Catherine Bosley Allen was born in Nashville, Tennessee to H.W. and Minta Allen back in 1896.  Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was a child.  She graduated from Howard University and Columbia University.  She was fluent in French and could read German.  In 1921, she married Benton R. Latimer, he worked as an accountant for the United States Post Office.In 1920, she was hired as a substitute librarian assistant, later she transitioned to being a full-time librarian by the end of 1920.  She worked there for 26 years, retiring in 1946 due to ill health and poor eyesight.  What you may not know about Catherine is that she was the first New York Public Library’s African-American librarian.  She was instrumental in forming the library’s Division of Negro History, Literature and... 04/15/2021

William Larimer Jr. was born in Circleville, Pennsylvania back in 1809.  I do not have any information about his childhood, parents etc.  What I can tell you about him is that he made his first fortune in the railroad industry in Pittsburgh.  In the 1850’s he became a land speculator in the Kansas Territory where he founded a homestead in Leavenworth.  In 1858 he arrived at a hill overlooking Cherry Creek and the South Platte River.  He staked out his claim by laying cottonwood logs alone a square-mile parcel of land on the hill.  In 1860, he moved back to Kansas where he served as state senator from 1867 to 1870, he retired to his family farm in Leavenworth, Kansas where he died in 1875.Getting back to Cherry Creek, maybe you’ve heard of the town he started Denver. Colorado?  Your day ... 04/09/2021

Thomas George Lanphier Jr., was born in Panama City, Panama to Thomas Sr., and Janet back in 1915.  Don’t have any information about his early childhood, but he studied journalism at Stanford University graduating in 1941.  After graduation, he joined the United States Army Air Force, completing his pilot training at Stockton Army Air Field, California in that same year.He was assigned to the 70th Pursuit Squadron, 35th Pursuit Group at Hamilton Field in California.  By 1942, he was serving in Fiji, before being transferred to Guadalcanal serving in the 347th Fighter Group.  He was promoted to captain in 1943.  By the end of his tour he was credited with 97 missions and 4 confirmed kills.  After the war he was one of the founding members of the Idaho Air National Guard, retiring as a Co... 04/03/2021

Robert Samuel Langer, Jr., was born in Albany, New York back in 1948.   He received his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in chemical engineering.  He continued his education earning a Sc.D. in chemical engineering from MIT in 1974.  He worked as a postdoctoral fellow for cancer research at the Children’s Hospital Boston and at Harvard Medical School. He is regarded as the founder of tissue engineering in regenerative medicine.  In his lab researchers have made advances in tissue engineering with the creation of engineered blood vessels.  Bioengineered synthetic polymers provide a scaffolding on which new skin, muscle, bone and entire organs can be grown.What you may not know about Robert is that he holds over 1,400 granted or pending patents.  He is the most cited engineer in h... 04/02/2021

Dame Alice Kyteler was born circa 1263 in County Kikenny, Ireland.  She married William, he died in circa 1302.  She married her second husband Adam that same year.  She was accused of killing her first husband.  This incurred resentment from the locals.  He was wealthy and involved in moneylending.By 1324, she had married her fourth husband John, he ill and suspected that he had been poisoned.  After his death, Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, he began addressing a case against her for not living to the laws of the church and morality.  He demanded that she be arrested, that was delayed due to her being related to the Chancellor.  It is still not known where she fled to however, there are no other records of her to be found.What you may not know about Alice is that she was the fir... 03/23/2021

James Lee Kessler was born in Houston, Texas back in 1945.  He graduated valedictorian and president of his graduating class at San Jacinto Senior High School.  After graduation he earned his BA from the University of Texas, Austin.  He served as director of the Texas Hillel, who serves the students attending the University of Texas.  He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Texas State Historical Association.  Now, for some firsts, are you ready, here we go.James was the founder of the Texas Jewish Historical Society, the first native Texan to serve as rabbi of the Congregation B’nai Israel in Galveston, Texas.  The first to earn a doctorate in Texas Jewish history at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, where he was ordained as a rabbi.  H... 02/01/2021

Douglas Jung was born in Victoria, British Columbia back in 1924.  He enlisted in the Canadian Army during World War II.  He was assigned to Force 136, a team of secret agents who deployed to British Malaya to train local guerrillas to resist the Japanese Imperial Army occupying Malaya and Singapore.  After the war he attended the University of British Columbia graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1953. He was admitted to the British Columbia Bar in 1954.  In the 1950’s he joined the Progressive Conservative Party.  He received many honors including the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, the highest honor a citizen can receive from the federal and provincial governments.  He was marching with his fellow veteran in 1995, when he suffered a m... 01/02/2021

Amy Mollison was born Amy Johnson in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England back in 1903.  She received her education at Boulevard Municipal Secondary School and later at the university of Sheffield where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.  After graduation she worked in London as secretary to a solicitor.  As a hobby she obtained her aviator’s certificate, No. 8662 in January 1929 and a pilot’s “A” License no. 1979 in July of 1929.  In January 1941 she flew off course in adverse weather conditions she bailed out of her aircraft into the Thames Estuary near Herne Bay.  A convoy of wartime vessels spotted her parachute; however, they were unable to save her, she was only 37.What you may not know about Amy is that she was the first woman to fly solo ... 12/28/2020

Benjamin Jesty was born in Yetminster, Dorset, England back in 1736 to Robert, could not find his mother’s name. During the eighteenth-century smallpox was widespread but the dairy-farmers knew something that most city folks didn’t.  Anyway, more on that in a moment.  As he aged tried an experiment on himself and two of his servants.His experiment was met with hostility by his neighbors but he forged ahead.  When his two sons were exposed to smallpox but did not get the disease, he knew the answer.  In 1797, the family moved to Worth Matravers.  The pastor of his local church encouraged Benjamin to vaccinate over 200 parishioners in 1806.  He did in 1816, he was 80.What you may not know about Benjamin is that he vaccinated several hundred people with cowpox, which made them immune to sm... 12/18/2020

Morris Richard Jeppson was born in Logan, Utah back in 1922.  He studied physics at the University of Nevada, Reno.  At the age of 19 he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps.  His basic training was in Florida, he received additional training at Yale University, Harvard and MIT.  In 1945, he received the Silver Star.  After being discharged he worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.  Later in his career, he helped develop several key technological breakthroughs including microwave technology as well as stabilizers used on helicopters.  He died in 2010, he was 87.What you may not know about Morris is that while serving in the Army Air Corp he was an assistant weaponeer on the Enola Gay.  He was the last person to touch “Little Boy” before it was droppe... 12/17/2020

Joseph Jenckes Jr. was born in Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire. England back in 1628 to Joseph Sr. and Joan.  His father had immigrated to America back in 1645.  He joined his father in 1647 in Lynn, Massachusetts Bay Colony.  I wrote about his father a day or so ago.  Just before 1660, he moved to Concord to work at an iron smiting operation.That same year he was arrested for treasonous remarks in a tavern against King Charles II of England.  He was jailed for a year being released in 1661.  Sometime before 1669, he moved to the Colony of Rhode Island.  In 1669, he was granted timbered land on both sides to the Pawtuxet River.  In 1671, he erected a forge and sawmill on the west of present-day Blackstone River.  He died in 1717, he was 88.What you may not know about Joseph Jr. was that he w... 12/13/2020

Ernest August Janson was born in New York City, New York back in 1878.  He served with the U.S. Army for 10 years before enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1910.  He served in the Marines until being discharged in 1914.  He re-enlisted in the same year with the Marines serving on the USS Nebraska. In 1917, he sailed to France aboard the USS DeKalb, serving with the 49th Company, 5th Regiment.  he was wounded at the Battle of Belleau Wood.  In 1918, he returned to the United States where he was admitted to the Naval Hospital, New York for continued treatment of his wounds.  He served out the remainder of his time as a recruiter in New York City.  He died in 1930, he was 51.What you may not know about Sergeant Major Janson is that he was one of only five people to received two Medal of Hono... 11/27/2020

Edward Patrick Francis Eagan was born in Denver, Colorado back in 1897.  He graduated from Yale in 1921, he then entered Harvard University studying law and later at the University of Oxford where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928.  In 1932, he was admitted to the Bar in the United States.During WWII, he enlisted in the United States Army.  He fought on many fronts rising through the ranks, when he was discharged he was a Colonel.  He died in New York City in 1967, he was 70.What you may not know about Edward is that he was the only person to win a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different disciplines.  In the summer games he won the medal in boxing, in the winter games in four-man bobsledding, in 1920 and 1932 respectively.Your day is worthwh... 11/26/2020

