240 The Librarian at Alexandria Eratosthenes estimated the circumference of Earth using two sticks and his brain to within sixty-six miles of accuracy. He measured shadows at the same time in different places to asssess the curvature of the earth’s surface, which curvature is today denied by Flat Earth Republicans who fear falling off the edge unarmed.
1741 Berlin, Science. Prussian King Frederich the Great appointed Leonhard Euler a professor. Euler was a prolific mathematician whose discoveries include infinitesimal calculus and graph theory along with pioneering contributions to topology and analytic number theory. Even more important was his introduction of terminology and notation that remains in use. He published more than sixty books.
1829 London. Sir Robert Peel introduced the Metropolitan Police Act to establish a single, unified force in the London region. These were officers were called Peelers, and only later Bobbies. Every effort was made to distinguish the police from the army in uniform style and colour, ranks, and rules of conduct. It was standardised, professional, civilian, and answerable to the public. Below some 1829 Peelers. (When Peel later was Prime Minister he tried to assuage the onset of the Irish Potato famine and lost his office as a result of the costs thereof.)
1889 Naples, Cuisine. Chef Raffaele Esposito honoured Queen Margherita of Savoy by using a flatbread base and topped it with a combination of fresh tomato, mozzarella, and basil for the colours of the new Italian flag. Thus was born the pizza. The etymology of the term is clouded but one suggestion is that the word entered use in the Italian peninsula from the Byzantine world where it referred to flat bread like pita today.
1917 The British royal family renounced all its German names and titles and took the name Windsor as an act of patriotism. It was a very popular move at a dark time in World War I.
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