Rowland Hussey was born in Nantucket Island, Massachusetts back in 1822 to a Quaker family.   By the age of fifteen he was working on a whaling ship.  He had a red star tattooed on either his hand or forearm, the exact location has not been verified.  He had a brother Charles and together they opened a dry goods store in Marysville, California in 1850.The store failed, Charles stay in California but Rowland moved east.  By 1858, you could find him in New York City, New York where he established another store.  On the first day of business the store’s total sales were $11.08.  That dismal sum did not deter him and he opened several more stores.  The stores produced their own made-to-measure clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory.  He died in 1877 in Paris of Bri... 09/14/2021

Royston Charles Lunn was born in Richmond, London back in 1925.  He was educated in England received degrees in mechanical and aeronautical engineering.  He joined the Royal Air Force serving two years as a pilot. After his discharge he entered the automotive industry in 1946 working for AC Cars who hired him as a designer.In 1953, he joined Ford Motor Company in England assigned to starting a Research Center in Birmingham.  In `958, he emigrated to the United States still working for Ford he participated in the development of Ford’s first front-wheel drive vehicle.  He died in 2017, he was 92.What you may not know about Royston is several things, so let’s get to it.  His team developed the two-seat Ford Mustang I in just 100 days.  In 1963, he developed the Ford GT40.  In 1969, he help... 08/13/2021

Asa Lawrence Lovejoy was born in Groton, Massachusetts back in 1808 to Samuel and Betsy.  He attended Cambridge and Amherst College before studying law and passing the Maine Bar to become an attorney.  He moved to Missouri before moving to the Oregon Country because of health reasons.He first moved to Oregon in 1842 over the Oregon Trail, part of a wagon train led by Elijah White.  During his trip he was briefly held captive by Native Americans.  He set up a law practice in Oregon City during the Provisional Government period.  He and his traveling companion Willian Overton split a claim to 640 acres along the Willamette River.  He married Elizabeth McGary in 1845, the couple would have five children.  He was elected to the Provisional Legislature of Oregon representing Clackamas Distri... 07/21/2021

William Livingston was born in Albany, New York back in 1723 to Philip and Catherine.  He received his early education at the local schools.  At 13 he was sent to live for a year and prepare for college with the Anglican missionary.  He enrolled at Yale College in 1737 and graduated in 1741.  He moved to New York City where he studied law and became a law clerk first for the eminent lawyer James Alexander.  He left Alexander’s office in 1746 and joined the office of William Smith Sr.  He became a lower in 1748 and began his practice in New York City.  in 1752 he founded a weekly journal, the Independent Reflector.  The Reflector was New York’s fir serial non-newspaper publication and the only one being published in British North America at the time.  He was elected to the American Philo... 07/02/2021

Nathaniel Pitt Langford was born in Upstate, New York back in 1832.  He moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1854 working as a banker.  In 1862, he was a member and officer of the Northern Overland Expedition, his assignment was to establish a wagon road to the Salmon river and to mine regions of the Rocky Mountains.  The expedition ended up in Bannack, Montana where Nathaniel and other established freight companies, a saw mill and other businesses.  In 1864, shortly after the Montana Territory was established he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue and National Bank Examiner, positions he held for five years.In 1870, he was a member of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition which explored portions of the region that soon would become the Yellowstone National Park.  He returned to M... 04/08/2021

Kanchana Kanchanasut, graduated from the University of Queensland in 1974 for a Bachelor of Science in math, an additional diploma in computer science. After graduation she moved to Melbourne, Australia where she graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1979, with a Master of Science.She returned to Melbourne for a Doctor of Philosophy in 1991.  She began her career at the Asian Institute of Technology in 1984.  In 1986, she co-created a computer network to email universities in Melbourne and Tokyo.  She set up Thailand’s first server connected to the Internet in 1988.  In 2013, she was elected as the Asian Institute of Technology vice president of research and currently techs computer science.   That same year she was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.  In 2016, she was awar... 01/10/2021

Alec John Jeffreys was born in Oxford, England back in 1950.  In 1956, the family moved to Luton, Bedfordshire.  He attended the Luton Grammar School then Luton Sixth Form College.  He won a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford graduating with first-class honor in biochemistry in 1971.  He received his Doctor of Philosophy on the mitochondria of cultured mammalian cells, he did his postgraduate at the Genetics Laboratory at the University of Oxford. In 1994, he was Knighted for his services to genetics and to science and technology.  Now, some of you may want to know why he was Knighted.I’m so glad you’ve asked, for what you may not know about Sir Alec Jeffreys is that in lab in Leicester in 1984, he discovered DNA fingerprinting.  His discovery is used worldwide today.Your day is wort... 12/09/2020

