Robert Hues (1553–1632) was an English mathematician and geographer who
made observations of the variations of the compass off the coast of
Newfoundland. He either went there on a fishing trip, or joined a 1585
voyage to Virginia arranged by Walter Raleigh and led by Richard
Grenville which passed Newfoundland on the return journey to England.
Between 1586 and 1588, Hues travelled with Thomas Cavendish on a
circumnavigation of the globe, taking the opportunity to measure
latitudes. In 1589, Hues went on the Earl of Cumberland's raiding
expedition to the Azores to capture Spanish galleons. Beginning in
August 1591, Hues travelled with Cavendish again, intending to complete
another circumnavigation of the globe. During the voyage, Hues made
astronomical observations while in the South Atlantic, and also
observed the variation of the compass there and at the Equator.
Cavendish died on the journey, and Hues returned to England in 1593. In
1594, Hues published his discoveries in the Latin work Tractatus de
globis et eorum usu (Treatise on Globes and their Use) which was
written to explain the use of globes that had been made and published
by Emery Molyneux in late 1592 or early 1593, and to encourage English
sailors to use practical astronomical navigation. Hues' work
subsequently went into at least 12 other printings in Dutch, English,
French and Latin.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hues>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1745:
King George's War: British colonial forces led by William Pepperrell
captured the French stronghold at Fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton
Island after a six-week siege.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Louisbourg>
1815:
Napoleonic Wars: French forces under Napoléon defeated Blücher's larger
Prussian army in the Battle of Ligny, while French Marshal Michel Ney
earned a strategic victory against the Anglo-Dutch army in the Battle
of Quatre Bras.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ligny>
1904:
Irish author James Joyce began his relationship with Nora Barnacle, and
subsequently used the date to set the actions for his 1922 novel
Ulysses.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce>
1960:
The thriller/horror film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and
based on a novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, was released.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_%281960_film%29>
1963:
Aboard Vostok 6, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first
woman in space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
palliate (v):
1. To lessen the severity of; to extenuate.
2. To cause to seem less serious.
3. To relieve the symptoms of; to
ameliorate
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/palliate>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are
the portals to discovery.
--James Joyce
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Joyce>
Show replies by date