Since man first took to the water in a vessel, every boat or ship was shaped according to the experience of the designer or builder - guided by history and instinct rather than understanding. The first person to actually test shapes and extract the physical rules of a hull passing through water was William Froude, born on this day in 1810. During his life the size of vessels and the ambition of shippers and navies meant that poorly designed ships would lead to a heavy toll in lives. The bulk of the science of hydrodynamics came out of Froude's testing of paraffin models towed the length of a tank he built and equipped. Of course the Institution of Naval Architects strenuously opposed his application for funding from the British Navy at the time, now flow analysis is critical and central to boat design as well as the testing of aircraft in wind tunnels.
That puts us into a "speed" theme for the day, with such events as the first auto race in the US in 1895, the first sale of Edwin Land's "instant" cameras, and Lyndon Johnson's speed change of the name of Cape Canaveral only six days after his predecessor was assassinated. Dare I mention the speedy delivery of William Shakespeare's first daughter, less than six months after applying for a marriage license?
1582 - A bond of 40 pounds was posted for the issuance of a marriage license between 18-year-old William Shakespeare and 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. The time and place of the wedding itself is not known, but it can be presumed that it was done quickly - their daughter Susanna was born six months later, she was baptized on 26 May 1583.
1895 - The first automobile race in US history was run at Chicago over a 54.36-mile course. Sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald with a $5,000 purse, there were 80 cars entered but only six started. Frank Duryea won in 10 hours and 23 minutes, beating three Benz models and two electric cars. Peak speeds were between 15 and 20 mph, each car carried an observer.
1919 - US-born Nancy Astor was elected to replace her husband, Waldorf Astor, in the British parliament, representing Plymouth. Waldorf had held the seat until he succeeded his father as viscount and thus gave up his seat in the House of Commons. Lady Astor prevailed in subsequent elections until her retirement in 1945.
1948 - The Polaroid "Land Camera" Model 95, the first camera to develop its own images immediately after exposure, went on sale at Jordan Marsh in Boston for $89.95 and was an instant sensation. While on vacation five years before, Edwin Land's daughter asked to see a picture he had just taken, which inspired him to develop the process based on a 1928 Agfa development that had not been developed.
1963 - US president Lyndon Johnson announced that Cape Canaveral in Florida would be henceforth referred to as Cape Kennedy, and that the name change had been sanctioned by the US Board on Geographic Names. He also changed the name of the NASA Launch Operations Center to the John F. Kennedy Space Center. It took ten years, but residents of Florida prevailed and returned the cape to its original name, which dated to Ponce de Leon four centuries earlier.
Independence Day, Republic of Albania - Turkish rule of Albania ended with the Balkan War, the proclamation of independence was made on November 28, 1912.
Independence Day, Republic of Panama - Commemorates independence from Spain in 1821. This is Panama's second Independence Day this month, independence from Colombia was declared on 3 November 1903, both are holidays.
1810 - William Froude, English engineer - Born at Dartington, Devon, England to a family mostly associated with literary and academic pursuits, educated at the Westminster School followed by seven years at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating first class in mathematics in 1832. Worked with Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the construction of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, retiring from civil engineering in 1846. An avid yachtsman, he began experimenting with the behavior of boats, building a 250-foot-long testing tank with overhead rails for towing models through water of varying conditions, with support from the Admiralty but on his own land. Developed equations that allowed test results to be applied to full-size hulls, Froude's Law of Similarity states that wave action of a model will match the full hull if the speed is reduced in proportion to the square root of length, while skin friction varies in linear proportion with speed. His basic theories are still in use. Also developed the first means to measure engine power output, and to predict vessel speed from engine power and model testing. Received the Royal Medal in 1870. Died on 6 May 1879 at Simonstown, South Africa while on holiday, his son and longtime assistant Robert Edmund Froude continued his work.
Speed provides the one great modern pleasure.
- Aldous Huxley
In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Speed costs money - how fast can you afford to go?
- David Lenkowski
Entire new continent can emerge from the ocean in the time it takes for
a Web page to show up on your screen. Contrary to what you may have heard,
the Internet does not operate at the speed of light; it operates at the
speed of the DMV.
- Dave Barry
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Copyright 2000 G. Armour Van Horn, all rights reserved. This document may be distributed freely. Please forward the complete message including this copyright notice.