Richard John Egan was born in Milton, Massachusetts back in 1936.  Attending high school in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.  He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving in the Korean War as a helicopter crewman.  After the war he received he bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern University.He continued his education receiving a master’s in 1961, from M.I.T. After graduation he worked for NASA and Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Intel.  In 2000, he was the ambassador to Ireland.  In 2009, he committed suicide in Boston, while suffering from State IV terminal lung cancer.  What you may not know about Richard is that he founded EMC Corporation in 1979.in 2009, the firm had employees in excess of 40,000.  Your day is worthwhile when you make someone ... 12/02/2020

Jared Ingersoll was born in New Haven, Connecticut back in 1749 to a British colonial official.  He lived in Europe from 1773-1776 before returning to the colonies. By 1778, he had committed himself to the cause of American independence.  He graduated from Yale College in 1776, after graduation he was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar.  In 1780, he was a delegate to the Continental Congress.  In 1812, he ran on the Federalist ticket for Vice President, which he lost.  He served as attorney general of Pennsylvania, also US. District attorney for Pennsylvania and as presiding judge of the Philadelphia district court.He died in Philadelphia in 1816, he was 73.What you may not know about Jared is that he was a signer of the United States Constitution.  He also argued the first two cases befo... 11/05/2020

Susannah Hornebolt was born in Flanders back in 1503 to Gerard and Margaret.  In 1520, she started working with her father.  In 1522, she moved to England with her parents.  She married John Parker in 1526 who worked for Henry VIII.  John died in 1537.  By the end of the year in 1538, with the loss of her husband she was in serious financial difficulties.In 1539, she married John Gilman, two weeks after the marriage she escorted Anne of Cleves to England.  Because she was so loyal to Anne, she was considered by Anne to be her first gentlewoman.  She died in 1554, she was 51.What you may not know about Susannah is that she was an artist.  She is the first known female artist in England, her specialty was miniatures. Your day is worthwhile when you make someone smile, so give the free gif... 09/08/2020

La’Shanda Renee Holmes was born in Plainfield, New Jersey back in 1985.  Don’t know what the circumstances were but she grew up in foster care.  Regardless, she put herself through Spelman College.  After graduation, she enlisted in the United States Coast Guard.  She was appointed as a White House Fellow in 2015 by President Barack Obama.In 2015-16, she was the Special Assistant to NASA’s Administrator General Charles F. Bolton.  She sits on the board of directors for Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, the Foster Club and Girls Fly.  From what I could find she still is with the Coast Guard.What you may not know about La’Shanda is that she is also a pilot.  She was the first African-American female helicopter pilot for the Coast Guard, stationed in Los Angeles she was an Aircraft Commander... 08/27/2020

Roy Hiroshi Matsumoto was born in Laguna, California back in 1913.  When he turned eight his parents sent him to live with his grandparents in Hiroshima, Japan.  He returned nine years later graduating from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1933.  His parents, brothers and sisters moved to Hiroshima but Roy stayed in Long Beach.With the attack on Pearl Harbor Roy was interned with other Japanese-Americans in Jerome, Arkansas.  In 1942, he volunteered for the United States Army.  He died in May of 2013, he was 100.What you may not know about Roy is that he served as a Japanese-language intelligence specialist with Merrill’s Marauders in Burma.  He earned the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit.  He remained in the Army for 20 years retiring as a Master Sergeant.  In 1993, he was indu... 08/10/2020

Patrick Francis Healy was born in Macon, Georgia back in 1834 to Michael and Mary.  At an early age the family moved to New York where he received his education at a Quaker school in Flushing, New York.  In 1844, he enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He graduated in 1850, entering the Jesuit order continuing his studies.He left the United States to attend the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium earing his doctorate.  While he was there he was ordained into the priesthood on September 3, 1864.  In 1866, he returned to the United States teaching philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.  In 1874, he was selected as the school’s twenty-sixth president.  He is given credit as to the transformation of Georgetown from a small nineteenth-c... 07/31/2020

