b. ? 1675 and d. November 20, 1751

English mathematician and watchmaker. Gave to various movements for measuring time a degree of perfection which had never before been attained, and also invented several astronomical instruments; he effected great improvements in those which had been in use before. He composed the whole known planetary system within the compass of a small cabinet, from which, as a model, all modern orreries have been constructed. He constructed the most complete planetarium known at the time. He invented the ingenious mercurial pendulum and the “dead-beat escapement.”

 Well has His work the mighty Maker made
 In mechanism wonderful in man,
 And all the parts by many members played
 So harmonized into a common plan,
 So blended soul and body into one,
 That all the healthful frame with soul imbued,
 Glorying in existence, its brief span
 A full condensed millennium of good,
 Bounds with exultant joy-impulsive gratitude.

 —Alwyn: James C. Maffatt

 1639, November 24—The first transit of Venus over the face of the sun was observed by the Rev. Jeremiah Horrox, or Horrocks, and his friend, William Grabtree, as predicted by Horrox in 1633.
 
 1670—The orrery was invented.

b. November 19, 1805 and d. December 8, 1894

French engineer of the Suez Canal, which was inaugurated November 17, 1869. The canal for steamboats of light draught was opened on August 15, 1865. Since 1873 he concentrated his energy on the Pamana Canal. The scandal attending the exposure of the Pamana Canal mismanagement is supposed to have hastened his death.

 Where the demands for competent ability are so
 pressing and the temptations to employ that ability
 in such occupations as bring them instant rewards
 are so great, it is quite certain that but few will be
 found inclined to spend their lives in studies which
 have no interest for others, and no perceptible bearing
 on private or public good.

 1847, July 8—The canal from Durana to Marseilles was completed.

 1854—The Ganges Canal in India was opened.

 1859—The construction of the Suez Canal was begun.

 1861—The canal of Languedoc (Canal du Midi), connecting the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, 148 miles long, was completed.

 1864—The Suez Canal was completed.

 1865—A canal was dug connecting Amsterdam with the North Sea. (1876, November 1, opened.)

 1869, November 23—The Suez Canal was formally opened to the commerce of the world in the presence of the Emperor of Austria, the Empress of France and the Khedive of Egypt.

b. ? 1765 and d. November 18, 1854

British officer. About 1808 he invented a mode of saving life by shooting from a mortar a rope to mariners shipwrecked near the coast.

 Mournful wave! I deemed thy song
 Was telling of a mournful prison,
 Which, when tempests swept along,
 And the mighty winds were risen,
 Foundered in the ocean’s grasp,
 While the brave and fair were dying.
 Wave! didst mark a white hand clasp
 In thy folds as thou wert flying?

 —A Dying Wave: Anonymous

 Throw out the Life-line across the dark wave,
 There is a brother whom some one should save;
 Somebody’s brother! oh, who then will dare
 To throw out the Life-line, his peril to share?

 Throw out the Life-line with hand quick and strong;
 Why do you tarry, my brother, so long?
 See! he is sinking; oh, hasten to-day-
 And out with the Life-boat! away, then, away.

 —E. S. Ufford

 1802—Life-boats first invented.

 1819, June 20—First American steamer at Liverpool was launched.

 1821—First seagoing steam vessel, made of iron, was constructed in England.

 1880—First iron steamship was built in the United States.