John Newton (#54)

Background

John Henry Newton was born on July 24, 1725 in Wapping, London, the son of a shipmaster. Newton's mother, Elizabeth Seatcliffe Newton was the daughter of an instrument maker from London, but she died of tuberculosis when John was only seven years old. Two years later, Newton went to live with his father's new wife, during which he attended school. 

When he was eleven, Newton worked at sea with his father. When his father retired, Newton was expected to go work on a sugar plantation in Jamaica, but Newton decided to sign on with a merchant ship in the Mediterranean instead.

Life at Sea

In 1743, Newton was captured and pressed into the naval service by the Royal Navy. He became a midshipman on the HMS Hardwich. Newton attempted to desert, but was captured and was given eight dozen lashes and was reduced to the rank of common seaman. After this event, Newton contemplated murdering the captain and committing suicide himself. Newton eventually recovered, both physically and mentally, and was transfered to the Pegasus, a slave ship bound for West Africa. 

Newton was deemed a problem by the crew of the Pegasus and was handed over to a slave dealer named Amos Clowe. Clowe took Newton to the coast and gave him to Clowe's wife, an African duchess, as a slave. Newton was abused and mistreated while there, but was rescued in 1748 by a sea captain who had been hired by Newton's father to search for him.

The sea captain returned Newton to Liverpool, where Newton acquired a slave ship Brownlow. During a voyage to the West Indies, Newton became sick with fever. While sick, Newton recognized the inadequacy of his spiritual life. He then professed his full belief in Christ. After this, in 1750, Newton married his childhood sweetheart. Newton did, however, continued working in the slave trade until 1754. 

Ministry

Newton settled down in 1755 to become a tax collector, and in his spare time, he studied Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac and soon became a well known evangelical lay minister. In 1757, he applied to be ordained as a priest of the Church of England. He was refused multiple times by the Church of England, the Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church. It wasn't until 1764, that Newton was accepted as the priest of Olney on the recommendation of Lord Dartmouth.

In 1767, a poet named William Cowper moved to Olney. He attended Newton's church, and the two worked together to create a volume of hymns, published in 1779 as the Olney Hymns. Among these hymns was the most famous ever written, titled "Amazing Grace". 

In 1788, Newton published a pamphlet entitled "Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade", in which he described the horrible conditions of slave ships he had experienced 34 years prior. In the pamphlet, Newton denounced slavery and expressed shame and humiliation for ever being part of the slave trade. Newton became an ally with William Wilberforce, who led the Parliamentary campaign to abolish the slave trade. 

The End

Newton lived with his wife, Mary Catlett until her death in 1790. After her death, Newton published Letters to a Wife, in which he expressed his sorrow at her passing. Newton died on December 21, 1807, but before his death, he was able to see the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which abolished slavery in the British Empire. Newton is on our list because despite entering the world of slavery and cruelty, he was able to turn his life around, write one of the most famous hymns in the world, and fight against the slavery that he once practiced.

Jack the Ripper (#62, August 31st)

Background

In the mid-1800s, many immigrants were flooding into London, mainly into London's East End. Irish immigrants were coming from the West, and Jewish Immigrants were coming from the East. The sudden jump in population led to worsening of conditions in London. On April 3rd, 1888, the first of eleven "Whitechapel Murders" took place in London's East End.

Murders

During the investigation process of these eleven murders, at least five are assumed to have been committed by the same person, who became known as Jack the Ripper. On August 31st, 1888, the body of Mary Ann Nichols was found, with her throat cut and her abdomen ripped open. From that date to November 9th, 1888, there were four more murders, each similar to the one described above. Each murder victim was a poor women, and each body was mutilated, some even having organs missing. 

As the police investigated the Whitechapel murders, it was assumed that the Ripper was a man who lived in London and worked during the week. This was assumed because the Ripper struck around a certain area of town each time, yet only struck during the weekend. The police first investigated surgeons, butchers, other workers who handled knives, believing that people of these occupations were more likely to kill victims by cutting them with knives. Unfortunately, all the main suspects had alibis that checked out.

There were hundreds of letters sent to the police and the newspapers whose authors claimed to be Jack the Ripper. In the letter known as the "Dear Boss" letter, the author became the first to use the name Jack the Ripper, which became a world famous name. In another letter, known as the "From Hell" letter, the author sent half a kidney, which the author claimed was the kidney of Catherine Eddowes, who had had her kidney stolen during her murder by the Ripper. The author also claimed that he had cooked and eaten the other half of the kidney. Though most letters were immediately thrown out as hoaxes, the "From Hell" letter was kept, though it was never discovered whether the kidney was indeed Eddowes's.

As the murder investigation progressed, the media caught onto the story. Tax reforms had made printing newspapers much cheaper than before, and Jack the Ripper's story was one of the first to be widely distributed throughout the city and the country. 

The End

The true identity of Jack the Ripper was never discovered, though policemen investigated the murders until 1931. Jack the Ripper became a legend, a fairy tale to scare children into being good. The Ripper's appearance also helped to bring media attention to the poor living conditions of London's East End. Jack the Ripper is on our list for being one of the few people who remain famous (or infamous) without actually having a face to put with their name.

British Hong Kong (August 29th)

In 1836, the China was the center of the opium trade, but the Chinese government wanted the trade to be stopped. Lin Zexu was given the task in 1839 of suppressing opium. He went to the British and ordered them to surrender the opium trade. All the British soldiers and merchants, including the Superintendent of Trade, Charles Elliot, were confined to the Canton Factories and cut off their supplies. Elliot complied to the demands of the Chinese in order to secure passage back to England for himself and his men.

All 20,283 chests of British opium were handed over to Zexu, who had all of it burned publicly. The British Cabinet demanded that the Chinese pay for the destruction of British property. The British stressed the fact that they cared not for China's opium policies, but did care about the way the situation was handled. In 1840, when China refused to pay, Charles Elliot and his cousin, Rear Admiral George Elliot, blockaded key ports along the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. This fighting led to the First Opium War.

In 1841, Elliot negotiated with Emperor Qishan at the Convention of Chuenpee. In the treaty that was arranged, peace would be made, but the Emperor would give Hong Kong to the British Empire. The flag was first raised in January of 1842, and on August 29th, 1842, the Treaty of Nanking was officially ratified and the island of Hong Kong was ceded to Britain, and it stayed in British hands for 100 years.

Krakatoa (August 27th)

Krakatoa is an Indonesian island that is the result of three volcanoes: Rakata, Danan, and Perbowatan. These three volcanoes had been active for hundreds of years, but the eruption in 1883 would be what made these volcanoes the most famous in the world.

By 1883, the area surrounding Krakatoa had been having seismic activity around the volcanoes for several years, some were so strong, they were felt as far off as Australia. In May of that year, steam began regularly venting from Perbowatan, and small eruptions of ash reached altitudes of 20,000 ft.  By the end of May, all activity had died down, but the volcanoes began erupting again around June 16th, covering the island in a black cloud. The eruptions reached their highest level of intensity on August 25th, and by the 26th, it was evident that a greater eruption was yet to come.

On August 27th, 1883, four explosions occurred on the small island of Krakatoa. At 5:30am, Perboewatan volcano erupted, creating tsunamis going North. At 6:44am, Danan volcano exploded, sending tsunamis both East and West. At 10:02am, the largest explosion took place, and was heard 3,110 km south in Perth, Australia and 4,800km west in Mauritius, where the sound was mistaken for distant cannon fire. The energy released in this explosion alone was said to be equal to 200 megatons of TNT, or four times the energy created by the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever detonated.

 At 10:41am, a landslide on Rakata volcano caused the fourth and final eruption. The pressure created by the last explosion radiated out from the volcano at 1,086 km/h (675mph). The blast was so powerful, it blew out the eardrums of sailors in ships nearby. The pressure also caused a 2 and a half inch spike of mercury in pressure gauges in Batavia, and records from barographs around the world continued to pick up the volcano's shock-wave for the next five days. From these records, it has been concluded that the last eruption's shock-wave reverberated around the world seven times in total.

Hot ash from the volcano fell in Ketimbang in Sumatra later on the 27th, and approximately 1,000 people died. On the nearby island of Sebesi, only 13km off from the volcano, 3,000 were killed. Many settlements in the area were destroyed by the 30m tall tsunami. Smaller waves caused by the volcano were recorded as far away as the English Channel.

The volcanic ashed forced into the atmosphere by the eruption lowered the earth's temperature by 1.2 degrees Celsius, and it took five years for the temperature to return to normal. This ash also caused the sky to redden around the world. In New York, it was said that the sky was so red, many believed that there was a fire. In other areas, a Bishop's ring, or halo, formed around the sun.

Sir Henry Morgan (#63, August 25th)

Background

Henry Morgan was born in southeast Wales around the year 1635, the son of a farmer. Not much is known about Morgan before the age of 1655. Historians do know that he dropped out of school and that somehow, Morgan managed to make his way to the West Indies. Some accounts say that Morgan came to Barbados as an indentured servant, but other accounts claim that Morgan came as a soldier in part of Cromwell's Western Design to take Hispaniola from Spain. While in the West Indies, Morgan married his cousin, Mary, the daughter of the Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica.

Career

Morgan joined the fleet of Christopher Mings in 1663. Mings had received a letter of marque the Governor of Jamaica. These letters allowed Mings and his fleet to attack Spanish ships as pirates. Morgan aided Mings in many attacks, including the capture of the island of Providence from Spain. 

In 1667, Morgan received his first independent commission from Modyford, the Governor of Jamaica. Morgan received ten ships and 500 men so he could capture Puerto Principe from the Spanish. After Morgan has successfully finished this task, Modyford entrusted Morgan with the task of attacking Spanish ships along the coast of Cuba. With letters of marque given to him by Modyford, Morgan continued to raid major Spanish ports, including Porto Bello, Cartagena, Maracaibo, and Gibraltar. 

In December of 1670, Morgan captured the island of Santa Catalina, and the fortress of San Lorenzo, which was on the coast of Panama. Morgan led his men into Panama and attacked the Spanish fortress at Panama City. Morgan successful took the city and his men looted the city of all its gold. The city was then burned. This attack on Panama violated England's 1670 peace treaty with Spain, so Morgan was arrested and brought to England in 1672. When it was proved that Morgan had no knowledge of the treaty, he was released, and in 1674, when Spanish-English relations deteriorated, Morgan was knighted for his work as a privateer.

The End

Sir Henry Morgan was brought back to Jamaica in 1674 to take up the post of Lieutenant Governor of the island. By 1683, however, Morgan had fallen out of the favor of King Charles II of England. Morgan was also being attacked by political enemies for his drunkenness and many of his disreputable actions taken while working as a privateer. Morgan was removed from the Jamaican Council in 1688. 

On August 25th, 1688, Sir Henry Morgan died, which has been suspected to be caused by tuberculosis contracted while in England or by liver failure brought on by heavy drinking. Morgan is on our list for being one of the most successful privateers during the era of American colonization

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The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (August 23rd)

In 1939, Adolf Hitler was preparing Germany for war. Hitler's first target was Poland. Unfortunately, Poland was protected by both France and Britain, and if the two powers of Western Europe entered the war, the Soviet Union, the major power of the East, might also enter the war. In World War I, Germany had also learned the consequences of fighting a two-front war, so Hitler sought to keep the U.S.S.R. from fighting.

On August 14, 1939, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyaaheslav Molotov, the Foreighn Ministers of Germany and the U.S.S.R., respectively, met in Moscow to arrange the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.

Publicly, the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was an agreement that Germany and Germany would not attack each other, but Ribbentrop and Molotov also included a secret protocol to the pact.

In the secret protocol, the Soviet Union would not attack when Germany invaded Poland, and in return, Germany would give the Baltic States and part of Poland to the Soviet Union. Even after World War II ended, the very existence of the protocol was denied by the Soviet Union until 1989.

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland, and the Soviet Union did nothing. Britain declared war on Germany two days later. The Non-Aggression Pact allowed Hitler to take Poland and fight the France and Britain without Stalin's intervention. The pact stayed in effect until June 22, 1941, when Hitler made a surprise attack on the Soviet Union, bringing Stalin into World War II.

The Death of Richard III (August 22nd)

In 1455, the War of the Roses broke out between two families in England: the Lancasters and the Yorks. The two families fought for the throne of England, and during the fight, most nobles in England took a side.

In 1483, Richard, Duke of York, was crowned as Richard the III of England after he usurped the throne from his twelve-year-old nephew, Edward V. The War of the Roses, however, was not over with the crowning of a York.

Richard was contested for the throne by Henry Tudor, the last remaining male member of the House of Lancaster. Because of this, Henry Tudor had the Lancaster family's strongest claim on the throne of England. Henry Tudor had gathered his forces in Frances, and then sailed his army to Milford Haven, Wales.

On August 21, 1485, twelve miles west of Leicester, on Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor's forces met Richard's in battle. Richard could have, for his army was of greater numbers, but at the last minute, several of his most important and powerful barons defected, giving Henry a decisive victory. Though he knew of his impending defeat, Richard is reported to have said, "I will not budge a foot. I will die king of England." Soon afterwards, Richard was unhorsed and killed, leaving Henry Tudor as Henry VII of England. Richard was only thirty-two years old and had been king for only two years when he died.

Lady Jane Grey (#69)

Background

Lady Jane Grey was born in either 1836 or 1837, the daughter of Henry Grey and Lady Frances Brandon. Jane Grey was the granddaughter of Mary Tudor, whose father was Henry Tudor and whose brother was Henry VIII. Jane Grey, through the influence of her father, became a committed Protestant. In 1547, Jane went to live with live in the household of Thomas Seymour, who married Catherine Parr, the widow of Henry VIII. Jane lived with the couple until Catherine Parr died in 1848. Though Jane, for a time, was considered to marry King Edward VI, who was the same age as her, the idea was scrapped, and Grey married Lord Guildford Dudley. 

Rise to Power

In 1553, Edward VI was dying at the age of fifteen due to sickness. On his deathbed, Edward named his Protestant cousin, Jane Grey, his successor so he could keep the throne from his Catholic half-sister, Mary. This was possibly due to persuasion from John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, Jane Grey's father-in-law. The King died on July 6th, 1553, and on July 9th, Jane was informed that she was queen. She reportedly claimed the crown reluctantly and refused to name her husband as king. 

The End

John Dudley had kept Mary Tudor isolated to keep her from gathering support, but when Mary heard that Edward was dead, she began gathering followers, and on July 19th, the Privy Council switch allegiance from Jane to Mary. Mary returned to London on August 3rd and Dudley was executed on the 22nd of August, 1553. Jane and her husband, Guildford Dudley, were charged for high treason, and was found guilty. Though her execution was scheduled for February 9th, 1554, it was postponed to giver her a chance to convert to the Catholic faith, which she did not do. After her husband was beheaded, Jane was brought out. She recited Psalm 51, then prepared for her death. The executioner asked her forgivness, which she granted, asking "I pray you dispatch me quickly." She was beheaded, and her final words are recorded to have been "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit."

Lady Jane Grey is on our list because she, though for only a short time, uprooted the Tudor line from the throne of England. She is also on our list because she has gone down in history as the nine-day queen, for that is how many days she truly had to rule. 

