| Date | Text | |
|---|---|---|
16 Nov 1841
Life preserver |
Life preserver In 1841, the first patent for a U.S. life preserver of cork was issued to Napoleon E. Guerin of New York City (No. 2,359) for his "Improvement in Buoyant Dresses or Life-Preservers." It was of the form of a jacket or waistcoat. The jacket was described as being made from a doubled layer of material, with sufficient room for the introduction of from 18 to 20 quarts of rasped or grated cork. After the insertion of the rasped or grated cork between the layers, those parts of the garment left open would be sewn closed. The difference in quantity of cork was chosen according to the size of the person for whom the life preserver is to be made. |
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16 Nov 1841
Jules-Louis-Gabriel Violle |
birth Jules-Louis-Gabriel Violle Born 16 Nov 1841; died 12 Sep 1923 at age 81. French physicist who made the first high-altitude determination of the solar constant (1875, on Mont Blanc in the French-Swiss Alps). He also determined the fusion points of palladium, platinum and gold. Violle also was interested in the theory of geysers, the origin of hail, and atmospheric exploration through balloon soundings. For high-temperature radiation, he proposed a photometric unit, the violle or Violle's standard (1881). His actinometer is one form of pyrheliometer, a device to measure the intensity of sunlight. It was modified from John Herschel's invention of 1825. It consists of two concentric hollow spheres containing water between them. Sunlight passes through an aperture and falls on a thermometer bulb in the hollow inner sphere. |
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