Topic of the Day
1717: Mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Jean le Rond d'Alembert born. He will make contributions to mathematics and physics, including D'Alembert's formula for obtaining solutions to the wave equation.
1724: Thief Jack Sheppard hanged. He was arrested and imprisoned five times in 1724 but escaped four times from prison, making him a notorious public figure, and wildly popular with the poorer classes.
1904: English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).
1917: Mathematician Derek Taunt born. He will work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park during World War II.
1940: New York City "Mad Bomber" George P. Metesky places his first bomb, at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
"Topic of the Day" is sponsored by Gnomon Chronicles Industries.