George stephenson Biography

George Stephenson

English mechanical engineer who invented the steam locomotive (Wylam, Northumberland, 1781-Chesterfield, Derbyshire, 1848).The son of a mechanic who operated a steam pump to drain water in a mine (of the Newcomen type), he became familiar with these machines from a very young age.His curiosity led him to study at night school, and while he made a living doing all kinds of trades, he continued to educate himself by helping his son review the lessons.

George Stephenson

Finally established as chief mechanic at the Killingworth mine, from 1813 he became interested in the application of James' steam engine Watt to the hauling of wagons on rails.He created the Blucher locomotive, which he progressively perfected, until in 1821 he convinced the promoters of the Stockton to Darlington railway project to have it drawn by a steam locomotive and not by horses; This is how the first modern railway line emerged, built by Stephenson in 1825.

Success led to a call to build the much longer Liverpool-Manchester line; on that occasion, his Rocket locomotive won a race with other locomotives who aspired to be employed on the line (1829).Stephenson installed a factory in Newcastle from which the eight locomotives that operated on this first regular railway service came out, and was called upon to build or advise on many other railways that were spreading throughout the world.

The locomotive Rocket

With his practical talent for mechanics, George Stephenson solved on the fly the many problems that They were emerging in the layout of new lines, construction of bridges, machines, rails and wagons, in addition to confronting those who distrusted this new means of communication due to its supposed effects on health and the environment.The construction of railway networks gave a definitive boost to the Industrial Revolution by notably increasing the demand for coal, iron and machinery and facilitating the transport of heavy goods and people; The need for heavy investment, on the other hand, preluded the formation of large industrial and financial corporations, a characteristic phenomenon of the Second Industrial Revolution.

Comments

Ilias Venezis Biography

Ilias Venezis (Aivali, Asia Minor, 1904-Athens, 1973) Greek writer.The novel Matrícula 31328 (1931), which recounts his experience of deportation after the Greco-Turkish war (1920-1921), is his main work.He is also the author of novels ( Serenidad , 1939; Tierra eolia, 1943, and Los vancidos, 1954), of short stories ( The archipelago, 1969), from travel books ( Autumn in Italy, 1950, and Eftalón y viajes, 1973) and from the historical essay Los argonauts (1962).

The Legend of the Holy Grail

No other medieval fable is so rich in symbolism, so diverse and, in many cases, as contradictory in its meaning as the legend of the Holy Grail . Is there any historical proof that allows us to suppose that there was a Grail that could be found? Or its legend is nothing more than a charming literary tale created by troubadours to entertain the members of the European courts? The legend of the Grail was recorded in history at the end of the 13th century.The mind of a talented French poet called Chretien de Troyes . However, when he wrote his Grail Story , Chretien included a host of pre-Christian elements.The legend went back, in fact, several centuries ago, to the Celtic stories of King Arthur , to the Irish tales, to the Welsh bards, where Christianity had not yet arrived. In fact, for the first Christian narrator of the legend of the Grail , Chretien de Troyes , the Holy Grail was not even a glass, but appears as a lavish and magical dish whose function is ...

Heidemarie Rosendahl Biography

Heidemarie Rosendahl (Hückeswagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, 1947) German athlete.He obtained the gold medals in the long jump and the 4 × 100 m relay, and the silver in the pentathlon, at the Olympic Games in Munich (1972).

The fusion of the Romans and Germans

In the first years of the 5th century, the Germanic peoples , pushed by the Hungarian horsemen, crossed the Roman borders and entered the Roman Empire of the West. At the beginning of the 6th century, these villages were installed in the ruins of a Rome that had been unable to maintain control in its vast territory. The date of 476 marks in the traditional history the break between existence of the Roman Empire and the beginning of a new order arbitrarily called the " Middle Ages ", however, that new order was not built overnight and, Changes in everyday life did not have the rhythm of the hectic political sphere. During this period of slow social transformation, there was a coexistence throughout the European territory between two types of and different cultures, the Roman and the germanica . It took long years for communities to associate to the point of mixing their traditions and forming a true nation.The obstacles to this merger were certainly numero...

Josep Maria Figueras Biography

Josep Maria Figueras (Josep Maria Figueras Bassols; Barcelona, 1928-1994) Spanish businessman and politician.He studied law at the University of Barcelona and political and economic sciences in Madrid and Georgetown (United States). Initially dedicated to business in the real estate sector, he later moved on to other business branches.Founder of the Center for Contemporary History Studies (1966), after Franco's death and during the transition to democracy, he promoted the liberal party Acció Democràtica de Catalunya (1976) and the Lliga Liberal de Catalunya (1977), but withdrew from the politics after getting few votes. Later he chaired the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce (since 1979), the Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce of Spain (1979-1986) and the Barcelona Trade Fair (1979-1987), among other institutions , and was a member of the Organizing Committee of the Barcelona Olympic Games and director of numerous companies. The liberal and Catalan political ideology of J...

Cesare Zavattini Biography

Cesare Zavattini (Luzzara, 1902-Rome, 1989) Italian narrator, playwright, journalist and screenwriter.His dedication to letters had a first development through the journalistic genre, in which he achieved a certain literary prestige with his articles published in various newspapers and magazines: Gazzetta di Parma (1935-36), Cinema Illustrazione, Secolo Illustrato and Le Large Firm (1937-38). Cesare Zavattini Through these journalistic works, Cesare Zavattini became known as a keen and ironic observer of the world around him and, at the same time, an author gifted with an extraordinary fantasy and a humor close to the best surrealism that at that time was cultivated in the literatures of all Europe. All this was reflected in different volumes that were collecting his numerous loose writings, most of them dispersed until then in the aforementioned media.These are titles as lucid and fruitful as Parliamo tanto di me (We talk a lot about me, 1931), I poveri sono matti (The po...

Grace Querejeta Biography

Gracia Querejeta (Gracia Querejeta Marín; Madrid, 1962) Spanish film director.Daughter of the costume designer María del Carmen Marín Maiki and the film producer Elías Querejeta, she studied Geography and History at university and received a degree in Ancient History.Although she never wanted to be an actress, she had two circumstantial appearances in front of the cameras: the first, when she was only seven years old, in the film Las secretas intenciones by Antxon Eceiza, and the second when, at the age of thirteen., played a small role in Las Palabras de Max , by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro. Gracia Querejeta His first professional experience behind a Camera was as assistant director in Sweet hours (1981), directed by Carlos Saura and with his father as producer.After finishing his degree, he had the opportunity to direct Tres en la marca in 1988, as part of the collective project Seven footprints , with which he won the Arriaga Theater Award in Bilbao.The film Seven footp...

The history of the flags of the world

Maybe you've ever stopped to think where the flags come from, because they have those colors or shapes, because some have drawings and others have stripes.Because there are flags of different countries that are very similar, it may be a coincidence or perhaps they have something in common.To this and other questions we will answer in this article that we have titled The history of the flags of the world. History of the flags of the world | Origin of the Flags The flags are responsible for generating the identity signals of a country , it is the embodiment of a series of values that hold a community together or region that share a series of characteristics, whether geographical, cultural or historical. When several nations have shared a common period in history, it is normal that they also share symbols, examples such as the flags of the Nordic countries or as with New Zealand and Australia. Today all countries are represented by their corresponding flag, but ...

John newcombe Biography

John Newcombe (Sydney, 1944) Australian tennis player.His sporting life began as a soccer and cricket player, and it was not until 1957 that he began in tennis, a sport in which he was junior champion of Australia at seventeen, which earned him being selected for the Australian Cup team.Davis, formed by a group of Australian tennis players who won all the most important tournaments that were played (Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Emerson, etc.). In 1966 he won the Davis Cup against Spain in Sydney , forming a couple with Tony Roche, with whom he formed one of the best couples in the history of world tennis.He returned to renew the title two years later, in 1968.He was individual champion at Wimbledon in 1967 and 1968 and won the United States Open, in Forest Hills in 1967.However, he obtained his greatest successes in the doubles modality, always with Tony Roche and sometimes with Fletcher; with them he was awarded the Wimbledon title in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1970.After his retirem...

Egon Eiermann Biography

Egon Eiermann (Neuendorf, 1904-Baden-Baden, 1970) German architect.He was a disciple of H.Poelzig and was influenced by Mies van der Rohe.He brought the rationalist tradition to the utmost technological and functional refinement (Blumberg handkerchief factory, Merkur department store in Stuttgart).

History Today Online

Search This Blog