30 August

Samuel Whitbread
30 August 1720 – 11 June 1796
English brewer who founded the Whitbread brewery in 1799.

Jacques-Louis David
30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825
French Neoclassical artist. Paintings can be seen in the Louvre, Paris; the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge; National Gallery, London; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851
English author, principally remembered for her novel ‘Frankenstein’.

Jacobus van ‘t Hoff
30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911
Dutch scientisst whose research in chemistry earned the inaugural Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901.

Carl Runge
30 August 1856 – 3 January 1927
German mathematician who contributed to the development of the field of numerical analysis.

Isaac Levitan
30 August 1860 – 4 August 1900
Russian artist, specialised in landscapes. Paintings can be seen in the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford and the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.

Ernest Rutherford
30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937
New Zealand scientist who did the initial research into nuclear physics.

John Mauchly
30 August 1907 – 8 January 1980
American engineer who jointly invented (with John Eckert) the first functional computer for general use, known as ENIAC.

Nancy Wake
30 August 1912 – 7 August 2011
New Zealand. A British spy and member of the French Maquis in occupied France during WW II. Known as the White Mouse by the Gestapo, she was highly decorated for her work.

Warren Buffett
30 August 1930
American billionaire, who recently has made exceptional donations to charitable work, through the Gates Foundation.

Bruce McLaren
30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970
New Zealand Formula I racing car driver, who went on to build his own cars under tha name McLaren.

Today’s Quote
I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.
 … Frances Willard (1839 – 1898)

Today’s No. 1 Hit
1987 – La Bamba by Los Lobos.

Today’s events
30 August 1146 – Church leaders ban the use of the crossbow, considering it an immoral weapon. They hoped this would end warfare.
30 August 1835 – Melbourne in Australia is settled.
30 August 1860 – Europe’s first trams(streetcars) ran in Birkenhead, England.
30 August 1836 – Houston in Texas U.S.A. is settled.
30 August 1968 – Hey Jude (Beatles) is the first record released by Apple Records.
30 August 1999 – In a referendum marred by violence, East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia.