I can see queerly now

On May 23, 1785, Ben Franklin wrote from France to a friend of his, "I have only to move my eyes up and down as I want to see distinctly far and near." Old Ben was describing his latest invention, bifocal glasses. His glasses consisted of a frame with lenses in two parts, each with different focusing powers. Eyeglass frames had been invented in London in 1727.

Not many citizens in the colonies wore glasses of any sort, as they cost about $100.

Just the fax

The first fax service, between the cities of Paris and Lyon, France, a distance of over 200 miles, was established on this date in the year—got a guess? How about 1865, eleven years before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone?

Better than that, the fax machine was actually patented in 1843, by Alexander Bain, a Scottish clockmaker. He called it a pantelegraph, because he envisioned it transmitting messages over telegraph lines. His invention used pendulums at each end of the line to transmit messages, and he never could them to synchronize, so he threw in the towel. 

Twenty years later, a Catholic priest named Giovanni Caselli and his partner, Gustav Froment, got the bugs out and unveiled a fax that sent messages written on ordinary paper, and could send several simultaneously. They demonstrated their device to Emperor Napoleon III of France, who liked it so much he passed a law establishing the world’s first fax service.   

Giving Edison the needle

You talkin' to me?

Thomas A. Edison was granted a patent on the phonograph on this day in 1878.

"Dear Mr. Edison: I am astonished and terrified at the results of this evening's experiment. Astonished at the wonderful form you have developed and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever." -- Sir Arthur Sullivan.

...The band was to start at eleven, for some reason. Maybe he’d hang around, listen to some music for a change. Although he had to say, most of what passed for music today left him cold. No lyrics or melodies. Say what you would about some of the shit he’d grown up listening to, at least you could find a tune in there somewhere, usually. But now…what had happened?

   What had happened to him, maybe that was it. Was he that old, that the music had totally changed, as if it were from some other world, far in the future? Or rather, that he was from some other world, far in the past?   --  The Misforgotten, Chapter 31.

Giving Edison the needle

Thomas A. Edison was granted a patent on the phonograph on this day in 1878.

"Dear Mr. Edison: I am astonished and terrified at the results of this evening's experiment. Astonished at the wonderful form you have developed and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever." -- Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Our minds are very dim bulbs

Thomas Edison was born on this day in 1847. He said:

"We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything."

Birthday of the Month

Alexander Graham Bell, born March 3, 1847. Bell patented the telephone on March 7, 1876.

"O misery, misery, mumble and moan!
Someone invented the telephone,
And interrupted a nation's slumbers,
Ringing wrong but similar numbers."

-- Ogden Nash.

Giving Edison the needle

Thomas A. Edison was granted a patent on the phonograph on this day in 1878.

"Dear Mr. Edison: I am astonished and terrified at the results of this evening's experiment. Astonished at the wonderful form you have developed and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever." -- Sir Arthur Sullivan.

   Returning to his stool he relit his cigar, which had gone out. Eight o’clock, and the place was dead. They must have known it was my birthday, he thought ruefully. The band was to start at eleven, for some reason. Maybe he’d hang around, listen to some music for a change. Although he had to say, most of what passed for music today left him cold. No lyrics or melodies. Say what you would about some of the shit he’d grown up listening to, at least you could find a tune in there somewhere, usually. But now…what had happened?  --  Chapter 31, The Misforgotten.

Our minds are very weak bulbs

Thomas Edison was born on this day in 1847. He said:

"We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything."