Braille

Braille is a system of raised dots that can be felt with the fingertips and is used by people who are blind or visually impaired to read and write.

Braille was invented by Louis Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight at the age of three when he injured himself playing. Despite having been warned not to play with his father's tools, young Louis had picked up a sharp knife and tried to cut a piece of leather. The blade slipped, gouging one of his eyes. The wound became dangerously infected. Then the infection spread to his good eye leaving him blind.

At a school for blind boys, Louis came across books whose words consisted of raised letters of the alphabet; the drawback was, they took a long time to decipher. In 1821 an artillery captain, Charles Barbier, visited the school, bringing a 12-dot code he'd devised to help Napoleon’s soldiers communicate at night without light. The captain was reluctant to accept suggestions from a boy, so Louis began to experiment at night. Using an awl, he reduced the number of dots from 12 to 6 which, arranged in different positions, represented the letters of the alphabet, thus enabling the blind to both read and write.

Louis Braille had always been a sickly child, and his condition worsened in adulthood. He developed tuberculosis as a young adult and by the age of forty, he was forced to relinquish his position as a teacher. When his condition reached mortal danger, he was taken back to his family home in Coupvray.

As he lay dying Louis said, "God was pleased to hold before my eyes the dazzling splendors of eternal hope. After that, doesn't it seem that nothing more could keep me bound to the earth?" He asked for final communion about midday on January 6, 1852. After three and a half hours of agony late that afternoon, he died at seven-thirty in the evening.

Louis Braille received musical training at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris and he became an accomplished musician. He played the cello and the organ and developed a keen interest in music theory. 

Bust of Louis Braille (1809-1852) by Étienne Leroux (1836-1906

Through the overwhelming insistence of the blind pupils, Braille's system was finally adopted by the Institute in 1854, two years after his death. In the Netherlands, braille was already taught having been introduced at the institute for the blind in Amsterdam at least as early as 1846. Braille was officially adopted by schools for the blind in the United States in 1916, and a universal braille code for English was formalized in 1932.

Braille’s original system omitted the letter W which was not part of the French alphabet.

Braille was based on a tactile military code called night writing, developed in response to Napoleon's demand for a means for soldiers to communicate silently at night and without a light source. It proved to be too difficult for soldiers to recognize by touch, and was rejected by the military.

British educator Thomas Lucas created an embossed shorthand to teach the blind to read by touch around 1830–1832, before the introduction of braille in the United Kingdom.

The average person reads about 250 words per minute, while Braille readers discern around 115 words per minute.

Only 8.5 percent of blind people use braille as their main reading medium.

Only around 10% of blind Americans know how to read Braille, compared to 1950, where 50% knew how to read Braille. This is due to a shortage of teachers to teach it and more reliance on technology as well as Braille being seen as outdated.

The braille paperback of the first Harry Potter book costs $61 and weighs 5.4 pounds.

The Bible in Braille takes up 45 volumes.

In Japan, there is braille on beer cans.

Source Daily Express

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period.

EARLY LIFE

Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany on May 7, 1833. (Photo of birthplace below). Brahms's family occupied part of the first floor behind the two double windows on the left hand side. The building was destroyed by bombing in 1943.

Photograph from 1891 of the building in Hamburg where Brahms was born.

Johannes came from a humble but happy background. His father, Johann Jakob Brahms, was a poor (financially) musician who played the double bass in the orchestra of the Stadtheatre at Hamburg. His mother, Henrika Christiane Nissen, was a seamstress never previously married, who was seventeen years older than he was. Johannes had an older sister and a younger brother.

His father gave him his first musical training then he studied piano from the age of seven with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. He also studied the violin. Johannes mastered the piano and began to compose under the guidance of the German music teacher Eduard Marxsen,

For a time, he also learned the cello, although his progress was cut short when his teacher absconded with Brahms' instrument.

Johannes hated French at school which resulted in a life long hatred of the nation. (He also hated the English).

He was twice invited to accept an honorary doctorate at Cambridge. He never made it as he hated the sea and the thought of crossing the choppy English Channel put him off.

Brahms in 1853

CAREER

From the age of 10 Brahms helped to supplement the rather meagre family income playing the piano in dockside dance halls, cafes, theatres, inns and later brothels. He would have a book of poetry in front of him to distract him from the noisy crowd.

As a promising young composer Brahms was introduced to the great Franz Liszt in Weimar who promptly played Brahms' Piano Sonata in C at a house recital, heaping praise on the young whippersnapper. Liszt then played his own piano sonata to which Brahms fell asleep to.

A merciless self-critic, Brahms burned all that he wrote before the age of 19 as well as some sketches of later masterpieces. It is known that he frequently reworked pieces over a period of 10 to 20 years, and before achieving the final form he often transcribed them for several different combinations of instruments.

Starting in the 1860's, when his works sold widely, Brahms was well off financially. He preferred a modest life style, however, living in a simple three-room apartment with a housekeeper. He gave away much of his money to relatives, and also anonymously helped support a number of young musicians.

The majority of Brahms' Requiem was written after his mother's death in 1865, a loss that caused him much grief. The fifth movement was later added after the official premiere at a Good Friday concert in Bremen Cathedral with Brahms conducting, on April 10, 1868. The Requiem proved a triumphant success following its first performance and was soon performed in concert by massed choirs and mighty orchestras. It marked a turning point in Brahms' career placing him among Europe's leading composers.

Brahms venerated Beethoven, perhaps even more than the other Romantic composers did. In the composer's home, a marble bust of Beethoven looked down on the spot where he composed. 

CHARACTER

Though agreeable, charitable and charming, to adults Brahms was often brusque and sarcastic, and he sometimes alienated other people. His pupil Gustav Jenner claimed that he was a pussycat really. He wrote: "Brahms has acquired, not without reason, the reputation for being a grump, even though few could also be as lovable as he."

Brahms'sarcasm was a mask against his shyness. Once after a series of offensive remarks to a group of friends, he left the room with the parting words "if there is anyone here whom I have not insulted I beg his pardon." 

He was aware of his shortcomings. On one occasion, a small child offered Brahms a rose and he responded, "Is that meant to represent my prickly nature." 

A practical joker, Brahms would seat visitors in his trick rocking chair which unceremoniously tipped over to the accompaniment of Brahms’ loud guffaws. 

Brahms was clean shaven until he was well past 40, then made up for it with a distinctive, flowing white beard. Though he had the chest development of a tall man, his legs were so short they barely reached his piano pedals

                                                               PERSONAL LIFE

His best friend was Clara Schumann, wife of the composer Robert Schumann, who was 14 years older than him. Whether they ever became lovers after the death of her husband is unknown, but their destruction of their letters to each other may point to something beyond mere privacy.

Another of Brahms’ relationships was with one Bertha Faber, who sung in his women’s choir at Hamburg. The composer renewed his acquaintance with her when he moved to Vienna, by which time she had married. Bertha had the honor of having his lullaby written to celebrate the birth of her eldest child, Hans. 

Brahms only really achieved intimate female companionship with prostitutes. He treated the girls well and they returned his affection. After his death, when asked about his love life, his housekeeper would only say, "he was a very naughty old gentleman."

Brahms had a wide circle of friends. Those who remained his friends, despite his sarcasm were very loyal to him, and he reciprocated in return with equal loyalty and generosity. He was a lifelong friend with Johann Strauss II though they were very different as composers

On one occasion, Brahms fell ill and his doctor instructed him to go on a diet. "But this evening I'm dining with Strauss," he protested "and we shall have chicken paprika." That's out of the question the doctor told him. "In that case" said the composer, "please consider that I did not come to consult you until tomorrow." 

Brahms enjoyed eating out in Vienna's cheap cafes and restaurants, especially his daily visit to his favourite 'Red Hedgehog' tavern in Vienna, which he visited most days often together with Johann Strauss. There, he would drink strong coffee (so strong only he could make it to his satisfaction).

According to the autobiography of English operatic soprano and composer Liza Lehmann, when she met Brahms, she was left unimpressed by his bluff and coarse manners, particularly when he gobbled up a whole tin of sardines at breakfast and then drank the oil from the tin.

Cats got Brahms back up. The composer spent much time at his window in his Vienna home trying to hit neighbourhood cats with a harpoon manufactured from a bow and arrow.

A keen walker and lover of nature, Brahms often went walking in the woods around Vienna, when he often brought penny candy with him to hand out to children. He also enjoyed walking holidays in Italy. The press noted his style of walking with his hands firmly behind his back.

From 1872 to his death, Brahms lived in a third floor apartment at Karlsgasse, Vienna.

The elderly Brahms met a 25-year-old composer called Claude Debussy in Vienna and took him out to dinner and then onto the court opera to see Bizet's Carmen.

LAST YEARS AND DEATH

In his last years being comfortable financially, Brahms could afford to do as he pleased. He frequently travelled, both for business (concert tours) and pleasure and often visited Italy in the springtime, and usually sought out a pleasant rural location there in which to compose during the summer.

In 1889, one Theo Wangemann, a representative of American inventor Thomas Edison, visited the composer in Vienna and invited him to make an experimental recording. Brahms played an abbreviated version of his first Hungarian dance on the piano. The recording was later issued on a record of early piano performances. Sadly, the piano playing is largely inaudible due to heavy surface noise, but this remains the earliest recording made by a major composer. 

In 1895 Brahms fell terminally ill with cancer of the liver though he was never told the nature of the disease. He died two years later on April 3, 1897 in his bed watched over by his landlady, having retained consciousness to the last. Brahms was buried in Vienna's Zentralfriedhof (General Cemetery). 

He wrote four symphonies, wrote settings for piano and voice of 144 German folk songs, and many of his lieder reflect folk themes or depict scenes of rural life. However, Brahms never wrote an opera, nor did he ever write in the characteristic 19th century form of the tone poem.

Sources My knowledge and Wikipedia

Tycho Brahe

Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer and alchemist who made significant contributions to the field of observational astronomy.

Tycho Brahe was born at his family's ancestral seat of Knutstorp Castle, about five miles (eight kilometres) north of Svalöv in then Danish Scania on December 14, 1546.

                                                   
Tycho's father, Otte, was a nobleman and an important figure at the court of the Danish king. When he was around age two, his uncle, Danish nobleman Jørgen Thygesen Brahe, without the knowledge of his parents took him away with him to become a scholar.

Tycho began studies at the University of Copenhagen at the age of 12. There, following his uncle's wishes, he studied law, but also studied a variety of other subjects and became interested in astronomy. The solar eclipse of 21 August 1560, especially the fact that it had been predicted, so impressed him that he began to make his own studies of astronomy, helped by some of the professors.

While studying at University of Rostock in Germany, Brahe attended a dance at a professor's house. He found himself involved in a sword duel in pitch darkness with a fellow student, Manderup Parsbjerg over an astronomical argument. Tycho’s face was slashed and he lost the bridge of his nose. As a consequence, he had to wear a false nose made out of silver and copper.

Tycho Brahe became a world-famous astronomer when on the night of November 11, 1572 he recorded a new star "brighter than Venus" located in the constellation Cassiopeia. He called others to witness it and gave it the name "Stella Nova", the new star.

Brahe was granted an estate by Frederick II of Denmark on the island of Ven and the funding to build the Uraniborg, the first custom-built observatory in modern Europe. The cornerstone was laid on August 8, 1576 and the building completed in 1580 (with a laboratory for his alchemical experiments in its cellar).

 Using large astronomical instruments, Brahe took many careful measurements. Later the observatory was expanded with an underground facility, Stjerneborg, when he discovered that his instruments in the the Uraniborg site were not sufficiently steady.

Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg main building from the 1663 Blaeu's Atlas Major

His observatory and alchemical laboratory consumed over 1 per cent of Denmark’s GNP in the 1580s.

Brahe's laboratory was famous for its wild parties. His pet elk died after falling downstairs while drunk.

Brahe was the greatest observer in the days before telescopes, making the most accurate measurements of the positions of stars and planets. His accurate observations of the planets enabled German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler to prove that planets orbit the Sun in ellipses.

Brahe's discovery and report of the 1572 supernova brought him recognition, and his observations of the comet of 1577 proved that it moved in an orbit among the planets, thus disproving Aristotle's view that comets were in the Earth's atmosphere.

1586 portrait of Tycho Brahe framed by the family shields of his noble ancestors

Brahe moved to Prague as imperial mathematician in 1599, where he was joined by his then assistant Johannes Kepler, who inherited his observations when he died.

He contracted a bladder or kidney ailment after attending a banquet in Prague, and died eleven days later, on October 24, 1601. According to Kepler's first hand account, Brahe had refused to leave the banquet to relieve himself because it would have been a breach of etiquette.

Brahe inspired the phrase "a Tycho Brahe day" in his native language. It denotes bad luck, but it's not clear why.

Don Bradman

Sir Donald Bradman was an Australian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the sport.

Sir Donald Bradman was born on August 27, 1908 at Cootamundra, New South Wales. As a youth, he learned timing by hitting a ball against a corrugated metal tank.

He hit his first century at the age of 12, playing for Bowral Public School against Mittagong High School.

Donald Bradman made his debut in first-class cricket aged 19 for New South Wales against South Australia on December 16, 1927. Batting at No. 7, he secured the achievement of a century on debut with an innings of 188.

On his first visit to England, Bradman established a test record on July 11, 1930,  by scoring 334 runs in one innings at Headingly.

Bradman still holds the record for the most runs in a single day’s play in a test match - 309 during his 334 innings against England at Headingly in 1930.

Walt Disney is said to have decided on Donald Duck’s name after Donald Bradman was out for a duck against New York West Indians in 1932.

Bradman joined the Royal Australian Air Force on June 28, 1940. Surprisingly, in light of his batting prowess, a routine army test revealed that he had poor eyesight. He was later transferred to the Australian Army due to his poor sight.

Bradman was initially disappointed to be transferred to the army, but he eventually made the best of it. He was commissioned as a lieutenant and served as a physical training officer. He also played some cricket for the army team.

Bradman's military service was cut short in 1941 when he was diagnosed with fibrositis, a chronic muscular condition. He was discharged from the army in June 1941.

In his last cricket innings, Donald Bradman needed only 4 runs to attain a test cricket batting average off 100. He was out second ball for zero and finished with an average of 99.94, the highest average in Test history.

In his Test career, Don Bradman scored 26% of the team’s total runs.

Don Bradman hit just six sixes in his Test career, five v. England and one v. India.

Bradman's volume of reminiscences, Farewell to Cricket, was published in 1950. Eight years later, his coaching manual, called The Art of Cricket, was published.

The post office box of the Australian Broadcasting Commission is 9994.

In April 2000, Bradman was voted to be the greatest cricketer of the 20th century by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

Hospitalised with pneumonia in December 2000, Don Bradman returned home in the New Year and died there on February 25, 2001.

Bradman statue outside the Adelaide Oval

Source Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury, born on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois, was an American author best known for his contributions to science fiction and fantasy literature. 

Bradbury in 1959

EARLY LIFE

Bradbury grew up in Waukegan, a small town in Illinois. His family moved to Los Angeles, California, during the Great Depression when he was around 13 years old.

He developed a love for reading and writing at an early age, often spending time in libraries and immersing himself in various genres.

Bradbury attended Los Angeles High School but did not go to college. He considered himself largely self-educated, having spent much of his time reading and educating himself in public libraries.

Ray Bradbury was so poor growing up that he borrowed the suit with a bullet hole his uncle was murdered in for his high school graduation ceremony.

WRITING CAREER

His writing career started with short stories. Bradbury's early works were published in fanzines, pulp magazines, and other periodicals.

One of Bradbury's breakthrough moments was when he was inspired by a carnival magician named Mr. Electrico who sat in an electric chair and was charged with fifty thousand volts of pure electricity. Within a few days the 12-year-old Bradbury started writing.

Bradbury's first published work was Hollerbochen's Dilemma, a short story that appeared in 1938. He continued to write and publish stories throughout the 1940s.

Bradbury's first major work, Dark Carnival,  a collection of his short stories, was published in 1947. This marked an important step in his literary career.

Truman Capote helped Ray Bradbury achieve some recognition the same year. After unearthing one of Bradbury’s stories from a pile of unprinted works at Mademoiselle magazine, he decided to publish it. The story, Homecoming, won a place in the O. Henry Award Stories of 1947.

One of his most famous works, The Martian Chronicles, was published in 1950. This science fiction classic depicted the colonization of Mars and explored themes of humanity, war, and exploration. 

In 1951, Bradbury wrote his novella, The Firemen in the basement of the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) library where he used a typewriter, which he rented for10 cents per half hour. The novella was completed in about nine days, and Bradbury spent a total of $9.80 on the typewriter to finish the first draft.

After being urged by his publisher, he returned to the basement, got to work, and expanded his The Firemen into Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 was published on October 19, 1953. This dystopian novel explores themes of censorship and the suppression of intellectual freedom.

First edition cover

Ray Bradbury released a limited 200 signed copies of Fahrenheit 451 bound in an asbestos cover making them fireproof. They rarely sell for less than $10,000.

PERSONAL LIFE 

Ray Bradbury married Marguerite "Maggie" McClure in 1947, and they remained married until her death in 2003. They had four daughters together.

Bradbury was an avid supporter of libraries. He credited much of his education to libraries and believed they played a crucial role in fostering a love of literature and learning.

Writing was not just a profession for Bradbury; it was his passion. He often spoke about his love for storytelling and the imaginative process of creating worlds through words.

Bradbury had a fascination with various forms of entertainment, including the circus, magic, and the theater. His experiences at the carnival and encounters with Mr. Electrico left a lasting impression on him.

Given his contributions to science fiction, it's no surprise that Bradbury had a keen interest in science and space exploration. The Martian Chronicles and other works reflect his fascination with the possibility of life on other planets.

DEATH AND LEGACY

He received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to literature, including the National Medal of Arts in 2004.

Ray Bradbury passed away on June 5, 2012, leaving behind a rich literary legacy that continues to captivate readers around the world.

HTTP error code 451 = "Unavailable For Legal Reasons". The error code is displayed when the user requests an resource which cannot be served a web page that is censored by a government. The number 451 is a reference to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, in which books are outlawed.

Here are some songs inspired by the works of Ray Bradbury 

"The Veldt" by Deadmau5 based on Ray Bradbury's tale of a family living in a futuristic home with a virtual reality room, which was published originally as The World the Children Made in the September 23, 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. It was later republished in the anthology The Illustrated Man as "The Veldt" the following year. 

"The Body Electric" by Rush. Based on the Bradbury penned Twilight Zone episode #100 - "I Sing the Body Electric."

"Rocket Man" by Elton John. Bernie Taupin's lyrics were inspired by Bradbury's short story of the same title, which was another tale in his The Illustrated Man anthology.

"Medicine Man" by Barclay James Harvest. Lead guitarist John Lees' lyrics were inspired by the 1962 Bradbury horror novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Bra

Ancient Egyptian noblewomen went topless. They wore tunics that wrapped below their breasts and were held up by a center strap.

The Romans invented the push-up bra, but instead of using whalebone for support, they probably used leather. 

Bras were called "breast bags" in medieval times.

Mark Twain (yes, that Mark Twain) invented and patented the bra-strap clasp.  In 1871, he received U.S. Patent No. 121,992 for his "Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments." The patent described an adjustable and detachable elastic strap that could be used to secure various garments, including vests, pants, and corsets. While Twain's invention was not specifically intended for bras, his adjustable clasp design would eventually find its way into the lingerie industry and become a standard feature on bras.

Determined to slip into something more comfortable than an ungainly and painful whalebone corset, 19-year-old New York socialite Mary "Polly" Jacob used two silk handkerchiefs and some pink ribbon to create the world’s first modern bra in 1910.

Polly filed for a patent for her invention in early 1914 and on November 3 of that year the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted her a patent for the "Backless Brassiere."

Jacob's brassiere, from the original patent application.

Jacob's bra was designed to be worn above a woman's corset.

Jacob later sold her business for $1,500 to Warner Brothers Corset Company, who made $15m from her uplifting invention. 

In 1928, a Russian immigrant to America named Ida Rosenthal founded Maidenform. Ida was responsible for grouping women into bust-size categories (cup sizes). 

The A-to-D cup-sizing system for brassieres was introduced by the Warner Corset Company in 1935. It is now universally used by manufacturers.

The push-up bra was invented by the Canadelle company in Montreal, Canada. In 1964, the company introduced the Model 1300 plunge push-up bra, which featured strategically placed padding and a plunging neckline to create the illusion of a fuller bust. 

The push-up bra has become one of the most popular types of bras in the world, and it is credited with revolutionizing the lingerie industry. The bra's ability to enhance the appearance of the bust has given women more options for shaping their bodies and expressing their personal style.

In 1999, two women were burnt down by a lightning strike when the underwire in their bras worked as an electrical conductors.

The average bra size in 2015 is 36C. In 2005 it was 34B.

Apparently, according to Playtex, the best selling bra sizes these days are 34B and 36B.

The average bra is designed to last for only 180 days of use.

There are an estimated 156 million bras in the United Kingdom that have been bought and never worn.

85% of women wear the wrong bra size.

Robert Boyle

Irish chemist Robert Boyle was born on January 25, 1627. He was the seventh son (and fourteenth child) of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork and Catherine Fenton, Boyle's father had left England in 1588 at the age of 22 and gone to Ireland. Appointed clerk of the council of Munster by Elizabeth I in 1600, he bought Sir Walter Raleigh's estates in the counties of Cork, Waterford, and Tipperary two years later. He was said to be the richest man in Great Britain.

His mother was Richard Boyle's second wife, his first having died within a year of the birth of their first child.

Robert was sent, together with one of his brothers, to study at Eton College in England in 1635. At this time the school was becoming fashionable as a place where important people sent their sons. The headmaster was John Harrison and the two young Boyle brothers lived in the headmaster's house. When Harrison retired in 1638, the Earl of Cork took his sons away from Eton. After this Boyle was tutored privately by one of his father's chaplains.

Robert Boyle was still living in Geneva when his father died. In the summer of 1644 he sold some jewellery and used the money that he was paid to finance his return trip to England.

Boyle went to Ireland in 1652 to look after his estates there. He ended up a very rich man when Oliver Cromwell apportioned Irish lands to the English colonists. From that time on he was able to devote himself entirely to science without the need to earn money.

Boyle decided to go to Oxford where he joined a group of forward looking scientists, including Christopher Wren. From 1654 Boyle lived in Oxford, although he never held any university post.

In 1662 he conceived Boyle’s Law, which states that the pressure of gases varies inversely with the volume. His description of an ideal gas first appeared in an appendix to his work New Experiments Physio-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air and its Effects (1660).

Among his other discoveries were that sound does not travel in a vacuum, and a flame requires air as does life. Boyle also investigated the elastic properties of air.

Robert Boyle accurately predicted that the future would have organ transplants, cosmetic surgery, flight, underwater explorations and GPS navigation.

Boyle was an eager Christian, fluent in Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac and spent much of his private wealth on promoting the study of the Bible. As a director of the East India Company, he encouraged Christian missionary work in the Far East.

In 1668, Boyle left Oxford and went to live with his sister Lady Ranelagh in London.

In June 1670 Boyle had a stroke which left him paralyzed but slowly he recovered his health. He continued to work and to entertain at his London home. Visitors were so frequent that he had to restrict visits so that he had time to continue with his scientific researches, which he did with the help of many excellent assistants.

He died on December 31, 1691 from paralysis. Boyle passed away just a week after the death of the sister with whom he had lived for more than twenty years.

Boyle was buried in the churchyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields; his funeral sermon was preached by his friend Bishop Gilbert Burnet.

In his will, Boyle endowed a series of lectures which came to be known as the Boyle Lectures. They were intended to defend the Christian religion against those he considered "notorious infidels, namely atheists, deists, pagans, Jews and Muslims".

Source History.mcs.st-andrews

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a British tradition, going back many centuries but only made an official holiday in 1871. Also known as St. Stephen's Day, it was customarily a time for giving to the poor.

The name comes partly from the boxes kept in British churches to collect money for the needy. On the day after Christmas Day it became a custom of the nineteenth century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their "Christmas boxes" or gifts in return for good and reliable service throughout the year on the day after Christmas.

In South Africa, Boxing Day is known as 'Day of Goodwill', whilst in various continental European countries, it is known as 'Christmas II' or 'Second Christmas Day'.

On Boxing Day 2004 a massive earthquake created a tsunami around the Indian Ocean resulting in the deaths of over 300,000 people.

In Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Boxing Day is the heaviest shopping day of the year. The picture below (Wikipedia Commons) shows the Eaton Center, Toronto, Canada on December 26th.

In some places, Boxing Day has become associated with sporting events. For example, the United Kingdom traditionally has a full program of football matches and some of the African Commonwealth nations, prize-fighting contests are held on December 26th.

Boxing

Stone representations from the fifth millennium BC were excavated in the Middle East, near Baghdad, unmistakably depicting pugilist tactics, men joined in battle with their fists. And at that early stage, in this first portrayal of the sport, it can be clearly recognised that the fighter's hands were swathed in wrappings.

In the games which follow the funeral of Patroclus, in the Iliad a boxing match was followed by a bout of wrestling. Both were described in some detail by Homer. The prizes in the boxing match were a sturdy mule for the winner and a two-handled mug for the runner-up. In this particular fight in the Iliad the loser is knocked out. His supporters even have to collect his mug for him.

There were no rounds when boxing was first introduced at the 23rd ancient Olympiad in 776 BC. 

Boxing contests in Ancient Greek games were a test of strength and stamina rather than skill. There were categories for different ages (boys, adolescents, men) but no allowance was made for weight, so the larger contestant was likely to win. The bout consisted mainly of trading blows to the head, and went on until one fighter either gave up or was unable to continue.

Until 400 BC, fighters usually wound soft strips of leather around their hands and arms. These shielded the knuckles and added to the force of their blows. Then gloves replaced thongs. They were made of hard pieces of leather with cutting edges and resembled a knuckle-duster.

Blows could be delivered anywhere on the body, including the groin, and the contestants were allowed to hit their opponent when they are down. There were no rounds or breaks of any kind and no point scoring; the boxing continued until one of the boxers conceded. was knocked out or died.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle sponsored a boxer at the Olympics at Olympia.

By 300BC Pugilistic bouts were being arranged at burial services. It was believed that the spirit of the departed would be so interested in and absorbed by the contest that he would forget all about haunting the living.

Boxing was one of the brutal attractions in the Roman circuses. Gladiatorial boxing matches were a fight to the death.

Theodosius I was the Roman emperor from 379 to 395 AD. He was a Christian emperor who sought to promote Christian morality and eradicate pagan practices. As part of this effort, he banned all types of gladiatorial combat, including fist-fighting. Boxing, as a sport, then disappeared from history until it was revived in England in the 1700s.

The most likely explanation for the word “boxing” is that Bernardino, a thirteenth-century Italian priest, later raised to sainthood, first applied it. In an age of frequent combats, the injuries and fatalities that resulted from use of weapons horrified him. Eventually he persuaded fighters to use their bare fists only and this merely for the purpose of defence. Describing the method, he referred to it as "the art of boxing up an opponent."

The first known boxing match in Britain was on January 6, 1681, when Christopher Monck, the 2nd Duke of Albemarle organised a bout between his butler and his butcher at his home in New Hall, Essex. The butcher won the fight.

The first man to popularize boxing with bare knuckles was James Figg of England. A renowned swordsman and cudgel fighter, he opened his school of arms in Oxford Road, London. Between 1719 and 1730 Figg defeated all challengers and was acclaimed the first boxing champion. The contestants battled without rest until one had definitely won.

Jack Broughton's London amphitheatre, situated near Tottenham Court Road, became the centre of boxing. He devised an accepted set of rules in 1743 - the London Prize Ring Rules. Each round was to continue until a man went down; once down he could rest for thirty seconds and must then fight again or be declared the loser; no man was to be hit when he was down, or grabbed below the waist.

Broughton invented the modern boxing glove - but this was then worn only for sparring and not for serious contests. He also introduced a chalked square-yard at the center of the ring. Each of the fighters had to toe the line on opposite sides of the square before beginning a bout.

Under the London Prize Fighting Rules introduced in 1839, a fight ended when one of the participants was knocked down. The knocked down boxer was permitted a breathing spell of half a minute in his corner. Then, within eight seconds - counted out aloud - he had to make his way to a mark scratched in the centre of the ring. If he couldn’t get up to scratch he was the loser. From this comes the phrase "up to scratch."

Tom Cribb vs Tom Molineaux in a re-match for the heavyweight championship of England, 1811

The first boxing matches in the United States were bareknuckle bouts fought under the London Prize Ring rules. Such bouts were illegal, and the battles usually took place in isolated spots away from the police. The matches drew only small crowds, however, for the rough-and-tumble tactics of the bareknuckle fighters found little favor with the public. 

Americans at first did not welcome pugilist contests. In fact, they were frowned upon by the authorities and even outlawed. Early fights, therefore, were arranged clandestinely and naturally could not draw large crowds. The sport was truly popularised only in the 1850s and 1860s by English fighters visiting America.

The fight between Tom Sayers from England and John C. Heenan from the United States on April 17, 1860, is considered to be the first "world title" international boxing match. The match took place in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, and was illegal at the time. Despite this, the fight was widely publicized and drew a large crowd of spectators. The grueling 42-round bout ended in a draw

John Carmel Heenan, the American heavyweight champion, was a 25-year-old former wrestler and street fighter. He was known for his size and strength, and he had a reputation for being a brutal fighter. Tom Sayers, the British heavyweight champion, was a 34-year-old veteran boxer who was known for his skill and endurance. He was 3-stone lighter than the American. The "small, clever little ring general", as the public prints described Sayers, was  a popular figure in England, and he was seen as a symbol of British boxing.

The fight was scheduled for 75 rounds, but it was stopped after 42 rounds due to exhaustion. The fight was declared a draw, but both fighters were considered to be heroes in their respective countries. The match helped to popularize boxing in both the United States and England, and it is considered to be one of the most important matches in the history of the sport.

The Sayers–Heenan fight as depicted by ex-boxer Jem Ward.

Most of the regulations that govern boxing today are based on rules drawn up in about 1866 under the sponsorship of the eighth marquess of Queensberry, an English patron of the sport. It legislated for fighting with gloves, stipulated the length of each round at three minutes, and laid the foundation of the modern sport.

The 1870 boxing match between British champion Jem Mace and American boxer Joe Coburn is often considered one of the most bizarre and unusual fights in boxing history. The match was scheduled for 15 rounds, but it went on for an astonishing three hours and 48 minutes without a single punch being thrown.  The two fighters spent the entire match circling each other, occasionally feinting and dodging, but never actually engaging in combat. The crowd was initially entertained by the spectacle, but as the fight went on, they became increasingly frustrated and bored.

The boxing match between Nell Saunders and Rose Harland on March 16, 1876, is considered to be the first sanctioned women's boxing match held in the United States. The match took place at the New York Hills Theater and was won by Saunders, who received a silver butter dish as a prize.

The last bare knuckle heavyweight title boxing bout on July 8, 1899 between John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain. It took place at a secret location, which turned out to be Richburg, a town just south of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The fight lasted for 75 rounds — or two hours, 16 minutes and 25 seconds — before Kilrain’s manager threw in the towel, fearing for the boxer’s life.

The Sullivan-Kilrain fight

Boxing kangaroos were first shown by Prof. Landermann at the London Aquarium in 1892.

The longest recorded gloved boxing match took place on April 6, 1893. Andy Bowen and Jack Burke fought for more than 7 hours. After 110 rounds, the fight was declared a draw because both Bowen and Burke were too exhausted to continue.

Thomas Edison was responsible for the first film of a sporting event, a six round boxing match between Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing on June 14, 1894 (see below). Before this the American inventor had persuaded the world boxing champion James Corbett to act a boxing fight for his camera. 

American lawman Wyatt Earp was also boxing referee. He was known for his rough and tumble style of refereeing, and he was often accused of favoring one fighter over another. However, his most infamous moment as a referee came in 1896, when he refereed the heavyweight championship fight between Bob Fitzsimmons and Tom Sharkey.

The fight was a close and exciting affair, but in the 14th round, Earp called a foul on Sharkey for a low blow. The crowd was outraged, and they jeered Earp relentlessly. Fitzsimmons went on to win the fight by knockout in the 15th round, but the controversy surrounding Earp's decision overshadowed the victory. Earp was never able to shake off the stigma of the Fitzsimmons-Sharkey fight, and his reputation as a referee was forever tarnished. 

“Judge” Roy Bean gained national attention in 1898 for staging a boxing match on a sandbar in the middle of the Rio Grande (to avoid the ban on boxing in Texas), featuring the heavyweight champion, Bob Fitzsimmons.

In boxing, a championship belt awarded to a fighter who wins a British title fight. If he wins three fights in one weight division, he is allowed to keep the belt permanently. The wins do not necessarily have to be in succession. It is named after the 5th Earl of Lonsdale, who presented the first belt to the National Sporting Club in 1909.

In 1921 Jack Dempsey defeated Georges Carpentier of France in four rounds. The Dempsey-Carpentier bout was the first in ring history with a million-dollar gate.

The 1927 boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney was known as "the long count." Dempsey knocked Tunney down for 14 to 18 seconds in the 7th round, but the referee did not start his count immediately, so Tunney got the extra time, then got up at 9 and went on to win the fight.

South Korean boxer Kim Duk-koo suffered fatal brain injuries during a world championship boxing match with American Ray Mancini near Las Vegas' Caesars Palace on November 13, 1982. His death five days later led to significant rule changes in the sport aimed to better protect the health of fighters, including reducing the number of rounds in championship bouts from 15 to 12.

Kim Duk-koo

The greatest paid attendance at any boxing match is 132,274 for four world title fights at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico on February 20, 1993, headlined by the successful WBC super lightweight defense by Julio César Chávez (Mexico) over Greg Haugen (USA).

The heavyweight boxing fight between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe on November 6, 1993 was interrupted for 21 minutes when James Miller, aka Fan Man, para-glided into the ring at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The record fee for a boxing referee is $250,000. This fee was paid to Lee Cook, a British referee, for refereeing the fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. Cook is also the Guinness World Record holder for "Most Professional Boxing Matches Refereed", with over 1,200 matches under his belt.

Sources Europress Encyclopedia, History World,  Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc