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Lincoln and Tesla at the Library of Congress

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Nikola Tesla’s pioneering work with alternating current electricity relies on power generated by a dynamo. Abraham Lincoln had a broad interest in science and technology. And now Lincoln and Tesla are joined in electrical science at the Library of Congress.

While Tesla likely never visited the library, Abraham Lincoln was certainly no stranger to the Library of Congress’s vast holdings. During Lincoln’s two-year term as a U.S. Congressman from 1847 to 1849 he lived at Mrs. Sprigg’s boarding house in a row of such houses from East Capitol Street to A Street SE. Directly behind the Capitol, it was a perfect location for Lincoln and his fellow boarders – mostly other Whigs and abolitionists – to discuss the issues of the day while being close enough to rush over for votes in Congress.

The row of houses was pulled down long after Lincoln’s time to make way for, you guessed it, the Library of Congress. The Jefferson Building of the Library was opened in 1897 and sits right on top of Lincoln’s once home-site. Lincoln as President was a regular borrower of books from the library’s shelves (at that time, the Library of Congress was still housed within the Capitol building). Topics of books loaned to Lincoln ranged from the strategy of war to the plays of Shakespeare, and of course, keeping up on science and technology.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress has an amazing main reading room, above which looms a beautiful dome hundreds of feet overhead. Around the central oculus is a mural by Edwin Howland Blashfield. Like Nikola Tesla, Blashfield spent much of his early life traveling around Europe. Later, once establishing himself as a widely regarded muralist, Blashfield would paint a mural in the dome of the Manufacturers’ and Liberal Arts building at the World’s Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World’s Fair), the very Fair where Nikola Tesla would become a household name.

Back in the Library of Congress, Blashfield decided on a circular mural designed to represent “Evolution of Civilization.” Various civilizations represent that evolution and the contributions each had made to society. Gazing upward you see this:

Library of Congress Lincoln Main Reading Room
Zooming in to the “one o’clock” position of the above you can see someone very familiar:

Library of Congress Lincoln Main Reading RoomAccording to the Library of Congress’s Abraham Lincoln and Civil War expert Michelle Krowl, and quoting from the book On These Walls: Inscriptions & Quotations in the Library of Congress:

“America is represented by the field of science. The figure, an engineer whose face was modeled on that of Abraham Lincoln, sits pondering a problem. In front of him is an electric dynamo, representing the American contribution to advances in harnessing electricity.”

Well how about that? The visage of Abraham Lincoln is used to epitomize America, and our contribution to society is science, depicted by an electric dynamo harnessing electricity, something that Nikola Tesla was in the forefront of bringing to the American public.

So Tesla and Lincoln are connected in several ways through science. And that’s not the end of the connections between these two men.

For more, check out my e-book on Amazon: Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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The Sorrow and Science of Notre Dame de Paris

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The artist in ParisYesterday the world watched in horror as the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris blazed into the night. I’ve been to Paris a half a dozen times and on all but one trip (an in/out day train commute from Brussels), I made my pilgrimage to Our Lady, Notre Dame.

One of the marvels of Notre Dame and similar (but never equal) Gothic architecture are the ribbed vaulted ceilings and exterior flying buttresses. These counterbalance the weight of the roof, thus allowing greater height and more space for windows, most prominently the huge rose window, to bring light and color to the interior in the days before electric lamps. Since most of the parishioners at the time were illiterate, copious statuary and towering stained glass windows illustrated biblical stories for the masses.

As the fire burned we all wondered what could be saved. Early signs are that the main towers, walls, and buttresses survived and that the cathedral can be rebuilt, albeit without its centuries-old oak framing. It was that oak framing, as one report put it, “a forest of wooden latticework,” that fueled the fire. Let’s take a closer look.

Most of the framing that held the roof were old-growth trees cut down between 1160 and 1170 – a total of over 13,000 trees – each probably already several hundred years old when cut. For those who have seen Notre Dame, the roof covers a huge expanse, well over 300 feet long and nearly 50 feet wide at its widest, with a sharp pitch to give a peak over 30 feet high from the roof’s base. All this starting more than 100 feet from the cathedral floor. This expansive oak framing was necessary to hold up the heavy lead roof, which weighs in at over 210 tons.

I heard yesterday that as part of the current restoration work (which may have caused the fire) they may have removed several of the large statues from the roof of the cathedral. Thus by a quirk of fate, they are saved. It seems most of the exterior wall gargoyles survived the conflagration. Inside, some of the motive candles lit by current day parishioners and tourists were still gently burning as the wooden framework was being destroyed above.

It will be a while before the final assessment is complete, but early indications are that Notre Dame will be rebuilt with some degree of fealty to the original, although it is impossible to resurrect the centuries-old framework that was lost.

More photos of the interior oak framework can be found on the Notre Dame website. Click around for details on the other features of the cathedral. The text is in French (even on the “English” page) but the photos are worth a look even if you can’t read the language.

Ironically, as I write this I might have been in Paris. I had anticipated renting an apartment for the month of April in the “City of Lights,” but I wasn’t ready to begin researching the book I have in mind so put it off until next year. Although it will take many years to restore the church to any semblance of its former glory, I’ll be back to Paris again soon. As the mourning for Notre Dame so clearly demonstrates, Paris is a city of the world. If you haven’t been there, go. And while you’re there, pay homage to Our Lady, Notre-Dame.

[Photo Credits: Top by David J. Kent, 2008; Interiors from Notre Dame website]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Join Us – DC Emancipation and the Emancipation Proclamation – Special Event

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I’m happy to be a part of sponsoring a once in a lifetime special event. On the evening of April 16, 2019 there will be a triple header at the National Archives. You’ll be able to see the original Emancipation Proclamation, see an All-Star Panel discuss the Proclamation and DC Emancipation Day, plus be entertained by the Artists Group Chorale of Washington. And it’s all FREE.

DC Emancipation Day Event

Attendees will be invited to a private viewing of the original Emancipation Proclamation AND DC Compensated Emancipation Act documents beginning at 6 pm. Both documents are signed by Abraham Lincoln. This is a special event. Because of the fragility of these original documents, they are only on display for a short period of time and we’ll have a privileged viewing.

While viewing we’ll be serenaded by the Artists Group Chorale.

At 6:45 pm we will move down to the main auditorium in the McGowan Theater for another song from the Chorale, followed by a discussion of both documents by learned scholars. Moderated by Howard University Professor and leading Abraham Lincoln scholar Edna Greene Medford, the panel includes C.R. Gibbs, Roger Davidson, and Elizabeth Clark-Lewis.

After their on-stage discussion, the microphones will be opened up for audience questions and comments.

This is a rare event and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia is pleased to be co-sponsoring with the National Archives and the Government of the District of Columbia.

Free registration is suggested to ensure space in the auditorium, but not required. The National Archives is located across the street from the Archives Metro Station between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues in downtown Washington, D.C.

Please join us for this wonderful event.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln Takes Tad to Richmond on His Birthday

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Lincoln and TadOn April 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln took his son Tad into the city of Richmond, Virginia. The city had fallen the day before into Union hands two days before. It was Tad’s 12th birthday.

Tad was born Thomas Lincoln III, in 1853. He was named after Lincoln’s somewhat estranged father, but everyone called him Tad because as an infant he had a large head and was as wiggly as a tadpole. Tad was born with a partial cleft palate that was not externally noticeable but gave him a lisp and made his speech difficult to understand. He and Willie ran ramshackle over the White House until Willie’s premature demise, after which Lincoln doted on Tad to the extreme.

In late March 1865, General Grant had invited Lincoln to City Point (near Petersburg), to which Lincoln immediately accepted. He was not alone; Mary insisted on joining him, so a party including Tad Lincoln, a maid, a bodyguard, and a military aide boarded the River Queen on March 23 for the trip. Son Robert, now an adjunct to Grant’s army, met them on their arrival the next evening. Lincoln took time to visit the troops and confer with Generals Grant and Sherman and Admiral David Porter. Overall it was a restful but productive visit. That changed when Mary Lincoln flew into a jealous rage at seeing General Ord’s wife riding “too close” to her husband, after which Lincoln sent Mary back to Washington. Soon after her departure, however, the Union captured Richmond, which the Confederate leadership had abandoned. She insisted on returning, this time bringing a large entourage that included her ex-slave dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley, who had been born in nearby Petersburg.

