On January 4, 1642, the scientist Isaac Newton, physicist, mathematician and astronomer (“Mathematical principles of natural philosophy”, “Optics”) was born (d. March 31, 1727).
Considered one of the most brilliant scientific minds of all time, mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton formulated valid theories about, among other things, motion, gravity, and computation. The son of an illiterate peasant, Newton was an introvert and secretive about his work.
1. The Black Death contributed to one of his most important theories
In 1665, following an outbreak of bubonic plague in England, Cambridge University closed, forcing Newton to return home to Woolsthorpe Manor. While in the garden there, he saw an apple fall from a tree, an event that inspired him to formulate the famous law of universal gravitation. Newton later recounted the incident to William Stukeley, the author of his memoirs.
The tree still exists today, and part of the apple that Newton saw fall that day in the garden of Woolsthorpe Manor was taken into space in 2010, aboard the spaceship Atlantis.
2. He was interested in alchemy
Isaac Newton was passionate about alchemy. He devoted much of his time to trying to create the “philosopher’s stone” which he believed had the power to turn other metals into gold and make people immortal.
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Find out presents the main historical meanings of the 4th of January:
1809 – Louis Braille, the inventor of the writing system for the blind (the Braille alphabet, 1829) was born (d. January 6, 1852)
1841 – Chemist Petru Poni, leading representative of the Romanian school of chemistry, was born. (d. April 2, 1925)
1877 – The writer Sextil Pușcariu, famous philologist and literary historian, member of the Romanian Academy (d. 1948), was born in Braşov.
1914 – In Romania, a liberal government was formed led by IIC Brătianu, which lasted until January 29, 1918.
1926 – The Parliament of Romania voted to accept Prince Carol’s renunciation of succession to the throne (“the act of January 4”) and the recognition of his son, Prince Mihai, as Crown Prince of Romania.
1954 – The poet Elena Farago (Elena Paximade) passed away (“The Punished Motan”, “The Cockroach”, “The Lame Puppy”) (b. March 29, 1878)
1960 – The French writer Albert Camus died.
1970 – The actor Mişu Fotino (father), founder of the State Theater in Braşov, passed away. (b. 1886)
1990 – The abolition of the State Security Department was announced.
1990 – The first press conference of the Group for Social Dialogue (GDS), made up of personalities from the cultural-artistic and scientific life, took place.
1994 – During a meeting of the liberal leaders Horia Rusu and Dinu Patriciu, the Steering Committee of PL-93 adopted an “open letter to all liberal-oriented parties”, a document that proposed the “unification of liberals through competition”.
1996 – Mircea Geoană received the approval of the American administration to take over the position of ambassador in Washington.
1998 – Composer Vasile Veselovski (“Strada Speranţei”, “De ar sti ea marea”, “Merit eu”) died
1999 – The miners of Valea Jiului went on a general strike, demanding the urgent resolution of 30 claims related to the state of the mining industry.
2004 – The Great Traditional Afghan Assembly, Loya Jirga, adopted the Constitution of the new “Islamic Republic of Afghanistan”.
2006 – The Canadian poet of Romanian origin Irving Peter Layton (Israel Pincu Lazarovitch) died in Montreal, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Since the 40s he has been recognized as one of the most prolific, versatile, revolutionary and controversial poets of the Canadian “modern” school. His reputation was consolidated in the 1950s and 1960s, especially after the publication of the work “A Red Carpet for the Sun” in 1959. One of his famous students was Leonard Cohen, musician, writer, promoter of Canadian postmodernism. (b. March 12, 1912, Târgu Neamţ, Romania).
2008 – The largest Roma camp in France, located on the outskirts of Paris (Saint-Ouen), was abolished.
Source: www.descopera.ro