The Coronation of Hadrian (August 8th)

Emperor Hadrian

In the year AD 117, the Emperor Trajan was in Selinus, or modern day Turkey. During the past nineteen years, Trajan had conquered the regions of Parthia and Dacia and had started building programs in both Italy and Spain. Trajan is most famous, though, for his tolerance of Christians. This fact earned him a place in Dante's Paradiso as the only pre-Christian Roman emperor. While in Turkey, Trajan had a stroke and died at the age of 63.

On August 8th, 117, Hadrian, Trajan's adoptive son, inherited the throne. Hadrian's method of ruling was to improve rather than invade. Hadrian is responsible for many of the most recognizable buildings in all of the Roman Empire.

Among his works is the Pantheon in Rome. Though it was constructed more than a century earlier, Hadrian had the Pantheon renovated, adding the 141 foot diameter dome to the structure. Hadrian also constructed the Castel' Sant'Angelo and a villa at Tivoli, both of which still stand today.

Hadrian is most famous for his wall, which began construction in AD 122. In the north of Britain, the Picts and the Scots continuously raided cities in the Roman-controlled region of the island. To halt these raids, Hadrian began the construction of a wall, known as Hadrian's wall. This wall was ten feet wide, fifteen feet high, and stretch 73 miles from one coast of Britain to the next.. The wall also had a fort every five miles. Hadrian's Wall remains the larges construction project in Great Britain and it was the first barrier to set a distinct line between what would become England and Scotland. Hadrian continued building until his death in AD 138, at the age of 62.

The Bombing of Hiroshima (August 6th)

In 1945, the Pacific War of World War II was in its fourth year. Before the Nazis surrendered, the United States was putting together Operation Downfall, which would have been the largest operation of the Pacific Wall. Operation Downfall laid out plans of a full on invasion of Japan.

When Germany surrendered in May of 1945, the United States was able to focus all its efforts into the Pacific War. In June of 1945, the Joint War Plans Committee estimated that Operation Downfall would result in between 25,000 and 46,000 deaths. Soon afterwards, though, the Japanese began withdrawing troops from Manchuria to defend the home islands. The Japanese military force built up to the point that there were 2.3 million Army troops, 4 million Army and Navy employees, and a civilian militia 28 million strong. This build-up of Japanese forces increased the number of Allied fatalities to between 400,000 and 800,000.

At the same time, the Manhattan Project, Tube Alloys, and Chalk River Laboratories were hard at work. These were the respective projects of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to design and build atomic bombs. The projects were started in 1939, and in July of 1945, the Manhattan Project had successfully detonated the first nuclear weapon at Trinity Site, though the destruction caused by the weapon was far more than anyone had expected.

Eventually, Harry Truman was forced to make a decision: to continue with Operation Downfall, and lose up to 800,000 Americans, or release atomic weaponry upon Japan. In the end, Truman chose not to risk American lives.

Aftermath of Hiroshima

On July 26th, 1945, the Allied Leaders issued the Potsdam Declaration, which stated that if the Japanese refused to surrender, it would lead to "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitable the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland." There was no response from the Japanese, so the Allies continued with their plan to drop the atomic bomb.

For previous air raids on Japan, the United States had dropped leaflets warning citizens of the danger, but in the case of the atomic bombings, the United States decided against dropping leaflets or detonating a demonstration bomb. This decision was made due to the uncertainty of a successful detonation and to maximize psychological shock.

On August 6th, 1945, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets flew his ship, Enola Gay, over the city of Hiroshima and dropped the atomic bomb, known as Little Boy, on the city. The blast created was equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT, leading to the destruction of an area a about one mile (1.6 km) in circumference, and resulting fires spread across 4.4 square miles (11 square kilometers) of land. 69% of Hiroshima's building were destroyed and between 70,000 and 80,000 people, 30% of the city's population, were killed.

A second bomb, known as Fat Man, was detonated three days later, and a letter of surrender was sent on the 14th of August, ending World War 2.

The First Transatlantic Message (August 5th)

In 1839, the first widely used telegraph was created by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone, which could, theoretically allow near-instantaneous communication across the entire world. The only problem with this worldwide communication network was the presence of oceans. To get a cable across the oceans, it would take massive amounts of money and international cooperation.

The idea had been supported by many, including Samuel Morse, and the concept had been proven when a cable was set between England and France, and later between two islands in Canada.

In 1853, the idea picked up enough momentum and a project to get a telegraph cable across the Atlantic was put in motion, led by Cyrus West Field and Charles Tilston Bright.

One problem that the project encountered was the money needed to make the cables. Each section  cable was made up of seven copper wires covered with three coats of gutta-percha leaves, tarred hemp, and eighteen groups of seven iron wires. The British government gave the project both subsidies and ships needed to complete the project, but Field also went to Congress to gain monetary support. Due to a large amount of anglophobes among congressmen, the subsidy bill passed in the Senate by a single vote and barely passed in the House of Representatives as well.

The first two attempts to carry the cable across the Atlantic both failed due to breaks in the cable, but the feat was attempted again one years later. In 1858, the HMS Agamemnon began laying the cable westward from the United Kingdom and the  USS Niagara did the same, making its way east from the United States. On this attempt, the two halves of the cable did not break and the cables were successfully spliced. An the entire cable was sent to the bottom of the ocean.

On August 6th 1858, Queen Victoria and United States President James Buchanan set each other greetings by telegraph, becoming the first people to use the Transatlantic telegraph.

The Request of Queen Philippa (August 4th)

In the year 1346, Edward III of England began a siege on the French port of Calais. Edward wanted to conquer France for England, but to do so, he needed a deep-water port to ferry troops and supplies from England to France. Calais was the perfect port for the job, it was a port close to England that was both large and fortified.

For months, the citizens of Calais resisted the English. After their supplies ran out, the citizens began to eat their dogs, then their horses, and then the cats and rats in the cities. Calais waited for French aid, but none came, so though their defenses withstood the English attacks, starvation forced the city to surrender.

The siege had lasted a total of eleven months, much to the annoyance of King Edward III. He was so annoyed, in fact, that he ordered  that the six most important men of Calais, known as the burghers, were brought before him, barefoot, wearing only their shirts, with ropes around their necks.

It is unclear what Edward was going to do to the burghers, but whatever he planned, it was not pleasant, but before he could do anything, his wife, Queen Philippa, stepped in. She is said to have knelt before the King and begged him to show mercy to the burghers. Edward was touched by his wife's actions, and the burghers were set free. This story was so moving, it inspired the sculptor Auguste Rodin to make a sculpture of the event. In the end, though the burghers were set free, Calais remained in English hands until the time of Mary Tudor.

The German Declaration of War on France (August 3rd)

On the August 3rd of 1914, Germany declared war on France, just two days after declaring war on Russia. Germany prepared to begin the Schlieffen plan, which mapped out Germany's actions in the two-front war against France and Russia.

Several hours later, France made its own declaration of war, and began moving troops into Alsace and Lorraine, provinces it had lost to Germany in the Franco-Prussian war.

This declaration of war on France turned Germany's war into a World War. Before declaring war on France, the war was just another conflict in the Balkans, but when France entered the arena, the world would be forced to join.

The Schlieffen plan called for German forces to invade France by passing through Belgium. Since 1939, France and Britain had guaranteed Belgium's neutrality in any wars, so when the plan to invade France was initiated, not only France would get involved, but Belgium, Britain, and any territories belonging to these nations, which, at this point, included India, Vietnam, parts of Africa, and even parts of China and the Pacific islands. At the time they were unaware, but this war would become the largest war the world had ever seen.

The Battle of the Nile (August 1st)

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte left his fleet of seventeen French ships at the mouth of the Nile while he went on his campaign through Egypt. Close behind, Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson was preparing for an attack with five British men-o'-war.

On August 1st, a few hours before sunset, Nelson order his ships to attack by going in between French ships and firing on both sides. The French would fire back, but they were in danger of hitting their own ships as well due to overshooting their target.

When the Orient, the 120-gun French flagship, exploded, the battle was close to its end. In the end, the British captured or sank all but two of the French ships. About 10,000 French lives and 1,000 British lives were lost in the attack.

This battle was the turning point of the British naval campaign against the French, and when Nelson, realizing the importance of the battle, famously said, "Before this time tomorrow I shall have gained a peerage, or Westminster Abbey." Luckily for Nelson, he recieved the former and went down in history as the famous Lord Nelson.

Sydney Newman (#77)

Background

Sydney C. Newman was born on April 1, 1917 in Toronto, Canada, the son of a shoe shop owner. Though he originally went to Ogden Public School, he dropped out at the age of 13 and later studied art and design at Central Technical School. Newman originally hoped to become a photographer and artist, making money as a creator of film posters, but when this profession did not make much money, he went into the film industry itself. 

Early Work

Newman went to Hollywood in 1938, looking for work. He was offered a job by the Walt Disney Company, but he had to turn down the job because he could not obtain a work permit. Newman obtained his first major film job as an editor for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). When WW2 began, Newman was assigned to produce documentaries and propaganda for Canada, and in 1949, the Canadian government assigned Newman to work with NBC, creating reports on film techniques of Americans. These reports helped Newman to obtain a job with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), where he helped to televise Canadian sports. Newman also oversaw several other television programs for CBC, including General Motor Theatre,  but none of which gained him much esteem. Newman did, however, make films with a fresh perspective. Instead of using normal plots, he tended to experiment with the format of a show. 

Work in England

Several of the plays produced by Newman in General Motor Theatre were purchased by Associated British Corporation, or ABC. Impressed by the production of the plays, ABC decided to hire Newman in 1958. he was soon promoted to the Head of Drama. As the Head of Drama, he helped to produce many of the shows of the time. Again, Newman used original ideas and concepts in his shows, creating everything from Armchair Theatre to The Avengers (a spy television series, not the superhero movie). His success in ABC got him noticed by the BBC, who hired him in 1962 to revive their drama department. As BBC's head of drama, Newman changed how BBC worked. He initiated several new television shows while also hiring new writers and and directors with original and unique ideas.

Doctor Who

By far, Newman's most famous creation was the television show Doctor Who. In 1963, when Newman was told that a slot between two shows on Saturday evenings needed to be filled, he decided to make a science-fiction drama. The resulting show was Doctor Who. The idea was to have a mysterious man, the Doctor, along with companions travel through time and space in a little blue box that was bigger on the inside than the outside. Newman originally hoped that Doctor Who would be a children's television show. The Doctor's two companions were teachers, one of science, the other of history. Children were to learn history when the Doctor traveled into the past and learn science when they traveled into the future. He, himself said that he wanted no "bug-eyed monsters" in the show. This hope all changed when he took on Verity Lambert as the show's producer. Although he sometimes clashed with Newman because she enjoyed putting strange monsters in the show. Newman eventually accepted her aliens when one of her creations, the Daleks, became a major success and saved the program from going off the air.

Later Work

Newman continued to work for BBC until 1967, going to work for the Associated British Picture Corporation and EMI Films. In 1970, Newman moved back to work for the Canadian Radio and Television Commission until 1975. Later on, he would work as the Special Advsor for Film to the Canadian Secretary of State and as the Chief Creative Consultant to the Canadian Film Development Corporation.

The End

On October 30, 1997, Sydney Newman died of a heart attack at the age of 80. Newman is on our list for many reasons. First, many think of him as one of the main influences on modern Canadian drama. He also revived BBC Drama, allowing it to become the success that it is today. Third, he created Doctor Who, one of the most famous television shows in history along with the longest running science fiction television show in history. Finally, he hired Verity Lambert as Doctor Who's producer, making her the first female producer to work for the BBC.

Anne Bonny & Mary Read (#81 & #80)

Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny was born on March 8, 1702. She was born in Ireland, but her family moved to the Americas soon after she was born. Her father became successful in the merchant business and she could have gotten a good marriage, though she chose to marry a poor sailor named James Bonny between the years 1714 and 1718. When her father disowned her, Anne and James moved to Nassau, in the Bahamas, where James worked for the governor. In the Bahamas, Anne met John Rackham, or Calico Jack. Anne and Jack became lovers, having a child named Cunningham together. Anne divorced her husband, left Cunningham, and ran off with Rackham to live a pirate's life.

Mary Read

Mary Read

Mary Read was born in England in the late 1600s. She was the illegitimate daughter of the widow of a sea captain. To receive financial support from her paternal grandmother, Anne was dressed as a boy, pretending to be her older, legitimate brother. Read continued to dress as a boy to find work, becoming a footboy, and later, a soldier. Read, still in disguise, fought in the British military during the Nine Years War against the French. During the War, she fell in love with a Flemish soldier. The two got married and bought an inn in the Netherlands. When her husband died, Read again dressed as a man and wen on board a ship to the West Indies. Pirates captured her ship, though she took King's pardon in 1718 to become a privateer. 

Bonny and Read

In 1720, after she joined a mutiny with her crew, Mary Read joined Calico Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny on the pirate ship Revenge. Because she was still dressed as a man, Anne Bonny began to take a liking towards Read, so Read revealed that she was a woman to both Rackham and Bonny. Rackham allowed Read to stay aboard as a woman, and both Bonny and Read were said to have been capable fighters in combat. Though they were women, both Bonny and Read made it on to The Boston News-Letters's Wanted Pirates list. 

The End

In October of 1720, Jonathan Barnet, a privateer from Jamaica, attacked the Revenge. Most of the pirates aboard Rackham's ship were either drunk or asleep, though four pirates, including Rackham, Bonny, and Read, were able to hold off Barnet's men for some time. They were eventually captured and imprisoned. Rackham was executed, but both Read and Bonny had their executions postponed because both were pregnant. In 1721, Mary Read died of a fever in prison, supposedly during childbirth. Anne Bonny has no record of release or execution, because (most likely) her father smuggled her out to South Carolina, where she gave birth to Rackham's second child, remarried, and had ten more children. She died at the age of 80 on April 22, 1782. Bonny and Read are on this list because both were pirates (very good pirates), but both were women, breaking the usual stereotype. Both proved that women were as capable as men at privateering and pirating in a time when women were viewed as inferior.

Jane Austen (#92)

Childhood

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 into an English family. She was the daughter of George Austen, a rector for Anglican parishes. She had six brothers and one sister, Cassandra. For the most part, Jane and Cassandra were educated together, going to the same schools and receiving the same education. Unlike most families, though, Jane and Cassandra were encouraged to read from her father's library and write their own pieces of writing. As early as 1787, Austen began to write stories for her family's amusement, some of which has been compiled into the book Juvenilia. For the most part, these works were comedic and satirical.

Adulthood

Austen continued to live with her parents in adulthood. She continued to experiment in writing, creating a short play in 1793 and Lady Susan, her first real novel by 1795. After finishing Lady Susan, Austen began to write the novel Elinor and Marianne, whose first draft was finished around the year 1796. When Austen was twenty, she met Tom Lefroy, the nephew of Austen's neighbors. Over the several months that they were together, Austen and Lefroy grew very close, but Lefroy's family intervened in the relationship because neither Lefroy nor Austen had any money. In 1796, Austen began working on her second novel, First Impressions, finishing the initial draft in 1797. Jane's father, George Austen, attempted to have First Impressions published in London, but the novel was rejected. In 1798, Austen began writing the novel Susan, which was a satire on Gothic novels. In 1803, Jane's brother, Henry Austen, was able to sell the copyright for Susan to a London publisher for £10, though the publisher never printed the novel. In December of 1800, the Austens moved to Bath. The period of time while Austen was in Bath is marked by a  lack of writing by Austen. For some reason, Austen did little writing other than revising her previously written novels. In 1802, Austen received an offer of marriage from Harris Bigg-Wither, which Austen initially accepted, but withdrew her acceptance by the following morning. In 1804, Austen began writing The Watsons, which was the only book she wrote in Bath, but abandoned this novel shortly after her father died in 1805, possibly because the family in her book mirrored her actual family too closely. In 1806, Jane Austen moved in with her brother Frank and his wife in Southampton, but soon left to live in Chawton with her mother and sister.

