, and had been for some years.  He also revealed that Losel took regular trips to Germany with his photographic portfolio. 

His early photographic cards were labelled as Franz Heinrich Losel.  As war hysteria against Germany increased, the name was changed to a more anglicised, Francis Henry Losel.  This didn’t help the Sheerness locals who knew him well and didn’t speak to him, when out walking.  

On the outbreak of war, local children made their feelings known and smashed his studio conservatory with stones, and it was never used again. 

On one such occasion, he took photographs on board HMS Victoria, during March 1890.  A group photograph was taken on the forecastle deck of the ship and it proved to be, one of the last images of the crew in England before the ship sank.  

During exercises on June 22, 1893, near Tripoli, Syria now Lebanon, the ship went down within 15 minutes after a collision with HMS Camperdown and a loss of 358 crew. Photographs of the crew of HMS Victoria and many other ships visiting Sheerness may have been included in his portfolio visits to Germany.  A photograph of the crew of HMS Victoria was shown earlier, as my picture number one.  It was found, after a long search at the National Archives, Kew,  and the image has not been published before.  The connection hadn’t been made, that the crew, while in Sheerness port, had been photographed  by a German spy.

Losel spent nearly 30 years in Sheerness as a photographer and for various reasons, was well known.  Remembered by a Sheerness resident Ivy Russell in Bygone Kent volume 37, number 6 “ As a sinister, menacing figure who frightened her as a child.”  He was also recorded at the local police station as “a suspicious German photographer who spends a good deal of money, but does little or no work.”

Losel was one of 24 interned aliens moved from Brixton Prison to Reading in January 1916.  He returned to Brixton on August 6, 1917.  He hadn’t been convicted of anything and there wasn’t any evidence, he just detained as a foreign alien.  It is thought he was finally deported back to Germany in 1919.

Losel was deemed ‘small-fry’ by local spy master Hentschel. Perhaps there was a class-system for spies, as the top man Steinhauer himself had interviewed and placed Hentschel in Sheerness and given him his initial instructions to set up a language school.

[hamswalkerpresentationgroup6]

Group 6 Presentation Bibliography:  

D'Alleva A, Cothren M (2023) Methods and Theories of Art History, 3rd ed, London, Laurence King Publishing  

Miller I, (2009)  “‘Samson’ by Solomon J. Solomon: Victorian Academy and Jewish Identity.” Jewish Historical Studies, vol. 42 pp. 121–38. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29780125. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.  

The King James Bible, Judges, 13:40-16:30, [online] available at https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10900/pg10900-images.html#book07 accessed 15/11/2023  

Solomon JS, (c. 1887) Samson, [oil on canvas] Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery  

Blanchard P, (1886), Samson and Delilah, [online], Available at: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/samson-and-delilah-97965/search/keyword:samson-and-delilah--referrer:global-search/page/1/view_as/grid, Accessed 15/11/2023 

Bechtel, Lyn M.. "Delilah: Midrash and Aggadah." Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. 31 December 1999. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on November 22, 2023) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/delilah-midrash-and-aggadah>. 

Gitin, Seymour. “Last Days of the Philistines.” Archaeology, vol. 45, no. 3, 1992, pp. 26–31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41766106. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023. 

Shai, Itzhaq. “Philistia and the Philistines in the Iron Age IIA.” Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (1953-), vol. 127, no. 2, 2011, pp. 119–34. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304095. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023. 

Grant, Elihu. “The Philistines.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 55, no. 3, 1936, pp. 175–94. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3259802. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023.