This Day, That Year – January 4

Born on this day in 1643, Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer considered as one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists of all time.

Did you know that:

• Wilhelm Beer, a German astronomer who made the first moon map, was born on this day in 1797
• Louis Braille, inventor of a reading and writing system for the visually impaired, was born on this day in 1809
• Isaac Pitman, inventor of the most widely used system of shorthand, now known as Pitman shorthand, was born on this day in 1813