As old as the hills
Английская идиома «As old as the hills» (прямой перевод «Древний, как холмы») описывает что-то или кого-то, что является очень старым, древним или старинным. Происхождение идиомы»As old as the hills» Это выражение пришло из Библии от Иова, ст. 15:7. Art thou…
Back to the drawing board
Английская идиома «back to the drawing board» (прямой перевод — Вернуться к чертежной доске») означает вернуться к стадии планирования, снова начать работу над новым проектом или планом после неудачной предыдущей попытки или вернуться к началу, поскольку текущая попытка не удалась…
From diode to triode
From Fleming to De Forest and From diode to triode. John Ambrose Fleming (1849–1945) was born in Lancaster, a town in the north-west of England. In 1885, he became Britain’s first Professor of Electrical Engineering, at the newly created department in…
Thomson: From monocle to mirror
How a renowned physicist speeded up telegraphy? William Thomson was born in Belfast in 1824 and moved to Scotland with his family at the age of nine. His father had been appointed Professor of Mathematics at Glasgow University, and William studied…
Gutta percha
Gutta percha = Wonder material of the mid-19th century. The trees that produce gutta percha can grow up to 30 metres tall. They have glossy, evergreen leaves and white flowers. What tropical tree connects telegraphy and golf? The answer to…
Nikola Tesla: Harnessing the storm
150 years ago this July, a scientist was born in the Balkans at the stroke of midnight during a thunderstorm. He ended his career working on a “death ray.” Who was he? In answer to the question above, it was…
Precursors of programming
Inputting information into machines in binary form (on or off) is not new. In the late 14th century, in what is now Belgium and the Netherlands, the first mechanisms were made for church bells to play simple tunes automatically. Large,…
Typewriter: Remote writing
In the question above we asked when the typewriter was first patented. It happened much earlier than you might think. In 1714, an Englishman, Henry Mill, was granted a patent which said he had «lately invented… an artificial machine or…
Transatlantic telegraphy
International, submarine telegraphy began in 1850 with a line between Britain and France. In that article, we asked how a flagpole in Liverpool, United Kingdom, connects the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel with the Atlantic Telegraph Company. The answer is Brunel’s…
Origins of the Day of Love
When did the Valentine’s Day (Day of Love) frenzy begin? Scholars have two other main theories to explain how February 14 became synonymous with romance. Roman Feast of Lupercalia This ancient pagan fertility celebration, which honored Juno, queen of the…