Samuel Guthrie was born in Hampden County Massachusetts back in 1782.  I have searched and could not find anything about him until he was 22 when he married Sybil Sexton. He studied at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, (now Columbia University) from 1810 to 1811.  He also attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania in 1815, which constituted his entire formal education.In 1817, he moved to Sackets Harbor, New York where he was a rural doctor. He died in 1848, he was 66.What you may not know about Samuel is that he was also a successful business man and inventor. He manufactured chloric ether, vinegar and priming powder for firearms, making the flintlock muskets obsolete.  He also converted potato starch into molasses and distilled an alcohol.  But he is most no... 05/18/2020

James Durrell Greene was born in Lynn, Massachusetts back in 1828.  From my resources, he was an excellent student, planning on attending West Point.  However, his mother talked him into attending Harvard University.In 1860, he joined the 5th Massachusetts Militia Regiment as a Lieutenant Colonel.  The next year he was transferred to the 17th US infantry Regiment stationed at Ft. Preble, Maine.  In 1863, he was involved in the Battle of Gettysburg, then the Battle of Chickamauga that same year.  For his service, he was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General in 1867.He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, he died in 1902.What you may not know about James is that he was also an inventor.  He invented the Greene rifle, it was the first bolt action rifle to see combat during the Am... 05/06/2020

Harold Charles Gatty was born in Campbell Town, Tasmania back in 1903.  At the tender age of 14 he was appointed a midshipman at the Royal Australian Naval College.  Just after the end of WWI he worked on a steamship in the Australia merchant navy.  While standing night watch he learned about the constellations.  He became an expert in celestial navigation, serving on many ships.  In 1927, he relocated to California.He started a navigation school, teaching marine navigation, in 1928, his attention turned to air navigation.  During WWII, he was given the rank of group captain in the Royal Australian Air Force, he also worked for the US Army Air Force in the South Pacific Theater.  He died in 1957 of a stroke in Fiji.What you may not know about Harold is that he was a navigator for severa... 03/02/2020

Calvin Souther Fuller was born in Chicago, Illinois back in 1902 to Julius and Bessie. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1926, he continued his education erring a Ph.D. in 1929. He worked for Bell Labs as a physical chemist in 1930, he retired in 1967.Upon his retirement, he bought an Airstream RV and toured the USA with his wife Willmine. He died in Vero Beach, Florida in 1994, he was 92.Not so much right? Well this is the rest of the story. It’s short so hang on tight.During his 37-year career at Bell Laboratories he helped develop synthetic rubber, he also was instrumental in developing and producing the first solar cells with high efficiency.Your day is worthwhile when you make someone smile, so give the free gift of a smile today 02/05/2020

Russel Farnham was born in Massachusetts back in 1784. I have no information about his early childhood, schooling or even the names of his parents. What I can tell you is that he was hired as a clerk for the Pacific Fur Company. He traveled by sea around the Cape Horn arriving on the Pacific coast. In 1811, he fought the Indians at The Dalles, where he built a trading post near Spokane. In 1814, he was entrusted for 40,000.00 sterling relating to the sale of a trading post by the North-West Company. He was ordered to deliver them to St. Petersburg. During his journey, he suffered from exposure and malnutrition. He once was forced to cut and eat the tops of his own boots to survive. He did survive the trip, but it took a toll on his health. What you may not know about Russel is that the ... 12/07/2019

John Haven “Jack” Emerson was born in New York City back in 1906 to Haven and Grace. Sorry, I don’t have any information about his schooling and early childhood, so let’s get to it shall we.When he was 22 he bought a machine shop for the estate of a local inventor. In 1931, he developed an oxygen test which incorporated an improved cooling system.By 1931, he improved the design of the Drinker lung, making the iron lung quitter, lighter and more efficient. Drinker filed a lawsuit against John, only to lose the suit and his patents were declared invalid. His first design nicknamed “Old Number One” is currently on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He was also involved in the development for Scuba gear for the Navy shortly before WWII. In 1955, he developed the firs... 11/16/2019

Philip Drinker was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania back in 1894.  He attended St. George School he continued his education at Princeton.  He trained as a chemical engineer at Lehigh for two years.He was hired by the Harvard Medical School to teach industrial illumination and ventilation, then moved to the Harvard School of Public Health.  He continued to study and wrote textbooks on a variety of topics in industrial hygiene.  During WWII, he directed the industrial hygiene program for the United States Maritime Commission.  After the war, he advised the Atomic Energy Commission.  He retired from Harvard in 1960.  H died in 1972, he was 77.  He was inducted into the US National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 2007.What you may not know about Philip is that the reason he was inducted into the ... 10/17/2019