When was Louis Braille Born?

Louis Braille was born on 4 January 1809

Where was Louis Braille Born?

Lousi Braille was born in Coupvray, a small town near Paris, France.

How did Louis become blind?

His father was a shoemaker and the young Louis enjoyed playing in his father's workshop. One day, while his father was not watching, Louis accidentally punctured his eye with an awl, a sharp tool used to punch holes in leather. Infection eventually set in and spread to his other eye, leaving Louis completely blind.

Why is Louis Braille Famous?

Louis Braille invented a tactile alphabet for the blind.

In 1829, Louis Braille published the Method of Writing Words using six raised dots to represent the standard alphabet. The system of raised dots is called Braille and enables blind people of any age to read with the tips of their fingers.

How is Braille read?

People read Braille by moving their fingertips from left to right across the lines of dots. The raised dots represent the letters in the alphabet as well as punctuation.

Link

Write in Braille using a Braille Translator
pbskids.org/arthur/print/braille/

On this day also

4 January 1642: Under the orders of King Charles I, armed soldiers entered Parliament. The English Civil War started shortly afterwards.

4 January 1643: Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire. He was an English physicist and mathematician, and the greatest scientist of his era. He discovered the theory of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion.

Find out more about the three laws of motion by clicking on the link below
teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/

4 January 1813: Isaac Pitman is born. He devised a shorthand alphabet for quickly writing what people are saying.

4 January 1958: Sir Edmund Hillary arrived at the South Pole, the first explorer to do so since Scott in 1912.

4 January 1967: Donald Campbell, 46 year old son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, died in his attempt to break his own world water speed record on Coniston Water in the Lake District. His boat, Bluebird K7, somersaulted at high speed, and Campbell died instantly. His body was not recovered until 2001.

4 January 1972: Rose Heilbron became Britain’s first woman judge at the Old Bailey.

4 January 2000: Catherine Hartley and Fiona Thornewill, the first British women to walk across Antarctica to the South Pole arrived safely, more than two months after starting their record-breaking journey.

4 January 2012: Burj Dubai, the world`s tallest skyscraper opened. The 169 storey tower, contains apartments, offices, shops, restuarants, a mosque, gym, nightclub and a hotel. It is over half a mile high (2,683ft) and can be seen from 60 miles away.

Buri Dubai is so tall that the temperature at the top is 10 °C (47°F) cooler than at the bottom.

Handsel Monday
The first Monday of the new year, when handsels or presents were given to servants, children, etc. Now replaced by Boxing Day.