The Robinson Library

powered by FreeFind	A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Smilodon Saber-toothed tigers are some of the best known and most popular of all Ice Age animals, but were actually more closely related to modern-day wildcats (pumas, bobcats, etc.) than to tigers.	What Happened on June 24th? 1811 Author Harriet Beecher Stowe was born. 1812 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia. 1908 Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States, died.
George Fox left home at the age of 18 to seek spiritual enlightenment. In 1647, after experiencing a series of visions and voices from God, he began preaching to anyone who would listen, and soon began attracting followers. He founded the Society of Friends that same year, and by 1654 was spreading his message around the world.	Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte was, for a couple of years, the sister-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France. Unfortunately, Napoleon did not agree with her marriage to his younger brother, and had the marriage annulled.
Macbeth became King of Scotland when he killed King Duncan I, in 1040. He subsequently ruled in relative peace for seventeen years before being fatally wounded in a battle with one of Duncan's sons in 1057.	Stewart Lee Udall served as Secretary of the Interior under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. In that capacity he was instrumental in the passage of several laws aimed at protecting the environment, and for a major expansion of the National Park System.
Matthew Fontaine Maury published the first popular textbook on marine science, Physical Geography of the Sea, in 1855. During the Civil War, his work for the Confederacy led to a $3,000 price being put on his head, second only to the price put on the head of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.	Jamsetji Nasarawanji Tata established India's textile industry, its iron and steel industry, and its hydroelectric industry. He also pledged a portion of his vast personal fortune towards the establishment of an Indian Institute of Science.
The Department of State handles U.S. relations with other governments. Founded as the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1781, it is the oldest executive office of the U.S. government.	The Nuremberg Trials were a series of 13 trials held in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1949. In these trials, leaders of Nazi Germany were tried for crimes against international law, including causing World War II deliberately, waging aggressive wars of conquest, and persecution of Jews.
Mordecai Wyatt Johnson was the first permanent African-American president of Howard University, in which capacity he served from 1926 to 1960. During his tenure, Howard grew from eight unaccredited schools and colleges to ten that are still fully accredited, saw its enrollment grow from 1,700 to 6,000, and increased its budget from $700,000 to $8 million.	John Knowles Paine was the first American composer to have a work performed in Europe, the first American to write a symphony, and the first professor of music in the United States.
Peter Behrens worked as a painter and graphic artist before turning to architecture. As artistic consultant for a major German manufacturing company, he not only designed the company's logo and sales literature, but its factories and workers' apartments as well. He also designed a number of household electrical appliances, china, glass objects, and patterned linoleum flooring.	Aphra Behn was one of the first women to make writing her sole source of income. She is best known for the historical novel Oroonoko, the History of the Royal Slave, which has been cited as one of the earliest examples of the noble savage in literature.
The Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is a relatively small game bird, weighing approximately 5-6 ounces, and averaging 8-10 inches in length, with a 3.5-4.7- inch wingspan. Adult males are distinguished from females by their white facial stripes and throat and sharply contrasting black markings on the feathers.	Emil Adolf von Behring spent his life in the study of immunity. In 1889 he produced an antitoxin against diphtheria, and in 1890 produced an antitoxin against tetanus. He was the receipient of the 1901 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.
Daffodils are large trumpet-shaped flowers that grow from bulbs. A very popular garden flower, it is often one of the first bulbs to blossom in the spring.	Mathew B. Brady opened a daguerreotype gallery in New York City in 1844. By 1850 he had gained a reputation as one of America's greatest portrait photographers, and by the time of his death had photographed every President from John Quincy Adams to William McKinley. He also gained considerable fame for his photographic record of the Civil War.
Richard Jordan Gatling thought the invention of an automatic gun that could deliver a high rate of fire would reduce the number of soldiers required to man the battlefield, thus helping to reduce the number of battlefield casualties. In 1862 he patented the Gatling Gun.	John Philip Holland launched his first successful submarine in 1881. The company he founded ultimately became the Electric Boat Company, which has subsequently built the vast majority of the U.S. Navy's submarines, as well as submarines for many other nations.