Tag: Michael Walsh

The Mechanical Galleon, 1585

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Sublime Dreams of Living Machines. Part V. Made by Hans Schlottheim in German, in about 1585, the central figure of the galleon is the Holy Roman Emperor, surrounded by seven noblemen. When the clockwork mechanisms were wound, the ship moved forward over the table and they bowed in front of the Emperor. Miniature figures of the trumpeters and drummers on the deck moved in time to music that was generated by an internal organ and drum. The front canon also fired, lighting a fuse which in turn fired the canons on each side of the ship. The display finished in a cloud of smoke and must have been breathtaking to a 16th-century audience.

YOU WILL LIVE AGAIN

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More than 18,000 people in 23 countries participated in a survey conducted by the Global Research Society and the Institute for Social Research (Ipsos). The survey found that 51% of the people believe in reincarnation, while 23 percent believe that we only will ‘cease to exist’.

The Saint Who Saved The Sailors

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Samuel Plimsoll (1824 – 1898) was an English politician and social reformer. He is best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line. This is a painted watermark on a ship’s hull indicating the ship’s maximum safe draught. If the weight of a loaded cargo pressed the vessel’s hull down beyond the watermark it was forbidden to leave port and would not be insured against its loss.