During Mary’s absence, Lincoln took Tad into Richmond. After landing at the docks, Lincoln and Tad walked the mile or so to the Confederate White House that had served until a few days earlier as Jefferson Davis’s office. Surrounding him along the way were hundreds of ex-slaves who wanted to see the “Great Emancipator,” while anxious white southerners stared suspiciously from their windows.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet had fled the city on April 2nd, boarding the last open railroad line further south. Retreating soldiers set fire to bridges, the Richmond armory, and various supply warehouses. Untended, the fires grew out of control and large parts of Richmond were destroyed. The city was surrendered to Union officers the next day. Since Lincoln was relatively nearby, he chose to visit the former Confederate capital, bringing along Tad. For Tad, this was a best birthday celebration ever, as he enjoyed wearing military uniforms and “playing soldier,” much to the chagrin of the White House staff and cabinet.

A statue of Lincoln and Tad was erected in modern times at the site of Tredegar Iron Works.

Lincoln and Tad in Richmond

Before heading back to Washington, Lincoln visited the Depot Field Hospital at City Point. Over the course of a full day he shook the hands of more than 6,000 patients, including a few sick and wounded Confederate soldiers. Feeling the pressure of business, Lincoln left City Point to return to Washington on the evening of April 8. The next day, Lee surrendered his army to General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the war.

A week later Lincoln would die from an assassin’s bullet.

Tad survived the trauma of his father’s assassination and his mother’s near-insanity only to die at 18 years old when a common cold developed into severe damage to his lungs. Of Abraham and Mary’s four children, only the oldest, Robert, would live to adulthood.

[Adapted in part from my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

[Photo Credit of Lincoln and Tad statue: Riverfront.com]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Traveling Travails – It Isn’t All the Good Life

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Queenstown, New ZealandIn over five years of science traveling I’ve experienced some fantastic locations, but it isn’t all the good life. Sometimes there are traveling travails. I’ve been injured traveling more times than I care to admit, and getting lost is not an uncommon occurrence. The following gives a hint of how sometimes even getting from one place to another can be a bit of a trial.

The scene: We’re part of a small group of six new friends.

The place: Starting in Cairns, Australia, with an ultimate destination of Queenstown, New Zealand.

Okay, that sounds easy enough, right? Except there is no direct flight, which means a day of flying and multiple airports in two countries. I anticipated a long day, but reality turned out to be even more complicated than I imagined. The first leg took us from Cairns to Sydney, where we were to connect with a plane to Auckland. From Auckland (on the north island of New Zealand) we connected again to Queenstown (on the south island).

Pickup at the hotel in Cairns was on time – at 3:40 a.m. Luckily there was no traffic but we cut it close, as in arriving at the gate five minutes before boarding time. The attendant at the check-in counter was efficient enough, though one wouldn’t call her the warmest personality. On boarding, the six of us were spread out in different parts of the plane. Three of us were in the very back and, unlike U.S. planes, they opened up the rear doors for us to enter and depart. Only a few rows from the tail, the three of us disembarked and made our way into the terminal. Given the short connection time, Ru and I immediately headed for the assigned transfer gate to catch our other plane. Our companion told us not to wait for him; he would hit the loo and then wait for the other members of our group. That would be the last we saw of him, or them, until the next day.

Now just two, we found the gate specified by the instructions given to us on check-in, which to our surprise meant loading into a bus that brought us to another terminal for the international flight. This took longer than we expected and dumped us outside a packed security area, which meant long lines going through passport control and baggage checks again, then a long walk to get to our actual departure gate. The gate itself required getting through a rugby scrum of people going downstairs to a series of gates, which meant being careful not to get carried along with the crowd heading to Shanghai instead of Auckland. Another passport check and boarding pass scan got us onto yet another bus to take us out to the plane, which as far as I can tell was not far from where we originally got off our plane from Cairns. As Ru and I walked up the gangway steps into the plane we desperately texted our companions to tell them to hurry. I even begged the head flight attendant not to close the door because they hadn’t arrived yet, even after a second shuttle bus came and went. He shut the door anyway and we were left with three empty seats staring at us from across the aisle, and a fourth between us.

Empty seats

The second connecting flight wasn’t much easier. Despite what the check-in attendant told me in Cairns (that we didn’t have to pick up our bags until Queenstown, which she repeated three times at my doubtful questioning), the flight attendant informed us we did, in fact, have to reclaim our luggage again in Auckland. Here we go again. Passport control, luggage claim, wait in line. The first line looked like the exit after a drive-in movie finished. After an anxious hour and a half, we passed through the “biosecurity screening” checkpoint and were sent out to a counter to re-check our bags. But wait, the woman in the “Drop Bags” area tells us we are now less than 60 minutes before the flight and there is no guarantee that they will get the bags on the next plane. Instead, she tells us, we must go outside the terminal, hike 15-20 minutes with our luggage to the completely separate domestic terminal to check our bags again. But hey, we had a helpful green line to follow down the sidewalk, across the streets (twice), and around the airport to get to the other entrance. Not surprisingly, we had to wait there for the attendant to re-check our luggage before we could walk down an increasingly long terminal, through yet another security check-in and x-ray line, then more walking to finally reach the gate where our plane was revving its engines.

Keep in mind we thought we had something like 3 hours of transfer time. We made it to the gate with only minutes to spare before boarding. But the view was amazing.

New Zealand

The empty seats next to us was a reminder that our travel mates were still somewhere in Sydney. But after our successful arrival in Queenstown we found the Super Shuttle waiting to take six – now two – of us to the hotel. When we arrived he tried to scam $26 each from us before I reminded him it was prepaid. It seems taxi drivers scamming customers is a global thing.

Eventually we found out that our four companions had been able to get a later flight from Sydney to Auckland to Queenstown that night, which was good because we were all scheduled for a tour early the next morning. They were, however, sans luggage, which didn’t arrive until the following night. That didn’t stop all of us from enjoying the next two days trailing in the steps of hobbits and cruising in the fjords of Milford Sound.

These weren’t the only complications on this particular trip, or on other trips I’ve taken. In fact, I’ve come to expect the unexpected when I travel. Sometimes it’s a missed flight or train, sometimes a lack of coordination with local accommodations, sometimes a gravel road where the map says “highway.” I even had one travel agent book my flight to Rome for the night before a flight from the U.S. to Brussels she booked in the same session. That cost me several hundred Euros and a lot of grief. But I made it. And so far I’ve survived, and enjoyed all my travel, despite the travails.

So…Where to next?

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln Meets Joshua Speed…and Mary Todd

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Abe and MaryAfter an unfortunate breakup with a woman named Mary Owens, and with negotiations over moving the capital from Vandalia to Springfield under way, Abraham Lincoln decided to leave New Salem for the big city. The move was advantageous.

But he was broke. Even with his full pay for the last session of the state legislature in hand, Lincoln rode his old horse to Springfield deep in debt. Upon arrival, one of his companions on the trip, William Butler, sold Lincoln’s horse without telling him, paid off his debts, and moved his saddlebags into the Butler household about fourteen miles out of town. Lincoln continued taking his meals at the Butlers without charge for the next five years. After a while Lincoln decided he needed to find a place in town, and he rode in on a borrowed horse with his saddlebags, a few law books, and the clothes on his back seeking residence. His first stop was Joshua Speed’s store. According to Speed, Lincoln asked “what the furniture for a single bedstead would cost.” Putting pencil to paper, Speed told him the sum would be seventeen dollars. Taken aback, Lincoln agreed it was probably a fair price but replied, “If you will credit me to Christmas, and my experiment here as a lawyer is a success, I will pay you then. If I fail in that I will probably never be able to pay you at all.” Seeing his forlorn look, Speed offered:

I think I can suggest a plan by which you will be able to attain your end, without incurring any debt. I have a very large room, and a very large double-bed in it; which you are perfectly welcome to share with me if you choose.

“Where is your room?” asked Lincoln. Speed pointed to the stairs leading from the store to his room. Saying nothing, Lincoln took his saddlebags, went up the stairs, tossed them on the floor, and returned “beaming with pleasure” to say:

“Well, Speed, I’m moved.”

Lincoln shared the room with Speed for the next three-and-a-half years, often with other store clerks and assistants. One such clerk was a very young William Herndon, who later went into partnership with Lincoln. The atmosphere was jovial, and Lincoln was his usual story-telling self. Speed became Lincoln’s closest friend and confidant for the rest of his life, even though Speed eventually returned to his slave-holding family in Kentucky. As was common between men of those days, the two shared their most intimate vulnerabilities, a relationship that rivaled any of Lincoln’s romantic loves. When Speed questioned his affection for the woman he was about to marry, Lincoln helped him through the doubts. Later, when Lincoln was going through the same process, he turned to the happily married Speed for advice. He was seeking counsel regarding his relationship with Mary Todd.

On March 27, 1842, after an on-again, off-again courting of Mary Todd, Lincoln wrote to his friend, Joshua F. Speed, who had by that time moved back to his plantation in Louisville, Kentucky. Lincoln had abruptly broken off the engagement over a year before and it was eating at him.

“Since then, it seems to me, I should have been entirely happy, but for the never-absent idea, that there is one still unhappy whom I have contributed to make so. That still kills my soul. I can not but reproach myself, for even wishing to be happy while she is otherwise.”

Speed managed to counsel his old friend and sometime in 1842 Mary and Lincoln began secretly courting again. Despite her sister Elizabeth’s opposition, the two often met at the Edwards house and sat on the low couch for hours, talking about life and love. Likely they also discussed politics, as by this time Lincoln was actively involved in Whig party activities and Mary was as ambitious as he, perhaps even more so. Their romance bloomed again, enough that Mary flirtatiously and anonymously wrote a letter backing up Lincoln’s own anonymous letter to the local paper mocking James Shields, a political rival. Shields, feeling his honor had been attacked, challenged Lincoln to a duel. Lincoln tried to back out of it, but when Shields insisted, the tall and muscular Lincoln offered up heavy broadswords as weapon of choice. Faced with a severe disadvantage, the short-armed Shields allowed himself to be talked out of the fight.

To the astonishment of the Springfield social set, Lincoln and Mary suddenly decided they would get married—that night. Elizabeth Edwards claimed the wedding occurred with only two hours’ notice, and indeed the marriage license was issued that very day. Lincoln had a “deer in the highlights” look as he approached the hurried ceremony in the Edwards parlor. According to friends, when Lincoln was dressing for ceremony he was asked where he was going, to which he replied, “I guess I’m going to hell.” At least one Lincoln scholar believes Mary may have seduced Lincoln the night before into doing something that obligated him to marriage. Whatever the reason, they were married on November 4, 1842. A week later he seemed resigned to the fact, closing a business letter with:

“Nothing new here except my marrying, which to me, is matter of profound wonder.”

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

[Photo Credit: Photo of print by Lloyd Ostendorf]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Surprise Endorsements on the Internet

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As an author, every once in a while I find a pleasant surprise on the amorphous conglomerate known as the world wide web, aka “the net,” “the internet,” or if you’re a fan of G.W. Bush, “the internets.” I recently came across a few endorsements of my books in unexpected places.

The first is from the Czech Republic. Yes, you read that correctly. My Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity book, in addition to its eight printings in the US, has been translated into at least four foreign languages, including Czech. Which led me to this:

I have no idea what she’s saying, but from the expression on her face and body language I assume it is good.

Also popping up in my feed one day was a review of the Tesla book by the Red Dirt Report, an Oklahoma-based independent news blog. The review is demonstrably positive and notes that the book is:

Simple and easy to read, the book Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity by David J. Kent is great for one who doesn’t know the story of the mythic scientist…

 

Meanwhile, my Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time e-book was cited inTesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time an article published in Big Think, an online science and Technology publication. Article author Paul Ratner notes:

As historian David J. Kent writes, to tap into the kinetic energy generated by the rushing Niagara, some of the water going over the Falls was sent through a long tunnel where it turned a series of turbines, which converted energy into mechanical energy that created electricity.

Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America

 

My newest book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, has been in the news as well. Still available in Barnes and Noble stores nationwide and as a Nook and Kindle e-book, it turns out it’s also available as a Kobo e-book.

My Lincoln book was also mentioned in an article published in the Chicago Tribune called “Who needs another Lincoln biography? We do – and here’s why.” I get mentioned along with works by Sidney Blumenthal (yes, that Sidney Blumenthal, whom I talked to again at the recent ALI symposium), Fred Kaplan, and Richard Kigel.

It doesn’t stop there. Lincoln has been nominated for two prestigious book awards, been featured on three episodes of the Railsplitter podcast, been reviewed in Civil War Times, and been chosen to support the LEAD Spirit of Lincoln Youth Leadership Academy for 2018. In fact, I’ve just learned that Lincoln has once again been chosen for the 2019 LEAD program. I may even be able to join them during my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour, Part 3.

I’ll end by asking a favor. If you come across any mentions of me or my books in any kind of media, please drop me a line and let me know. I very much appreciate it!

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Nikola Tesla and the Flying Machines

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Like da Vinci, Nikola Tesla had visions of creating flying machines. Since the Wright brothers had made the first practical, powered heavier-than-air flight in 1903, the development of airplane technology had proceeded rapidly. Fixed-wing aircraft, mainly biplanes, were widely used in World War I by both sides of the conflict. Never satisfied with standard airplanes, Tesla put his efforts into inventing a completely “new type of flying machine,” which he called a “helicopter-plane.” A precursor to what we today call a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

The invention consists of a new type of flying machine, designated “helicopter-plane”, which may be raised and lowered vertically and driven horizontally by the same propelling devices and comprises: a prime mover of improved design and an airscrew, both especially adapted for the purpose, means for tilting the machine in the air, arrangements for controlling its operation in any position, a novel landing gear and other constructive details, all of which will be hereinafter fully described.

 

 

The plane would look and act like no other plane. After rising from the ground vertically, the pilot would tilt the plane forward while his seat tilted to maintain an upright position and the wings repositioned horizontally. Besides the unique system for both vertical and horizontal propulsion, the helicopter-plane was also one of the first attempts to use turbine engines in rotor aircraft. Tesla may have been thinking of this technology for even more broadly useful purposes; he may have traveled to Detroit to market his design as a “flying automobile.”

Unfortunately, the aircraft idea was not further developed and became, in 1928 when he was seventy-two years of age, the last patent Tesla would receive.

[Adapted from my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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The Skull of Hammershus on Bornholm

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Den Forhadte Borg. The Hated Castle. Hammershus is Scandinavia’s largest medieval fortress, situated on the northern tip of the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. And if that isn’t ominous enough, they have an eight foot skull embedded in the floor. The skull of Hammershus.

Skull of Hammershus

Hammershus dates back to early in the 13th Century. Initially a residence of the Archbishop of Lund (then part of Denmark), the fortress for the next 500 years served as a stronghold of the island’s various rulers. Repeated wars and rotating residents led to the castle being rebuilt and expanded on several occasions. Partially demolished late in the 18th Century, Hammershus now lays in ruins but remains an important historical site.

I visited only three months after the opening of a new visitor center that provides a panoramic view of the fortress. And that’s where the skull comes in. A human skull was found on the site during an archaeological excavation in the 1940s. Using new 3D scanners, a 2.5-meter replica of that skull was created. Ten tons of robot milled Styrofoam molds formed the base of the sculpture, with acrylic gypsum laminated to its surface. Final surface details were sculpted by hand and the surface was hand-painted to resemble the original as close as possible.

The effect is spectacular. Turning the corner into the visitor center we were all suddenly taken aback by this huge skull lying in front of us. But don’t get too cozy here; head for the viewing platform to the walls and towers of the Hammershus ruins. Plan for extra time and hike up the trail and around the fortress up close. Gaze over the cliffs to the brilliant waters of the Baltic Sea.

After Hammershus we headed for the town of Allinge and a lunch of traditional smoked herring and beer, then to Osterlars for the biggest round church in Denmark. I’ll have more on these other sites on Bornholm later. For now, I’m still thinking about the Skull of Hammershus.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln Applies for a Patent

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Abraham Lincoln is the only president ever to get a patent, for “an improved method of getting vessels over shoals.” He submitted his patent application on March 10, 1849. It was approved two months later. The story leading up to the patent had begun years ago.

Soon after moving to Illinois at the age of 21, Lincoln took his second flatboat trip to New Orleans. Early in the trip his flatboat found itself stuck on the New Salem mill dam. A heroic and ingenious escape involving a bored hole in the bow of the boat put him back on his way. He was so enamored with the people of New Salem that he moved there upon his return.

Lincoln Patent Model

Years later the lawyer Lincoln tried several patent cases. He also served a term in the U.S. Congress. After his first session in Congress he toured New England campaigning for Zachary Taylor as the Whig nominee for president. Lincoln then took a roundabout route past Niagara Falls and through the Great Lakes by steamship, and along the newly opened Illinois and Michigan Canal on his way back to Springfield. While passing through the Detroit River he witnessed another steamboat stuck on a shoal. The captain ordered crew to jam logs, boards, barrels, and anything else floatable under the hull of the ship. It worked, and the ship was able to free itself from the obstruction.

Always observant, Lincoln noted this effort and upon arriving back to his legal practice in Springfield started sketching out a method for rectifying the problem. Lincoln’s invention “combine[d] adjustable buoyant air chambers with a steam boat for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes.” With the help of a local woodworker he constructed a wooden model. He also hired a patent lawyer in Washington to help him prepare the application.

Lincoln Patent Drawing

He received Patent No. 6469. The system was never put to practical use, but it demonstrated Lincoln’s analytical mind and interest in technology, skills that often came into place in his court cases.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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