b. November 13, 1809 and d. July 12, 1870

American naval officer. Designed the style of cannon known by his name; also invented a rifled cannon and introduced boat-howitzers with iron carriages. He published many scientific works on ordnance which have been used as text-books in the navy.

 Hail, adamantine Steel! magnetic Lord!
 King of the prow, the plowshare, and the sword!
 True to the pole, by thee the pilot guides
 His steady helm amid the struggling tides,
 Braves with broad sail the immeasurable sea,
 Cleaves the dark air, and asks no star but thee.-
 O’er restless realms when scowling Discord flings
 Her snakes, and loud the din of battle rings;
 Expiring strength, and vanquish’d Courage feel
 Thy arm resistless, adamantine Steel!

 —Botani Garden: Dr. Darwin

 1543—Bombs and mortars were invented.

 1635—The early English guns were first made of brass; in 1847 they were made of iron.

 1804, October 5-1877, December 24—Robert Parker Parrott lived. He devised and perfected the system of rifled cannon and projectiles known by his name. These were first put to the test of actual warfare in the Battle of Bull Run.

 1824—A steam-gun was invented by Perkins.

 1831, December 15—Needle-gun was patented.

 1842—The artillery carbine was introduced.

 1861, July 1—Steel guns were first manufactured at Trenton.

b. November 13, 1836 and d. ?

American physicist. He showed that the translation of a vibrating body caused it to emit waves differing in length from those produced by the same vibrating body when stationary; he devised a method of detecting the phases of vibration in the air surrounding a sounding body, leading to his invention of the topophone; a mode of measuring the wave lengths and velocities of sound in gases, resulting in the invention of an acoustic pyrometer; a method of determining the relative intensities of sound; five new methods of sonorous analysis for the decomposition of a compound sound into its elementary tones; the determination of the laws of vibration of tuning-forks.

 Oh, birth, oh, death of Time!
 Oh, mystery sublime!
 Ever the rippling ocean
 Brings forth the wave
 To smile or rave,
 And die of its own motion.
 A little wave to strike
 The sad, responsive shore,
 And be succeeded by its like,
 Ever and evermore.

 —The Lost Day: Mackay

 1877, December—Edison announced a phonograph.

 1880—Audiphone invented by R. G. Rhodes.

b. March 12, 1775 and d. November 12, 1832

Scotch-American shipbuilder. Made important improvements in the building of ships; built the “Robert Fulton,” the first successful ocean-going steamboat, and during the war of 1812, he constructed a fleet of warships for Lake Erie in a remarkable short time.

 That holds, in spite o’ knock an’ scale, o’ friction, waste an’
 slip,
 An’ by that light-now, mark my words we’ll build the perfect
 Ship.
 I’ll never last to judge her lines to take her curve-not I.
 But I ha’ lived an’ I ha’ worked. All thanks to Thee, Most
 High!
 An’ I ha’ done what I ha’ done-judge thou if ill or well-
 Always they Grace preventin’ me . . . Losh! Yon’s the
 ”Stand by” bell.
 Pilot so soon! His flare it is. The mornin’ watch is set.
 Well, God be thanked, as I was saying! I’m no Pelagian yet.

 —The Seven Seas: Rudyard Kipling

 If the invention of the Ship was thought so noble,
 which carrieth riches and commodities from place
 to place, and consociateth the most remote regions
 in participation of their fruits, how much more are
 letters to be magnified, which, as Ships, pass through
 the vast Seas of time, and make ages so distant to
 participate of the wisdom, illuminations, and inventions,
 the one of the other!

 —On the Proficience and Advancement of Learning: Bacon

 1783—Ships were first copper-bottomed.