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| The Greek myth about Icarus involves a father-son pair who try to fly. It is a tale of hubris (see Dec. 30. 2012 entry). |
nPeoplendon’t have wings, but people have always imagined building some sortnof wings—perhaps mechanical ones—that would allow us to fly aboutnlike a bird. Many a dreamer has studied birds as they take off, soar,nand land—and tried to build something that would allow us to takento the skies, too.
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Onendreamer who was more capable than most of achieving dreams was thenoriginal “Renaissance Man,” Leonardo. (We call Leonardo “danVinci,” which means “of Vinci,” or “from the town of Vinci.”nIt wasn’t his last name, because people didn’t have last names then,nbut the place name added to his name helped people then and stillnhelps people now to know which Leonardo we mean.)
Onendreamer who was more capable than most of achieving dreams was thenoriginal “Renaissance Man,” Leonardo. (We call Leonardo “danVinci,” which means “of Vinci,” or “from the town of Vinci.”nIt wasn’t his last name, because people didn’t have last names then,nbut the place name added to his name helped people then and stillnhelps people now to know which Leonardo we mean.)n
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nLeonardonda Vinci is best known today for his paintings thenMona Lisa and The Last Supper. But he was ansculptor as well as a painter, and an architect, musician, scientist,nmathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist,ncartographer, botanist, and writer. He was a genius and quitenpossibly the most interesting man in the world.
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Onenof his inventions was a glider or flying machine. Actually, Leonardondesigned several such machines, and we know for sure that some didn’tnwork. What we do not know is whether one or more of his machines DIDnwork.
Onenof his inventions was a glider or flying machine. Actually, Leonardondesigned several such machines, and we know for sure that some didn’tnwork. What we do not know is whether one or more of his machines DIDnwork.n
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nItnmay be that Leonardo took a hang-gliding sort of flight about 400nyears before the Wright brothers invented the airplane. Read aboutnthis possibility here.
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nAtnany rate, an entry in Leonardo’s notebook suggests that he tried outnone of his flying machine ideas on this date in 1496. This test, atnleast, did not work.
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nExplorensome more…
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Checknout the Museum of Science page about Leonardo’snMysterious Machinery.
Checknout the Museum of Science page about Leonardo’snMysterious Machinery. n
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nThinkQuestnalso has a Leonardo page.
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nAlsonon this date:
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J.R.R. Tolkien Day
J.R.R. Tolkien Day n
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nGreatnDay for the Yankees
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nAnniversarynof patent for drinking straws
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