Alma Smith was born in Lewistown, Montana back in 1916 to Martin and Emma.  The family moved to Great Falls, Montana in 1923.  She received her bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1938.  In 1942, she received another bachelor’s degree in library science from Columbia University.She served in Great Falls, Montana in 1954, being promoted Head Librarian/director where she served until 1973. That same year was selected as Montana State Librarian serving in that capacity until 1981.  She died in 1997, she was 81.What you may not know about Alma Smith Jacobs is that she was the first African American to serve as Montana State Librarian.  She was also the first African American to serve as president of the Pacific Northwest Library Association and the first Montanan to serve on the Executive Boa... 11/17/2020

Marianne Brilleslijper was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands back in1916 to Joseph and Fijtje.  In 1939, she married Cornelis.  After the Nazis invaded the Netherlands she and Cornelis began to work in the Resistance.  She never officially registered as a Jew, however the Nazis arrested her in 1944.She was sent to Auschwitz then to the Bergen-Belson concentration camp.  She was made a nurse in the camp taking care of the ill prisoners.  After the war she was reunited with her husband and children.  She died of heart failure in Amsterdam in 2003, she was 86.What you may not know about Marianne Brandes-Brilleslijper is that she knew Anne Frank.  She was put in charge stating she buried her in a mass grave.  She mentioned it to Dutch filmmaker Willy Lindwer, which he turned into a movie.Your ... 11/15/2020

Mary Hannah Frances Ivens was born in Little Harborough, England back in 1870 to William and Elizabeth.  In 1894, she entered the London School of Medicine for Women, she did her clinical studies at the Royal Free Hospital.  In 1900, she qualified with the gold medal in obstetrics and honors in medicine and forensic medicine. In 1902, she received her MB BS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) with first class honors.  In 1903, he received her Master of Surgery degree.  In 1907, she was appointed gynecological surgeon to a new unit in the Liverpool Stanley Hospital.  In 1914, she volunteered to serve in France under the French Red Cross.  Over the course of her career she treated over 10,861 patients including 8,752 soldiers.  She died in 1944, she was 73.What you may not know about Mary ... 11/07/2020

Elijah Iles was born in Fayette County, Kentucky back in 1796.  He borrowed some money from his father establishing a cattle ranch in the eastern part of the states where he became wealthy.  In 1818, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri Territory to open a store.  He finally settled in Springfield, Illinois in 1821. He was one of the first three settlers to the town, where he opened up the first store.  He was the first postmaster, elected to the Illinois Senate.  In 1831, he enlisted as a private for the Black Hawk War, rising through the ranks to make captain.   In 1839, he built the largest hotel in the state, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service in 1978.  He died in 1883, his burial place is in Oak Ridge Cemetery.What you may not know abou... 10/26/2020

Bjørn Aage Ibsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark back in 1915.  I do not have any information about his childhood, but I can tell you the graduated from the University of Copenhagen medical school in 1940.  Trained in anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1949-50.  Moving back to Denmark he was involved in the 1952 polio outbreak.During the outbreak, he detected high levels of CO2 in blood samples.  He instituted protracted positive pressure by means of intubation into the trachea.  With that one simple decision, the mortality rate declined from 90% to 25%.  He died in 2007, he was 91.What you may not know about Bjørn is that in 1953, he set up what became the world’s first Medical/Surgical ICU in Copenhagen.  He also provided one of the first accounts of the managem... 10/19/2020

Robert Earl Hughes was born in Monticello, Missouri back in 1926 to Abraham and Georgia.  At birth, he weighed 11lb 4 oz.  he contracted whooping cough when he was about five months old.  The family moved to Fishhook, Illinois when he was six months old.If is believed that the whooping cough led to his condition. By the time he was 6 he weighed 200lbs and by ten he weighed 380lbs.  In 1958, he contracted a case of measles and uremia.  By the time he sought medical attention he was too far gone to save him.  He died in 1958, he was 32.What you may not know about Robert is that at his largest he weighed in at 1,041lbs.  he holds the record for being the largest human that was able to walk.  He was not bed ridden.  To support himself he sold photographs of himself and joined a traveling ro... 10/12/2020

Charles W. Hull was born in Clifton, Colorado back in 1939 to Lester and Esther.  He graduated from Central High School in Grand Junction.  He then received his BS in engineering physic from the University of Colorado in 1961.  I have no idea or where he worked after he graduated, but that is not important for this post.He holds more than 60 U.S. patents as well as other patents around the world in fields of ion optics and rapid prototyping.  He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2017, he was one of the first inductees into the TCT Hall of Fame.What you may not know about Chuck Hull is that he is one of the co-founders, executive vice president and chief technology officer of 3D Systems.  His U.S. patent number 4,575,330 is for Three-Dimension Printing.  I... 10/11/2020