24 February-Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, who with Steve Wozniak was a co-founder of Apple Computers was a native of America. He is widely regarded as one the pioneers of the personal computer revolution. The Apple Company, which is now known as Apple Inc. is a global company which has over 4,000 employees in Ireland.

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, California in 1955. Having studied at Reed College, Oregon he dropped out in 1972 and spent some time studying Zen Buddhism. He co-founded Apple Computers in 1976 with Steve Wozniak. They went on to invent the Apple II which became one of the first highly successful mass-produced personal computers.

Apple is now one of the largest information technology companies in the world. It employs over 80,000 people in 15 countries around the world. The company manufactures hardware products such as the Mac and the iPhone and software products such as the iOS operating systems and the iTunes media browser.

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers who is widely regarded as one the pioneers of the personal computer revolution, was born in San Francisco in the year 1955 On This Day.

18 April-Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a physicist who developed the general theory of relativity. A native of Germany he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. Einstein is generally regarded as the most influential physicist of the 20th century. When asked to explain the theory of relativity he is reported to have said: ‘When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity’.

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany on March 14th 1879. His family moved to Munich when he was just six weeks old. Einstein grew and went to school there until he was 16 years of age. He qualified as a teacher of mathematics and physics from Zurich Polytechnic, Switzerland in 1900. Following qualification Einstein failed to find work as a teacher. He was eventually employed by the patent office in Bern, Switzerland.

In 1905 Einstein was awarded a PhD by the University of Zürich. In that same year he deduced the equation E=mc2, the origins of the development of nuclear power, in his paper on matter and energy. He became well known as a physicist and went on to work first at the University of Zurich in 1908, University of Bern 1909, and Prague in 1911. In 1914 he was appointed professor at the University of Berlin where he remained until 1933. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.

In 1933 Albert Einstein renounced his German citizenship and moved to the United States to avoid persecution by the Nazis. He was appointed to a position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey and became a United States citizen. In 1939 he signed a letter to the President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the possibility that the Nazis could be developing a nuclear bomb. It is thought that this letter led the American Government to establish a secret military project to produce the first US nuclear weapon. The project which was established in 1942 was known as the Manhattan Project. Einstein remained at Princeton until he retired in 1945. He died in Princeton New Jersey at the age of 76.

Albert Einstein, physicist who developed the general theory of relativity, died in Princeton New jersey in the year 1955 On This Day.

 

12 April-Polio

Poliomyelitis (Polio) is an infectious disease which is caused by the poliovirus. A very large number of people around the world were affected by polio during the 1900’s. The poliovirus is spread by faecal-oral contact or by infected saliva. A small number of those affected by the polio virus (less than 0.5%) are affected by muscle weakness and some of those may fully recover. Those who do not recover, suffer from paralysis (usually of the legs) and in severe cases some patients may die.

There is evidence to show that the effects of polio have been known since prehistory. However, it was not until the first half of the 20th century that polio reached pandemic levels in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Ireland experienced the first epidemic of the disease in 1942 and there continued to be other epidemics up to 1953. There was a severe outbreak of the disease in Cork in 1956. At the same time the United States was experiencing an annual average of over 35,000 cases.

There is no cure for Polio but the development of an effective vaccine means that the disease can be prevented. Work on a vaccine began in the early 1950’s. One of those conducting research on Polio was Dr Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh in the USA. He discovered that there were three types of polio viruses and developed a vaccine against the disease. Testing of the vaccine began in 1952. It was administered to almost 2 million children before it was approved in 1955. The widespread administration of the vaccine led to a rapid decline in the incidence of polio. Salk was hailed as a miracle worker. In later years Dr Jonas Salk went on to carry out research on cancer, AIDs and HIV. He died in California on June 23rd 1995.

The announcement the Polio Vaccine, which Dr Jonas Salk had developed, was successful was made in the year 1955 On This Day.

polio

Dr Jonas Salk photo

Photo by Wystan

 

 

17 January-Steve Earle

Steve Earle who wrote the song The Galway Girl is a native of the USA. He made a recording of the song with Sharon Shannon. The recording featured his album Transcendental Blues, which was released in 2000. A version of the song, recorded by Mundy became one of the best-selling singles in Irish chart history.

Steve Earle was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, USA in 1955. When he was an infant his family moved to Texas where Earle grew up. Interested in music from a young age he became a folk and country singer-songwriter. He has released sixteen albums and his songs have been recorded by several famous artists. Earle has won three Grammy Awards.

Steve Earle was born in the year 1955 On This Day.

Steve Earl

 

 

06 January-Irish Farmers Association

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is the largest representative organisation for farmers in Ireland. It was founded as the National Farmers’ Association (NFA) in 1955 and has a membership today of over 85,000. The IFA works to support farmers over a wide range of issues and to improve farm incomes.

A mass meeting of 2,000 farmers from all over Ireland was held in Dublin in January 1955. The meeting led to the establishment of the National Farmers’ Association. Mr Juan Greene was elected as first president. Peter Murphy from Clonegal, Co Carlow played a leading role in the establishment of the NFA. The National Farmers’ Association later merged with other organisations to form the Irish Farmers’ Association.

The National Farmers’ Association was founded in the Four Provinces Ballroom in Dublin in the year 1955 On This Day.

Farmers Protest Dublin photo

SHEEP FARMERS ARE ALSO PROTESTING TODAY by infomatique on 2008-12-06 13:42:54