History Quiz!

knucklehead6

JillyQ wrote: »

Here is another easy one name the Irish statesman that who was assassinated on this date

Mr Collins.

feargale

Which US President had a direct ancestor who was convicted of murder and executed?

Manach

At a guess and based from what I remember in a biography of him having some rather troubled family history: Lincoln?

feargale

Manach wrote: »

At a guess and based from what I remember in a biography of him having some rather troubled family history: Lincoln?

No. At least, not that I know of.

patsman07

feargale wrote: »

Which US President had a direct ancestor who was convicted of murder and executed?

McKinley?

feargale

patsman07 wrote: »

McKinley?

I'm sorry. I have to withdraw this question. I came across something about two weeks ago suggesting that a POTUS had an antecedent who committed murder but I can't follow it up. Thomas Cornell, a 17th century settler, was ancestor of Cleveland, Carter and Nixon. His son Thomas Cornell Jr. was, on the most spurious evidence, convicted of murdering his mother and executed. But Thomas Sr. had a number of sons and I can't establish if Jr. was ancestor of any of the presidents. Jr. did have descendants. Cornell Sr. was also a direct ancestor of Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University.
I thought I came across something similar re a Garfield ancestor, but I may be mistaken.
Sorry for the inconvenience. The subject might tempt one of you to research further.

pedroeibar1

feargale wrote: »

I'm sorry. I have to withdraw this question. I came across something about two weeks ago suggesting that a POTUS had an antecedent who committed murder but I can't follow it up. Thomas Cornell, a 17th century settler, was ancestor of Cleveland, Carter and Nixon. His son Thomas Cornell Jr. was, on the most spurious evidence, convicted of murdering his murder and executed. But Thomas Sr. had a number of sons and I can't establish if Jr. was ancestor of any of the presidents. Jr. did have descendants. Cornell Sr. was also a direct ancestor of Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University.
I thought I came across something similar re a Garfield ancestor, but I may be mistaken.
Sorry for the inconvenience. The subject might tempt one of you to research further.

Nope, my research list already is too long!

To keep the ball rolling,

A university bears his name and he is widely attributed as its founder. That is incorrect. Who was he and what was the university’s original name?

pinkypinky

I think it's John Harvard but not sure without a google what the original name is.

Peregrinus

The University of California, Berkeley, is named after George Berkeley. It was originally California College, I think. Berkeley didn't found it, and in fact had been dead for well over a century when it was named after him, but in the 1720s he did strongly advocate for the establishment of a university in the American colonies and worked to raise funds for this, but in the event was not successful. I believe that the California institution was named in his honour as a tribute to his efforts, even though the location he had favoured was actually Bermuda

pedroeibar1

I had Harvard in mind, originally called New College, it changed its name to Harvard after John Harvard bequeathed one half of his pecuniary estate and his entire library to the college. Many people attribute its foundation to him, a perception influenced by his statue in Harvard Yard.

I had not considered Berkeley. However, while it is commonly referred to as plain ‘Berkeley', its full name is ‘University of California, Berkeley’ and George Berkeley would not be widely attributed as its founder.

So Pinky wins.

pinkypinky

The Haloid Photographic Company was the original name of what multi-national company?

JillyQ

Taking a guess here Kodak

feargale

feargale wrote: »

Which US President had a direct ancestor who was convicted of murder and executed?

I've cracked it. Both Grover Cleveland and his wife Frances Folsom were descended from Thos. Cornell Sr.. But she, not he, was descended from Thos. Cornell Jr., convicted of murdering his mother, mainly on spectral evidence.Cleveland, Nixon and Carter were descended from Sr. but not from Jr.,
Suspected axe murderer Lizzie Borden ( of both her father and stepmother ) was another descendant of Thomas Jr.. Richard Borden, her gtgtgtgtgrandfather married appropriately named Innocent Cornell, posthumous daughter of Thomas Jr..

pinkypinky

No, not Kodak

Water John

Pinky, I haven't the answer but I remember, I think, hazy memory, that the word Photographic would lead you in the wrong direction.

Capt'n Midnight

Doing me in too. It's going to be one of those 3M things.

pedroeibar1

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Doing me in too. It's going to be one of those 3M things.