Publishing

In October 1811, Jane Austen was able to get Elinor and Marianne published under the name Sense and Sensibility. The book received good reviews and the edition sold out in 1813. In January 1813, First Impressions was also published as Pride and Prejudice. This book was an immediate success and by October of that year, a second edition had come out. In 1814, Mansfield Park, a revision of Susan, came out, and though it did not get many great reviews, the public loved the book. The success of her books gave Austen and her mother and sister financial security. Austen continued to write new books, publishing Emma in late-1815 and finishing the first of The Elliots by 1816. 

The End

Unfortunately, Austen became unwell in early 1816, though she ignored her illness. By mid-1816, she had serious symptoms and in July of 1817, Jane Austen had died. In December of 1817, Jane's siblings, Cassandra and Henry, arranged for Persuasion to be published. This book was also a success. Austen is on our list because she made some of the most enduring stories of all time. She was popular when she was alive and she is still popular now. My father has also made sure that movies based on her books take up half the space of our DVD collection, so I had to mention her.

John Harrison (#93)

Background

John Harrison was born on March 24, 1693, the first of five children of an English carpenter. When he was six years old, Harrison contracted smallpox and was given a watch to amuse himself. This watch would help to form Harrison's later career as a clock maker.

Pre-Marine Clock

In 1713,  Harrison made his first longcase clock. He built almost all of his early clocks entirely out of wood, and from 1713 to 1728, John and one of his brothers built several precision pendulum clocks. Harrison is responsible for many innovations that have been used in clocks throughout the ages. Harrison invented the gridiron pendulum, which was made of alternating brass and iron rods. In different weather conditions, one of the metals would contract while the other expanded, canceling each other out and allowing the pendulum to swing at the same pace. Harrison also invented the grasshopper escapement, which allowed the driving power of the clock to be released in small increments. The grasshopper escapement allowed clocks to function without requiring lubrication.

The Marine Clock

As people began to travel over the ocean much more frequently, a need for an accurate time keeping method was needed aboard ships. The Board of Longitude in London offered a £20,000 pound prize to anyone who could come up with an accurate way to tell time aboard a ship. Most proposed ways to calculate the time on a ship revolved around astronomical observations and the current position of the ship. Ships would use their distance from London, along with observations stars and planets, to calculate an estimate of the time in England. Unfortunately, these calculations took quite a bit of time to calculate and even longer to invent. Harrison, instead of creating calculations, decided to actually make a clock that was accurate on board a ship. Most clocks at the time were not reliable at sea because of changes in pressure, temperature, and humidity, and pendulums do not work well when rocking violently at sea. By 1730, Harrison had created a description and drawings for a marine clock that got around these obstacles. The first model, Harrison Number One, or H1, was finished in five years. Harrison's design was tested by the Board of Longitude in 1736, when it sailed to Portugal. The clock performed well, but the Board wanted a transatlantic sea trial. Because Harrison's proposal was the first proposal worthy of a sea trial, the Board gave Harrison £500 to continue his work. By 1741, H2 was finished, but at this time, the British were fighting the Spanish in the War of Austrian Succession. H2 was deemed too important to risk being taken by the Spanish, so the sea trial was canceled. Harrison gave up on H2 when he discovered a major flaw in it, so he began working on H3 while he waited for the war to end. After seventeen years of working on it, H3 did not perform as he had hoped it to, so in 1758, Harrison moved to London to find new ideas. It was in London that he realized that he could turn his marine clock into something as small as a watch. In six years, Harrison had finished H4, which was the first marine watch. Since he was 68 years old at the time, Harrison sent H4 with his son, William, on the sea trial in 1761. When  H4 reached Jamaica, it was off by only 5 seconds, corresponding to an error of only 1.25 minutes of longitude. When H4 returned, the Board of Longitude claimed that the accurate reading was due to luck and demanded another trial. When Harrison demanded the prize, the Board offered only £5000 for the design. Harrison refused, but sent H4 on another trial. On the same voyage, Reverend Nevil Maskelyne tested his Lunar Distances Method of time as well, which used the angle between the sun and the moon to calculate the time. When the Americas were reached, H4 was, in longitude, 10 miles off, while the Lunar Distance Method was 30 miles off. Though H4 had succeeded, Nevil Maskelyne had secured a position on the Board of Longitude, where he gave a negative review of H4. The Board kept H4 indefinitely for 'testing', giving Harrison only £10,000 for his work, so Harrison began to work on H5, finishing three years later.  

The End

To try to get the prize money from the Board, Harrison obtained a petition with King George III. King George, who was already annoyed with the board, force the Board to test H5, and in 1772, the clock was found accurate within a third of a second per day on a land-based test. In 1773, when Harrison was 80, he received £8,750 from the Board. If the grants and the £10,000 payment are included in the prize money, Harrison received a total of £23,065 for his work, which, adjusting for inflation, would have made him a multimillionaire in today's world. He died three years after he received his prize money. John Harrison is on our list because he was not only the best at what he did. He also dedicated his life to his work and created an accomplishment that has helped sailors around the world know when to eat lunch.

