OnThisDay

On this day in history. One true story a day. Never boring.

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

On this day in 1910, Titanic's big sister was launched in Belfast, and she'd go on to sink a U-boat. Olympic sailed for 24 years, earned the nickname "Old Reliable" as a WWI troopship, and in 1918 rammed and sank the German sub U-103 in the English Channel. #OnThisDay

[XFacts @XFactBook]

Did you know "octopi" isn't really the right plural? Octopus comes from Greek, not Latin, so the -i ending doesn't fit. The Greek-style plural would be octopodes. In English, plain old octopuses wins.

[XFacts @XFactBook]

Did you know Uranus basically rolls around the Sun on its side? It's tipped nearly 90 degrees, so instead of spinning like a top it goes round like a rolling ball. No other planet in our solar system is tilted like that.

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

Ten years later to the day, on 22 Oct 1948, the Haloid Company (later Xerox) announced xerography to the public.

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

On this day in 1938, the world's first photocopy was made in a rented room in Queens, and all it said was "10.-22.-38 ASTORIA." Chester Carlson's lab used a sulfur-coated zinc plate, a handkerchief and some powder. Over 20 companies, IBM included, turned him down. #OnThisDay

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

Source: Chester Carlson and his assistant Otto Kornei made the first xerographic copy on 22 Oct 1938 in Astoria, Queens. https://t.co/80pi9VV27a

[The Tudor Age @TudorAge1973]

#OTD
22nd October 1589
King James VI of Scotland set sail from Leith on his way to Norway to personally escort his new wife, Anne of Denmark safely to her new home.
Stormy weather had forced Anne to turn back earlier in the year.

Picture
Portraits of King James VI of Scotland (King James I of England) and Anne of Denmark by an unknown artist based on paintings by Paul van Somer.
On display at Edinburgh Castle
Photo © The Tudor Age

#KingJamesVIofScotland #AnneofDenmark #LeithtoNorway #Oldenburg #Stuarts #Denmark #Scotland #History

[The Tudor Age @TudorAge1973]

#OTD
22nd October 1592
Gustav Horn, Count of Pori, was born at Örbyhus in Uppsala County, Sweden.
He was the youngest son of Field Marshal Carl Horn and his wife, Agneta von Dellwig.
A military officer and Governor-General, Gustav was appointed:
Member of the Royal Council in 1625
Field Marshal in 1628
Governor General of Livonia in 1652
Lord High Constable in 1653.
High Councillor of the realm in 1625
During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), he served as a commander and was instrumental in securing victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld, in 1631.
In 1651, Queen Christina of Sweden created him Count of Björneborg.

Picture
Portrait of Count Gustav Horn of Björneborg by David Beck.

#GustavHorn #CountGustavHornofBjörneborg #CountofPori #MilitaryCommander #GovernorGeneral #HighCouncillor #QueenChristinaofSweden #Sweden #Scandinavia #History

[The Tudor Age @TudorAge1973]

#OTD
22nd October 1521
Sir Edward Poynings died at his manor of Westenhanger in Kent.
The administrator and diplomat served King Henry VII as Lord Deputy of Ireland.
And during the reign of King Henry VIII, he held the positions of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Chancellor of The Order of the Garter.

Picture
Coat of arms of Sir Edward Poynings, KG.

#EdwardPoynings #LordDeputyofIreland #LordWardenoftheCinquePorts #ChancelloroftheOrderoftheGarter #Diplomat #KingHenryVII #KingHenryVIII #Tudors #History

[HistoryExtra @HistoryExtra]

#OnThisDay in 1797, Andre-Jacques Garnerin jumped from a balloon above Paris, making the world's first recorded parachute jump.

📸 Getty

[XFacts @XFactBook]

Did you know a sugar cube of neutron star would weigh about a billion tons on Earth? That's roughly a mountain. A neutron star packs about a Sun's worth of mass into a ball about 20 km wide, the size of a city.

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

Source: the museum was formally dedicated on 21 October 1959, six months after Wright's death in April 1959, drawing about 600 visitors an hour (NYT and Herald Tribune, 22 Oct 1959, via Wikipedia). https://t.co/0ki1cXjmS4

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

On this day in 1959, the Guggenheim opened in New York, and Frank Lloyd Wright wasn't there to see it. He'd died six months earlier. Beforehand, 21 artists signed a letter protesting their work hanging on his spiral ramp. Visitors didn't care: 600 an hour poured in. #OnThisDay

[Library of Congress @librarycongress]

The Library's Liljenquist collection of Civil War photographs contains several images, like these, of veterans who fought for the Union posing with family members (likely their grandsons) who served in World War I.

More of the Liljenquist collection. ⬇️ https://t.co/l94U2HYZGG

[Smithsonian Magazine @SmithsonianMag]

Elizabeth Van Lew operated a network of spies in Richmond, Virginia, sending coded messages to General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. https://t.co/0iTYCEphaK

[The Tudor Age @TudorAge1973]

#OTD
21st October 1554
John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, died at Penshurst Place, near Tonbridge in Kent, after enduring the harsh conditions of his imprisonment in the Tower of London.
He was the eldest surviving son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his wife, Jane Guildford.
Following the failed attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the English throne in 1553, John and several members of his family were attainted and condemned to death. However, unlike his father, who was executed in August 1553, John’s sentence was never carried out, and he remained a prisoner in the Tower.
His eventual release owed much to the tireless efforts of his mother, Jane Guildford, and his brother-in-law, Henry Sidney, who worked to secure the freedom of John and two of his brothers, Robert and Henry. Their efforts were ultimately successful, although their brother Ambrose remained imprisoned in the Tower until late 1554.

Picture
Penshurst Place and Gardens
photo © Tatler Magazine

#JohnDudley #EarlofWarwick #JohnDudleyDukeofNorthumberland #LadyJaneGrey #TheNineDayQueen #QueenMaryI #Tudors #History

[HistoryExtra @HistoryExtra]

#OnThisDay in 1958, Stella Isaacs, Baroness Swanborough and Marchioness of Reading, became the first woman to take her seat in the House of Lords. During the Second World War she had founded the Women's Voluntary Service.

📸 Getty

[XFacts @XFactBook]

Did you know a bird in Australia can sound like a chainsaw? About 80% of the superb lyrebird's song is copied from what it hears, and that can include chainsaws, car engines and dogs barking. It stitches them all into one long medley.

[XFacts @XFactBook]

Did you know a day on Venus is longer than its year? It takes 243 Earth days to spin once but only 225 to go around the Sun. So you'd have a birthday before you got through a single day.

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

Source: RMS Olympic, launched 20 Oct 1910 at Harland & Wolff, Belfast; rammed and sank U-103 on 12 May 1918. https://t.co/dM08D7vRzy

[OnThisDay @X_OnThisDay]

On this day in 1910, Titanic's big sister was launched in Belfast, and she'd go on to sink a U-boat. Olympic sailed for 24 years, earned the nickname "Old Reliable" as a WWI troopship, and in 1918 rammed and sank the German sub U-103 in the English Channel. #OnThisDay