3M is Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. I too have no idea, but a wild guess on the Photographic bit in the name could suggest Xerox ?

pinkypinky

Pedro for the win! You are a good guesser. (Sorry for the delayed response: I was away)

pedroeibar1

Xerox was on my mind as it was split up recently, the new part is called Conduent. A strange business, once a good one, their initial strategy was to sell the machines cheaply and make it back on the paper. It also was the first to use and popularise the computer mouse.

New question, a mix of ‘Heritage’ and ‘History’.:)
Its manufacture commenced in the Irish Midlands in the early 1600’s and had a French connection, the activity was then developed by Cromwellian settlers but it never succeeded due primarily to protectionist taxation. What was the product?

feargale

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Xerox was on my mind as it was split up recently, the new part is called Conduent. A strange business, once a good one, their initial strategy was to sell the machines cheaply and make it back on the paper. It also was the first to use and popularise the computer mouse.

New question, a mix of ‘Heritage’ and ‘History’.:)
Its manufacture commenced in the Irish Midlands in the early 1600’s and had a French connection, the activity was then developed by Cromwellian settlers but it never succeeded due primarily to protectionist taxation. What was the product?

Poplin.

Capt'n Midnight

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Xerox was on my mind as it was split up recently, the new part is called Conduent. A strange business, once a good one, their initial strategy was to sell the machines cheaply and make it back on the paper. It also was the first to use and popularise the computer mouse.

Can't resist.

The trackball was invented in Canada for their Navy back in 1952

pedroeibar1

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Can't resist.

The trackball was invented in Canada for their Navy back in 1952

The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation."

Actually the first ‘trackball’ device was developed by the RN in the 1940’s for radar plotting. The one to which you refer was invented for the RCN by Ferranti, a British firm . That device was about the size of 2 shoeboxes, whereas Englebart’s mouse (wooden) was the size of 2 packets of 20 ciggies.

@Feargale – nope, but a good guess, given le pape, Avignon, etc.

dubhthach

The Trackball/Mouse comparison is like the Lightpen/Tablet comparison though tbh.

The famous Sketchpad demo by Ivan Sutherland:

The mouse itself wasn't a Xerox innovation but result of work done in SRI (Stanford Research Institute). The late great Douglas Engelbart on the 9th December 1968 carried out a demo which is now adays called 'The Mother of all Demos'

In it ye can see the use of windows, hypertext, graphics, video conferencing, the computer mouse, word processing, dynamic file linking, revision control etc.

dubhthach

General Dynamics is a major US defense conglomerate, they had over $30 billion in sales in 2016, what is their connection to the Fenian Brotherhood?

pedroeibar1

Mr. Submarineman - but for the life of me I cannot remember the original name of the company.

Arsemageddon

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Mr. Submarineman - but for the life of me I cannot remember the original name of the company.

His name was Holland and the company he founded was called Holland something, something which eventually became General Dynamics.

dubhthach

Yup, John Philip Holland, the 'Fenian Skirmishing Fund' paid for the development of the 'Fenian Ram' submarine or to give it more formal name 'Holland II'. Holland VI would become USS Holland (SS-1)

Holland Torpedo Boat Company was the predecessor to the 'Electric Boat Company', basically they took over manufacture/design when Holland had financial troubles. They eventually diversified themselves and added aircraft production etc. (F-16 was originally a GD product), today the Electric Boat company still lives on as a subsidiary company under the name 'General Dynamics Electric Boat'.

Capt'n Midnight

I like the name Electric Boats , which is sort of what they are.

pedroeibar1

]So we are back to the question HERE.

pedroeibar1

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

New question, a mix of ‘Heritage’ and ‘History’.:)
Its manufacture commenced in the Irish Midlands in the early 1600’s and had a French connection, the activity was then developed by Cromwellian settlers but it never succeeded due primarily to protectionist taxation. What was the product?

Two days, time’s up. The product is glass. The first ‘commercial level’ production of glass in Ireland is credited to a French family, de Bigault who located in Birr, County Offaly. Originally from Lorraine, they arrived in Ireland after spending some time in London and made both window glass and stemware. The protectionist Navigation Acts killed it.