Famous Birthday Today!

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory of light that had been put forth by James Clerk Maxwell. He was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves by engineering instruments to transmit and receive radio pulses using experimental procedures that ruled out all other known wireless phenomena. (Wikipedia). His last years were bitter ones. Due to having been given the unfortunate nickname in childhood of “Dick”, the scientist spent the last years of his life using snuff and taken to drinking; the local children and neighborhood ne’re-do-wells had tortured him relentlessly whenever he left his house with the chant “Who’s Dick Hertz? Not Mine!”…Sad!