Happy Birthday December 11

Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster was born on December 11, 1781. In 1817 he invented the kaleidoscope, an optical toy where the user sees many beautiful, colorful patterns. The word "kaleidoscope" is derived from the Ancient Greek kalos, "beautiful, beauty", eidos, "that which is seen: form, shape" and skope, "to look to, to examine."

French composer Hector Berlioz was born in La Cote-St-Andre, in the French Alps, on December 11, 1803. His father, a prosperous physician with a love for music, invited many music masters to settle in the town so the boy would be exposed to a rich musical environment. He learned the basics of composition as well as to play the flute and guitar. His best known works include Symphonie fantastique and the Requiem. Treatise on Instrumentation, Berlioz's 1843 book on modern instrumentation and orchestration became a standard reference work.

The young Berlioz

American astronomer Annie Jump Cannon was born December 11, 1863. She manually classified more stars in a lifetime than anyone else, around 350,000 stars. Cannon could classify a single star, fully, in approximately 20 seconds. and used a magnifying glass for the majority of the (faint) stars.

For more December 11 anniversaries, including The Siege of Maarat, Indiana becoming the 19th U.S. state, and the opening for service of the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel, check out OnThatDay.