Aeneas Coffey was born circa 1780 in Dublin or Wicklow, Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. From 1799-1800 he worked as a gauger (one who inspects dutiable bulk goods). By 1813, he was appointed sub-commissioner of Inland Excise and Taxes for the district of Drogheda. By 1818, he was Acting Inspector General of Excise for the whole of Ireland, two years later he was promoted to Inspector General of Excise in Dublin, Ireland. In 1823, he was asked by the government to help them with drafting the Excise Act. The Excise Act of 1823 was approved, it sanctioned the distilling of whiskey in return for a license of £ 10 and a set payment per gallon of whiskey.He retired from service in 1824.What you may not know about Aeneas is that he was also an inventor. He patented his own... 07/06/2019

Sorry no post, except for this one blimp today.  Mother Nature, in her fury came a calling yesterday, right in the pathway to keep me from getting home.I did make it to Chicago from Cary NC.  Our flight was delayed then delayed again.  Of course that caused a ripple effect which caused my connecting flight home to be delayed.  Trouble was the ship to fly me home came in around midnight with an exhausted crew.The airport provides cots for just that sort of thing.  I found me one and was out in 2 minutes if that.  Three hours later the clean up crew came a calling.  Today, is going to be a very long day.I'll great it as I do every day, with a smile on my face.   06/20/2019

Thaddeus Cahill was born somewhere in Iowa (exact location unknown) back in 1867. I don’t have a lot of information (none) about his parents or early upbringing.  What I can tell you about his is that he studied physics of music at Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio.  He worked as a clerk for Congress in Washington, D.C. to pay for his college studies.   In 1889, he graduated from Columbian Law School.After graduation, he established a laboratory at Holyoke with his brother Arthur.  It was there that he invented something that is still in use to this day (more on that in a moment).    His invention weighed in at a hefty 7 tones with a price tag of @200,000.00 which is equivalent to $5,514,000.00 today.  With the price tag only three were built, thus his vision was never fully impleme... 05/11/2019

Jill Elaine Brown as born in Baltimore, Maryland back in 1950. By the age of 11 she was driving a forklift at her father’s construction business and at 17 started taking flying lessons. Graduating from Arundel High School she enrolled at the University of Maryland studying economics. Afterwards she worked as a teacher, but that was not to be. She joined the US Navy in 1974 for flight training.The US Military was not to her liking either so she was honorably discharged after only six months. By her own admission she stated that she couldn’t “keep her mouth shut”, making some major mistakes. What you may not know about Jill is that she was the first African-American woman to become a pilot for a major American passenger airline. In 1978, she joined the Texas International Airlines. She le... 04/17/2019

Louis Brennan was born in Castlebar, Ireland back in 1852. The family moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1861. His career started out as a watchmaker, serving as a sergeant in the Victorian Engineers. It was during that time that he invented something that will forever place him in the history books (more on that in a moment).He took his invention to England in 1880 to the War Office. The War Office bought his patent for 100,000.00 pounds (equal to 9,987,200.00) in today’s money. He also worked on a monorail locomotive that was kept upright by a gyrostat. The system was never put into use because of the fear the gyrostat would fail. He also spent a great amount of time working on the invention of a helicopter but could never figure it out.He married Anna in 1892. What you may not know abo... 04/05/2019

Bessie Blount Griffin was born in Hickory, Virginia back in 1914. She attended Diggs Chapel Elementary School. After graduation, she attended Community Kennedy Memorial Hospital’s nursing program in Newark, New Jersey where she obtained her Nursing Degree. She continued her education at Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene in East Orange, New Jersey and became a physical therapist.She worked at the Bronx hospital in New York. While there she invented several things that assisted in the veteran’s returning home from WWII. Her first invention was an electric self-feeding apparatus to help amputees feed themselves. All the amputee would need to do is to bite on a tube, the food would dispense to the mouthpiece one bite of food. The United States was not interested in it so she ... 03/26/2019

John West was born in Linlithgow, Scotland back in 1809. Sometime before 1849 he immigrated to Quebec, Canada working as a millwright. In 1849, he left his family and job for the California Gold Rush. A year later with little gold for all of his efforts he again moved to Astoria, Oregon working again as a millwright.By 1853, his wife had joined him where they bought 640-acres along the lower Columbia River. He built a steam-powered sawmill in the early 1860’s. The Westport Lumber Company remained in operation until 1956. In 1857, he was the first to process salmon, packing them in barrels and transporting them around the world. In 1873, his company packed some 22,000 cases of salmon, winning a gold medal from the Oregon Agricultural Society. What you may not know about John is that he i... 10/29/2018

George Louis was born in Kortrjik, Belgium back in 1871.  He resided in Brussels attaining a degree in chemistry from the University of Bonn in Germany.  Around 1897 he arrived in the United States taking up residence in New York.  It was while in Central America around 1906 that he had an idea for something.  When he arrived back in New York in 1909 that he started his own company producing his invention.  He was an important military supplier during WWI.He became a naturalized American in 1918.  He owned an 18-bedroom country home in Brookhaven, New York.  He had a soft spot for animals and could often be seen with rare birds or a monkey on his shoulder.  During the 1920 presidential election in South Dakota his name was briefly put forward to run for President.  He held over 2 dozen ... 10/24/2018

Ragnar Sohlman was born in Stockholm back in 1870 to August and Hulda. He graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology as a chemical engineer in 1890. In 1893, he became the assistant to Alfred in San Remo. In Alfred’s last will and testament dated 1895, in part it stated:I hereby appoint Mr. Ragnar Sohlman, resident at Bofors, Våmland, and Mr. Rudolf Lillequist, 31 Malmskillnadsgatan, Stockholm, and at Bengtsfors near Uddevalla. To compsonsate for their pains and attention, I grant to Mr. Sohlman, who will presumably have to devote most time to this matter, 100,000 Crowns and to Mr. Lillequist 50,000 Crowns.Alfred died in 1896, which kept Ragnar occupied for several years carrying out Alfred’s wishes. In his spare time, he also had a career as an engineer. From 1835-1836 he was the... 08/06/2018

Shirley Anita St. Hill was born in New York City, New York back in 1924 to Charles and Ruby. Her father worked in a factory producing burlap bags, while her mother was a skilled seamstress. The family could barely make it so Shirley and her two sisters were sent to Barbados to live with the grandmother. She attended a one-room schoolhouse, returning to the United States in 1934. In 1934, she attended the Girls’ High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. Continuing her education, she graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1946. She met and married Conrad in the 1940’s. she taught in a nursery school to earn a living while furthering her education. In 1952, she earned her MA from Teachers College at Columbia University. After graduation, she ran a day care center w... 07/24/2018

Agnes Yewande was born in Edinburgh, Scotland back in 1906 to Richard and Maggie. She enrolled in the Royal College of Music in 1919, where she was given a scholarship to attend the George Watson’s Ladies College. She received an award for General Proficiency in Class Work and passed the Scottish Higher Education Leaving Certificate.She continued her education at Edinburgh University where she obtained first class honors in all subjects, won a prize graduating in 1929. In 1931, she was recruited by Achimota College for four years as a teacher. She retired early due to physical and psychological exhaustion in 1947. She died of a stroke in 1964 at a young 57.What you may not know about Agnes Yewande Savage is that prize she won was for being the first woman in the history of Edinburgh who... 06/29/2018

William A. Porter was born in Boulder, Colorado back in 1928. He quit school at 16 to join the Navy. Once they found out about his age they expelled him. He went on to put himself through college in only 3 years. Part of a statement he made was “you just do things because they’re right and you have that self-confidence that just won’t quit”. He received his B.A. from Adams State College, his M.S. from Kansas State University and a Master’s from MIT.During his lifetime, he accumulated some 14 patents dealing with a number of electronic devices. He died in 2015 at 89.What you may not know about William is that he developed the first commercial low-light night vision electron microscope, the first low-light television camera which is still in use to this day. However, that is not his great... 05/24/2018

Petro Prokopovych was born in the village of Mytchenky, Ukraine back in 1775. He studied at the Kiev-Mchya Academy when he was eleven for eight years. At nineteen he joined the military serving for four years. He had a keen interest in something he would work on for the rest of his life.He studied all he could on the subject and is credited for two inventions. He also taught on the subject preparing more than 700 students. He taught the subject for a total of 53 years until his death in 1850.Now, I bet you’re wondering what in the world could hold his interest for such a long time. So, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. Petro is the founder of commercial beekeeping. One of his inventions was the world’s first frame hive, allowing for an easier harvest of the honey. He also invente... 05/11/2018

