John Doubleday (about 1798 – 1856) was a British craftsperson,
restorer, and dealer in antiquities. He was employed by the British
Museum for the last 20 years of his life as a specialist restorer,
perhaps the first person in that role. In 1845 the Portland Vase, a
Roman cameo glass piece, was smashed into hundreds of pieces, and
Doubleday was selected for the restoration. Guided by a watercolour of
the fragments by Thomas H. Shepherd, he glued the vase whole again
within a few months, omitting only 37 small splinters. This restoration
would remain for more than 100 years, until the adhesive grew
increasingly discoloured. In other work for the museum, he cleaned
bronzes from Nimrud, and he at least twice testified in criminal trials.
By the time of his death he had amassed one of the largest collections
of casts of seals in the world. In 2006 William Andrew Oddy of the
British Museum ranked him "in the forefront of the craftsmen-restorers
of his time".
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doubleday_%28restorer%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1857:
Queen Victoria selected Ottawa, then a small logging town, to
be the capital of the British colony of Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa>
1963:
Despite Prime Minister Roy Welensky's efforts, the Central
African Federation officially collapsed, subsequently becoming three
separate nations: Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Welensky>
1986:
Three disgruntled employees set fire to the Dupont Plaza Hotel
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing more than 90 people and injuring 140
others (rescue efforts depicted), making it the second deadliest hotel
fire in United States history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupont_Plaza_Hotel_arson>
1999:
Panama took control of the Panama Canal Zone from the United
States, in accordance with the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Zone>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
auld lang syne:
(idiomatic) Days gone by; former times.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/auld_lang_syne>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must present democracy as a force holding within itself the
seeds of unlimited progress by the human race. By our actions we should
make it clear that such a democracy is a means to a better way of life,
together with a better understanding among nations. Tyranny inevitably
must retire before the tremendous moral strength of the gospel of
freedom and self-respect for the individual, but we have to recognize
that these democratic principles do not flourish on empty stomachs, and
that people turn to false promises of dictators because they are
hopeless and anything promises something better than the miserable
existence that they endure. However, material assistance alone is not
sufficient. The most important thing for the world today in my opinion
is a spiritual regeneration which would reestablish a feeling of good
faith among men generally. Discouraged people are in sore need of the
inspiration of great principles. Such leadership can be the rallying
point against intolerance, against distrust, against that fatal
insecurity that leads to war. It is to be hoped that the democratic
nations can provide the necessary leadership.
--George Marshall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Marshall>
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