Kilt Wearers Calendar

[bangkok kilt]

Impressive list P1M.

Now the science teacher comes out in me. Scotland is famous for it's long history of scientific achiement. It has always been a place where science has flourished, even before it began to be encourage in other parts of the world. We owe many of our scientific achievements to the Scots! So here are some birthdays of some famous scientists from Scotland.

January 19 - Birth of James Watt an inventor whose improvements to the steam engine were largely responsible for the industial revolution
February 15 - Birth of Robert Angus Smith who discovered and coined the term acid rain.
April 13 - Birth of Robert Watson-Watt considered to be the inventor of RADAR
April 16 - Birth of Joseph Black the discoverer of Carbon Dioxide and formulated a theory on latent heat.
June 26 - Birth of The Right Honourable William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin one of the most famous physicists of the 19th century. The Kelvin scale of absolute temperature still bears his name.
July 5 - Birth of Dolly the Sheep cloned at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh.
October 2 - Birth of William Ramsay who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904
December 21 - Birth of Robert Brown discoverer of Brownian Motion

[Pour1Malt]

excellent braw additions Lads!

ta!


keep em comin.....

[Colin]

April 6 -- Celebration of Tartan Day approved by the US Senate, in recognition of the monumental achievements and invaluable contributions made by Scottish Americans. (1998)

Canada has been celebrating "National Tartan Day" since 1993. The idea and motivation for creating a similar American holiday was provided by the Scottish Coalition, a group of national Scottish- American cultural organizations.

http://www.tartanday.org/history.htm
http://www.electricscotland.com/tartnday.htm

Let's not forget Samhain in October (now mostly known as Halloween) http://www.celticspirit.org/samhain.htm

July 22nd Stornoway born Alexander MacKenzie made it across Canada, becoming the first white person north of Mexico to reach the Pacific by crossing overland. Almost a decade before Lewis and Clark.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/6/h6-221-e.html
http://www.amvr.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark

[Kilted KT]

this is quite an impressive list we have going here...

Not to ruin the fun, but would it not be easier to say "if the day ends with "y" you can wear the kilt?"

[Colin]

I also want to point out that we have an Xmarks Calender found on the Portal page on the left hand side http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/calendar.php
Please enter any dates that you think important, so we can all remember them. Threads often get lost as new ones appear, so adding to the calender would be great.

[Kilted KT]

P1M, thanks for clearing up what on earth Boxing Day was! I always thought it was some silly excuse to get out of work!

[billmcc]

Let's not forget Samhain in October (now mostly known as Halloween) http://www.celticspirit.org/samhain.htm

Here are all 8 celtic holidays:

February 2 Imbolc (Candlemas)
March 21 Ostara (Spring/Vernal Equinox)
April 30 Beltane (May Eve)
June 21 Midsummer (Summer Solstice, Litha)
August 1 Lughnasadh (Lammas)
Sept 21 Mabon (Autumn/Fall Equinox)
October 31 Samhain (All Hallows Eve)
Dec 21 Yule (Winter Solstice)

[Morris at Heathfield]

Here are all 8 celtic holidays:

February 2 Imbolc (Candlemas)
March 21 Ostara (Spring/Vernal Equinox)
April 30 Beltane (May Eve)
June 21 Midsummer (Summer Solstice, Litha)
August 1 Lughnasadh (Lammas)
Sept 21 Mabon (Autumn/Fall Equinox)
October 31 Samhain (All Hallows Eve)
Dec 21 Yule (Winter Solstice)

While the ancient Celts may have celebrated the solstices and equinoxes (I'm not certain they did), the names "Ostara", "Yule", and "Litha" are all decidedly Germanic (as are most of the more recognizable names, of course).

And I'm shocked the science teacher who posted earlier in this thread neglected to mention James Clerk Maxwell, born on June 13, 1831 in Edinburgh. I know science is a group effort, but I think you could make the case that Maxwell practically invented the 20th century as we knew it with his theory of electromagnetism. Less notable, but still of interest, Maxwell produced the first color photograph in 1861...of a tartan ribbon.

[macwilkin]

February 10 --Robert the Bruce murdered John ‘The Red’ Comyn. (1306)

...and be sure to read Alan Young's "Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns 1212-1314" for the truth behind the Bruce/Comyn feud! The Red Comyn was framed! :mrgreen:

Courage!

Todd

(a Comyn/Cumming descendent)

[macwilkin]

The Battle of Culloden, 16 April, 1746, was left off the calendar!

Cheers,

Todd