October 5th Birthdays

Robert Hutchings Goddard
American professor, physicist and inventor, "father of modern rocketry". From age 17 Goddard was interested in rockets (1899) and by 1908 he conducted static tests with small solid-fuel rockets. He developed mathematical theory of rocket propulsion (1912) and proved that rockets would function in a vacuum for space flight (1915). During WW I, Goddard developed rocket weapons. He wrote ‘A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes’, in 1919. Over the following two decades he produced a number of large liquid-fuel rockets at his shop and rocket range at Roswell, N.M. During WW II he developed rocket-assisted takeoff of Navy carrier planes and variable-thrust liquid-fuel rocket motors.

Robert was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1882. He died on 10 August 10th, 1945. At the time of his death Goddard held 214 patents in rocketry.

Quotes
"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." (From his high school graduation oration, "On Taking Things for Granted", June 1904)

"Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace." (His response to The New York Times, 1920)

http://www.todayinsci.com/10/10_05.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard

Louis Lumiere
Louis Jean Lumiere was a French inventor, who worked with his brother Auguste, to make pioneering motion-picture equipment. Louis invented the 25-lb "Cinématographe" twin-function projector and camera. It was first demonstrated on 22 Mar 1895, to an invited audience who viewed ‘La Sortie des ouvriers de l'usine Lumière’ showing workers leaving the Lumière factory. The hugely successful first public screening on 28 Dec 1895 of their films in Paris is referred to as the "birth" of the cinema. They patented a number of significant processes leading up to their film camera - most notably film perforations (originally implemented by Emile Reynaud) as a means of advancing the film through the camera and projector.

Louis was born in 1864 in Besançon, France, and moved to Lyon in 1870. He died on 6 June 6th, 1948.

http://www.victorian-cinema.net/louislumiere.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_and_Louis_Lumi%C3%A8re

Bob Geldof, KBE (Born Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof)
Bob Geldof is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band Boomtown Rats. The Boomtown Rats had hits with his compositions "Rat Trap" and "I Don't Like Mondays". He co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?", one of the best-selling singles of all time. He also starred as Pink in Pink Floyd's 1982 film ‘Pink Floyd The Wall’.

Geldof was born in 1951 in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. He was knighted for his continuing efforts to eradicate world hunger sparked by his creation of Live Aid. Geldof and Paula Yates had three daughters-- Fifi Trixiebelle, Peaches and. He is also the custodial guardian of Paula Yates' orphaned daughter Tiger-Lily.

Geldof is widely recognized for his activism, especially anti-poverty efforts concerning Africa. In 1984, he and Midge Ure founded the charity supergroup Band Aid to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia They went on to organise the charity super-concert Live Aid the following year and the Live 8 concerts in 2005.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Geldof
http://www.bobgeldof.info/