Empire Day (originally Victoria Day) was an annual festival inaugurated in 1902 to celebrate on May 24th the achievement of the British Empire and Queen Victoria's Birthday. Research Empire Day
Teleology is the explanation by reference to ends, purposes, or function, as in, 'Why do you have such big teeth, Grandmama?' - 'All the better to eat you with, my dear!' Aristotle considered teleological explanations to be a particularly illuminating kind of causal explanation, and contrasted them with explanations citing efficient causes, the prior state of affairs that brings something about. In Aristotle the value of teleological explanations rests on his metaphysical doctrine of forms, the fundamental kinds into which all things fall, and which define their proper ends. Without some such metaphysical underpinning, the use of such explanations is hard to justify; in particular, the mechanistic world-view characteristic of much of modern science emphasises efficient causation and seems to leave little room for purposefulness. The great achievement of Darwin's theory of evolution was to show how some teleological explanations in biology could be rested on a mechanistic foundation. How far this kind of reconciliation is possible is a live issue in the philosophy of science. Perhaps the most famous teleological argument is that for the existence of God, which takes our observations of the regularity and coherence of the world around us and our experience of the conjunction of regularity and design, to conclude that there must be a designer. Research Teleology
Cambyses was king of Persia. He succeeded his father Cyrus the Great in 529 BC and reigned until 521 BC. His great achievement was the conquest of Egypt in 525 BC. He treated the Egyptians and their religion with great severity, slaying the bullApis, their god, with his own hands. He also ruled the Persians tyrannically and had his brother Smerdis murdered. A magician led a revolt impersonating the dead brother and on his way to quell it, Cambyses died in Ecbatana a town in media of an accidental wound. Research Cambyses
Cyrus West Field was an American paper merchant. He was born in 1819 at Massachusetts and died in 1892. Having made a fortune in paper in New York he conceived the idea of a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable linking the USA with Britain, and formed the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company, consisting of Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, Marshall Roberts and Chandler White. The necessary rights for fifty years were obtained, and communication was secured in 1858, but the cable proved worthless after a few weeks. The Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed and attempts were made with the Great Eastern in 1865 and 1866, the last of which was completely successful. For this great achievement he was honoured both at home and abroad. After this success he was active in improving the rapid transit system of New York. Research Cyrus West Field
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first British female doctor and the first English female mayor. She was born in 1836 at London and died in 1917. She started to study medicine in 1860 but was unable to gain admittance to any of the British medical schools. In 1865 the Society of Apothecaries gave her the degree of LSA and in 1866 she opened a dispensary in London which developed into the New Hospital for Women in Euston Road, of which she was senior physician for twenty-four years. Graduating as a medical doctor at Paris in 1870, she was for twenty-three years a lecturer and for ten years dean of the London School of Medicine for Women. She was also a member of the first London School Board, and in 1892 obtained what is considered her greatest achievement, the admittance of women to the British Medical Association (BMA). In 1898 she became mayor of Aldeburgh, Suffolk, the first woman to hold the post of mayor in England. Research Elizabeth Anderson
Fillipo Brunelleschi was an Italian architect. He was born in 1377 at Florence and died in 1446. He won some reputation as an inventor and sculptor, and made special studies in the then little known science of perspective, but devoted himself particularly to architecture. When at Rome with Donatello he conceived the idea of bringing architecture back to Graeco-Roman principles as opposed to the dominant Gothic. In this he was successful, his work opening the way for Alberti, Bramante, Vignola, and Palladio. His great achievement was the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria at Florence, the possibility of which was denied by other architects. It has remained unsurpassed, the dome of St Peter's, though it excels it in height, being inferior to it in massiveness of effect. Other important works by him were the Pitti Palace at Florence, the churches of San Lorenzo and Spirito Santo, and the Capella dei Pazza. Research Fillipo Brunelleschi
George William Curtis was an American journalist and politician. He was born in 1824 and died in 1892. He was in early life a member of the famous Brook Farm community, a European travelling correspondent of the New YorkTribune, and an editor of Putnam's Monthly. His later reputation rests on four forms of achievement: as an eloquent and cultured lyceum lecturer and platform orator; as the author of several books, including 'Nile Notes', 'Lotus Eating', 'Prue and I', 'Trumps', 'Potiphar Papers', etc.; as an editor of Harpers Weekly and the writer of 'Easy Chair' of Harper's Magazine, and as a politician. He was a noted delegate in the Republican National Conventions of 1860, 1880 and 1884. He was identified with civil service reform from the start, and was by President Grant appointed in 1871 a commissioner for the purpose of drawing up rules. The National Civil Service Reform League was largely his work. Research George William Curtis
James Stanhope (1st Earl Stanhope) was a British statesman and general. He was born in 1673 at Paris and died in 1721. After serving in Italy and Flanders and in the Peninsular, he was dispatched with Peterborough's expedition to Spain in 1705, his main achievement being the capture of Port Mahon in the Balearic Isles. In 1710 he was captured by the French, but returned to England in 1712. He took an active part in the suppression of the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 and in passing the Septennial Act. James Stanhope had entered parliament in 1701 and when he returned from Spain in 1712 he became prominent as a Whig politician. He helped to bring about the accession of George I and was made a secretary of state in 1714. His demise came with the collapse of the South Sea Bubble in 1720 when he was first minister, but he remained secretary of state until his death in 1721. Research James Stanhope
Robert Edwin Peary was an American explorer. He was born in 1856 at Cresson, and died in 1920. He was educated at Bowdoin College. In 1881 he became a civil engineer in the American Navy and in this capacity he participated in the NicaraguaCanal Survey of 1884 to 1885 and made an exploration into Greenland in 1886. He led further expeditions to Greenland from 1891 to 1892 and from 1893 to 1895. He proved Greenland was an island rather than a continent and that the Greenland ice cap extended no farther north than latitude 82 degrees North; he also contributed to scientific knowledge of Inuitethnology and of glacial formation. Between 1898 and 1902 Peary engaged in surveys in Greenland. In 1902 and from 1905 to 1906 he made unsuccessful attempts to reach the North Pole, coming within 280 km of his goal on the latter trip. On July the 17th 1908, Peary led another expedition to the Pole, and on April the 7th, 1909, he and a small party consisting of his assistant Matthew Henson and four Inuit reached their target. On September the 6th, 1909, the day he announced his achievement, Peary learned that the discovery of the Pole had been claimed five days previously by the American explorer and surgeon Frederick Cook, however examination by experts established that the doctor's claim was false and Peary's records were accepted as genuine. In 1911, the year Peary retired, Congress recognised his discovery as unimpeachable, and he was given the rank of rear admiral before his retirement. Research Robert Peary
Sam Wanamaker was an American actor and film director. He was born in 1919 at Chicago, Illinois and died in 1993 of prostate cancer. Educated at the Drake University he went on to train at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago before moving to England where he settled after being blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee and was appointed director of the New Shakespeare Theatre and in 1959 joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company at Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1994 he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award: Society of London Theatre's Special Award for Lifetime Achievement. Research Sam Wanamaker
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Empire Day