Edwin A. Abbott (#95)

Background and Education

Edwin Abbott Abbott was born on December 20, 1838. His mother, Jane Abbott, as a first cousin of his father, Marylebone Abbott, which explains the two Abbotts in his name. He was educated at the City of London School and later, at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took highest honors in classics, mathematics, and theology. In 1861, he was Smith's prize, a prize given to Cambridge students in the fields of theoretical Physics or mathematics. 

Teacher and Writer

In 1863, Abbott married Mary Elizabeth Rangeley, with whom he would have two children. After getting his master's degree at King Edward's School, he became the headmaster of the City of London School in 1865. As headmaster, he oversaw the education of H.H. Asquith, who would one day become the Prime Minister. As headmaster, Abbott began to write, and he continued to do so even after he retired in 1889. Abbott's works, including Shakespearian Grammar, Silanus the Christian, and The Kernel and the Husk covered a wide range of topics from the English language to theological discussion. He also wrote an article, "The Gospels", for the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and a textbook on the Latin language.. He also wrote biographies on several people, including Francis Bacon and St. Thomas of Canterbury. His most famous work, however, is Flatland (1884), which he wrote under the name 'A. Square.' In Flatland, Abbott writes about a two-dimensional world which is populated by shapes. In this book, Abbott discuss how life would function in a two-dimensional world and what it would take to get shapes to understand other dimensions.

The End

Abbott died of influenza on October 12, 1926. Abbott is on our list because he thought outside of the box. He looked into the matter of how a population would function in a two-dimensional world, and he made fun of the fact that people believe there was no fourth dimension simply because they could not imagine how a fourth dimension would look. He also wrote a whole book on how Shakespeare's grammar worked, which is a feat of its own.

William Wallace (#96)

Background 

Sir William Wallace was born around the year AD 1272 as a minor member of the Scottish nobility. In 1286, King Alexander III of Scotland died after falling off his horse. Margaret, Maid of Norway, was the heir to the throne, but she became sick while on the voyage from Norway and died in Orkney. The lack of an heir led to "the Great Cause", a period of time in which several families claimed to be heir to the throne. With the threat of civil war, the Scottish nobility invited King Edward of England to arbitrate, though he insisted on being called Lord Paramount of Scotland. In November of 1292, John Balliol as found to have the strongest claim to the throne. King Edward reversed the rulings and summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. When Balliol refused, Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, a Scottish border town, defeating the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. Edward forced Balliol to abdicate and instructed the almost 2,000 Scottish nobles to pay homage to the King of England. This attack by Edward began the First War of Scottish Independence.

Uprising and War

Wallace's first known act of revolt was in 1297, when he assassinated William de Heselrig, an English Sheriff. With the help of William the Hardy, Wallace raided Scone as well. Uprisings had taken place throughout Scotland, but most nobles were forced to submit at Irvine in July of 1297. Wallace and the noble, Andrew Moray, continued to rebel, joining forces in September of 1297 around the time of the siege of Dundee. Wallace and Moray, to put the odds in their favor, abandoned the ideas of chivalric warfare, strength in arms, and knightly combat. Instead, they used opportunistic tactics and strategic use of terrain. Moray and Wallace's first major victory was at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September of 1297. In this battle, an English army, under the command of John de Warenne, tried to cross to the northern side of the Stirling bridge. The Scottish, waiting on the other side, were easily able to defend the northern side of the bridge from the English infantry. When the cavalry was sent in to aid the infantry, it was unable to get across the bridge due to all the retreating infantry men. When the battle was won,Moray and Wallace took the title of Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland on behalf of King John Balliol, though Moray died later in 1297. The English attempted to draw Wallace out in the open by invading Edinburgh as well as several strategic castles. Wallace, using hit and run and scorched earth tactics, continued to elude the English until April of 1298 at the Battle of Falkirk. Wallace arranged his men into schiltrons, where they used spears, sharpened stakes,and shields to create a protective shell around them, but Welsh long bowman broke these schiltrons and English cavalry was able to break up groups of Scottish archers. The Scottish had a devastating defeat at the Battle of Falkrik, and even though Wallace survived, he gave up the title of Guardian of Scotland to Robert the Bruce and John Comyn of Badenoch. Wallace continued to play an essential role in the war, attempting to get support from King Philip IV of France as well as from Rome and Norway. 

The End

Wallace as able to elude the English until August of 1305, when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over the English soldiers. Wallace was brought to London, where he was tired for treason. Wallace, in response to the charges, said, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject," implying that John Balliol was still Wallace's king. On August 1305, Wallace was stripped naked, dragged through London by a horse, then was hanged, drawn and quartered, and beheaded. His head as put on a pike on London Bridge. In 1328, the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton was signed, which ended the First Scottish War for Independence, established Scotland as a fully independent nation, and put Robert the Bruce on the throne of Scotland. William Wallace is on our list of important people because he was the victor, but not the victor. Like Joan of Arc, Wallace did not get to see the fruit of his labor and was even killed for his cause, but he stood up for his cause when nobody else could and played an essential role in the War of Scottish Independence.