(no subject)
It's December 10th, and I'm in a positive mood.
(So I'm ignoring wars - which is OK, as there aren't that many today anyway.)
The Bad
1993 - The last shift leaves Monkwearmouth Colliery in County Durham. This pit had run since the middle ages, and this particularly colliery - the last for this coal field - had run for 156 years. Whether it was lack of coal or lack of profit is not mentioned, but I have my suspicions...
The Neutral
1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Neutral because they're necessary, but we've all been annoyed when stopped by them. These first one were more like railway signals, the lights were gas powered and the whole affair was operated manually by a policeman. On January 2nd, the gas lamps exploded and injured (or killed, depending on reports) the policeman on duty.
The Good
1901 - The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.
1648 - Edmund Halley reads Isaac Newton's De motu corporum in gyrum to the Royal Society. And thus science is advanced, and Robert Hooke is overlooked for centuries...
1948 - The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Not perfect, but a very very good start.
(So I'm ignoring wars - which is OK, as there aren't that many today anyway.)
The Bad
1993 - The last shift leaves Monkwearmouth Colliery in County Durham. This pit had run since the middle ages, and this particularly colliery - the last for this coal field - had run for 156 years. Whether it was lack of coal or lack of profit is not mentioned, but I have my suspicions...
The Neutral
1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Neutral because they're necessary, but we've all been annoyed when stopped by them. These first one were more like railway signals, the lights were gas powered and the whole affair was operated manually by a policeman. On January 2nd, the gas lamps exploded and injured (or killed, depending on reports) the policeman on duty.
The Good
1901 - The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.
1648 - Edmund Halley reads Isaac Newton's De motu corporum in gyrum to the Royal Society. And thus science is advanced, and Robert Hooke is overlooked for centuries...
1948 - The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Not perfect, but a very very good start.