Gerry Lester was born in Bagdad, Florida back in 1978. He attended Milton High School, afterwards he went to Faulkner State Community College in Baldwin County, Alabama. He went on to attend the University of Georgia. He married Angela in 2004, she was diagnosed with an enlarged pituitary gland which made her unable to have children.The couple adoption one boy in 2012 and a girl in 2014. He is a committed Christian speaks openly about his faith. Recently he announced he would run for mayor of Pensacola at some future date.What you may not know about Gerry Lester “Bubba” Watson is he is a professional golf player. He’s a millionaire just pitting a little white ball around, not bad for someone who is only 39 years old. Until tomorrow I bid you best wishes and a wide smile 04/04/2018

John Robert Vernon Dolphin was born in Christleton, England back in 1905 to Harold and Evelyn. After graduating from Marlborough College, he went onto study engineering at Loughborough Engineering College graduating in 1926. In 1928, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Cheshire Regiment, being promoted to lieutenant in 1931.By 1942, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he retired in 1960. What you may not know about Mr. Dolphin is while serving he was in charge of the Secret Intelligence Service, sabotage section. Before his retirement he was the commanding officer of the top secret Inter-Services Research Station in Hertfordshire.   He was also an inventor, he invented the Welbike, the forerunner to the mobility scooter. He also contributed to improvement in fork lift truc... 03/11/2018

Jules Carpentier was born in Paris, France back in 1851.  While I don’t have a lot of information on his schooling apparently, he was a very smart man.  He was one of the first manufactures of the galvanometer which was an electromechanical instrument for detecting an electrical current.  That instrument was in use for over 50 years. He was also instrumental in helping the French with their telegraph system.  Working with Charles Cros he helped produce one of the first color photography.  He died in a car accident in Joigny, France in 1921.  What you may not know about Jules is that in 1900 he developed the first periscope for use in submarines. By 1906, he had made over 80 of them.  He was also given credit for the development of periscopes used in the trenches of WWI.  Until tomorrow ... 02/28/2018

Cargill Gilston Knott was born in Penicuik, Midlothian back in 1856 to Pelham and Ellen. He graduated from Arbroath High School and went on to continue his education at the University of Edinburgh obtaining he doctorate in 1879. Later in 1879 he was appointed an assistant in Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University, a post which he held until 1883.He was a founder of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, taking the chair in that same year. He moved to Tokyo helping the government on an important project (more on that in a moment). He returned to England in 1891 where he worked as the Reader in Applied Mathematics at Edinburgh until his death in 1922.What you may not know about Cargill Gilston Knott is that he was an early pioneer in seismological research, he helped identify the areas o... 02/21/2018

Anne Nelson was born in Indian Neck, Virginia in 1956. In 1980, she assister her father, a position which she held for 18 years. in 2005, she was ordained by Pastor Sally Beckman to a position she still holds to this day.In 2006, she as invited to attend several ceremonies leading up to commemorating the anniversary of the founding of the first English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. This is going to be short, she was named one of the Virginia Women in History for 2006.What you may not know about G. Anne Nelson Richardson is that she is a Native American of the Rappahannock Tribe. she was elected the first woman Chief to lead a tribe in Virginia since the 18th century. That position she held for 18 years, well she assisted her dad who was the Chief at the time.. Until tomorrow keep t... 01/31/2018

Richard Gurley was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota back in 1899. Sorry but that’s about all I have for his childhood, or schooling information, nothing on who his parents were and so on, you know the drill. So, what say let’s get to the rest of the story.In 1920, you would find Richard working for the 3M company in St. Paul Minnesota, which at the time was a manufacturer of sandpaper. Richard was working on a new Wetordry sandpaper, when he noticed as the auto paint shops were trying to create a two-tone paintjob they were having difficulty at managing the borders between the two different colors.That sit in motion something that Richard will go down in the history books for. It took him two years but he invented the first masking tape in 1922. It was a two-inch-wide tan paper strip backe... 01/16/2018

Caroline Louise was born in 1856 to Charles and Catherine.  She married John and the couple had three children.  Her husband became ill and could not work.  So Caroline had some relatives to care for their three children while she went to school so she could provide for her family. She died in 1939, at 82.  This one will be shorter than my usual posts however, I’ll get the point across.  In 1893 she graduated from College and onto receiving her doctorate in 1899.  What you may not know about Caroline Louise Josephine Wells is that she is the first professionally qualified female dentist in Ontario, Canada.  She was also the first person to provide dental services in mental hospitals.  She practiced as a dentist in Toronto for 36 years.  One of her children Dalton C. Wells became Chief J... 12/27/2017