Deaths on April 16

Samuel Smiles

Died on April 16, 1904

Samuel Smiles, Scottish-English author (b. 1812)

Samuel Smiles (23 December 1812 – 16 April 1904) was a Scottish author and government reformer. Although he campaigned on a Chartist platform, he promoted the idea that more progress would come from new attitudes than from new laws. His primary work, Self-Help (1859), promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and laissez-faire government. It has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism" and had lasting effects on British political thought.

References

Samuel Smiles

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Events on 1904

17 Jan

The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
3 Mar

Thomas Edison
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's phonograph cylinder.
8 Apr

The Book of the Law
British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of The Book of the Law.
5 May

Cy Young
Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
16 Nov

Vacuum tube
English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).

Deaths on April 16

Samuel Smiles

Died on April 16, 1904

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1904

The Cherry Orchard

Thomas Edison

The Book of the Law

Cy Young

Vacuum tube