James Watt, born on 19 January 1736, was a Scottish instrument maker
and inventor whose steam engine contributed substantially to the
Industrial Revolution. Watt was also known for patenting the double-acting
engine and an early steam locomotive. He was elected fellow of the Royal
Society of London in 1785. A unit of
measurement of electrical and mechanical power - the watt - is named in his
honour.
Pratap Singh I, also known as Maharana Pratap, who passed away on 19
January, 1597, aged 56, Chawand, was the 13th king of Mewar, which is now part
of the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India. He was recognised for his role
in the Battle of Haldighati and Battle of Dewair and was dubbed as "Mewari
Rana" for his military resistance to the Mughal Empire's expansionism.
From 1572 until his death in 1597, he was the ruler of Sisodias of Mewar.
Maharana Pratap is revered as one of the strongest warriors India has ever
seen. Standing at 7 feet 5 inches, he would carry an 80-kilogram spear and two
swords weighing around 208 kilograms in total. He would also wear an armour
weighing 72 kilograms.
He was a master in the genre of Kirana
Gharana style. He was the first and foremost disciple of Ustad Abdul Karim
Khan, and guru of Bharat Ratna laureate Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
Ever the free-spirited artist, Sawai Gandharva entered the
world of Marathi stage in 1907, against the will of his Guru. He became popular
as a singer at the Marathi musical theatre playing both male and female roles
with equal dexterity.
Sawai Gandharva is best known for
popularizing the stylings of the Kirana Gharana through his accomplished
disciples, including Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Dr. Gangubai Hangal, Firoz Dastur,
and Basavaraj Rajguru.
Edgar Allan Poe, born on
19 January 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, lived a life filled with tragedy.
Poe was an American writer, considered part of the Romantic Movement, in the
subgenre of Dark Romanticism. He Became an accomplished poet, short story
writer, editor, and literary critic, and gained worldwide fame for his dark,
macabre tales of horror, practically inventing the genre of Gothic Literature.
Poe was one of the earliest American
writers to focus on the short story and is credited with inventing the
detective fiction genre. But it is for his horror stories that he is world
famous today, great short stories that are widely known, including; The Pit and
the Pendulum, The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The
Fall of the House of Usher, and The Purloined Letter are among his most popular
short stories.
Poe published his work, an anonymous
collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. Poe changed his focus
to prose, and after many years of writing periodicals and journals he became
known for his own style of literary criticism. All the while Poe moved around
between Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.
Edgar Allan Poe’s epic poem The Raven,
was published when he was in Baltimore in 1845, and became an instant success.
Poe planned to produce his own journal, The Stylus, but he died in 1849 of
unknown causes at the young age of 40, before he could make that project a
reality.
Poe had many imitators, and after his
death clairvoyants often claimed to “receive” Poe’s spirit and “channel” his
poems and stories in attempts to cash-in on his fame and talent. The attempts
to cash in on his fame was rather ironic considering Poe died penniless. His
work also influenced science fiction, namely Jules Verne, who wrote a sequel to
Poe’s novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket called An Antarctic
Mystery.
Considered the quintessential
American Gothic writer, Poe’s epic story, The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)
reveals the tragedy of Rodrick Usher, who suffers from a variety of mental
health disorders not even invented or named by modern psychology when Poe wrote
about them: hyperethesia (sensory overload), hypochondria, and acute anxiety.
It’s a stellar tale sure to disturb and delight the reader.
