August 24

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

August 24-27, 410

Alarich, the leader of the Visigoths takes and plunders Rome. This was one of the final blows which would bring about the end of the Roman Empire.

The Visigoths were one of the east Germanic tribes. There were three Germanic groupings: north Germanic, west Germanic and east Germanic (Goths). Modern Germans descend from the west Germanic grouping. The Gothic language and culture did not survive into modern times. The gothic peoples were driven from their lands by the Huns. The Visigoths moved finally into the area which is now France and were assimilated there and the Ostrogoths into Italy where they were assimilated by the majority culture.

August 24, 1772

Birth of Georg von Reichenbach in Durlach, Germany. Reichenbach was a maker of astronomical instruments who introduced the meridian, a navigational instrument.

August 24, 1849

Birth of Rudolf Oskar Geiger in Erlangen, Germany. A meteorologist, Geiger's observations helped develop the science of microclimatology (climatic conditions just above the ground.)

August 24, 1888

Death of Rudolf Clausius in Bonn, Germany. Clausius was a professor of physics in Berlin, Zürich and Würzburg. He formulated the second law of thermodynamics and made major contributions to the theory of electrolysis.

August 24, 1940

Death of Paul Gottlieb Nipkow in Berlin, Germany. Nipkow was an electronic engineer who developed the scanning principle of television. To effect a workable television he developed the Nipkow disk (now outdated by electronic devices).

August 24, 1959

Death of Alfred Kubin in Zwickledt, Austria. Kubin was a painter noted for his morbid, neurotic subjects. He studied art in Munich and spent most of his life in Zwickledt, Austria.

August 24, 1979

Hanna Reitsch dies in Frankfurt a/M. Reitsch was an aviator who became the first German woman to gain a captain's license, the first woman helicopter pilot and the first woman test pilot. She was one of the test pilots of the rocket plane. She was the first woman to be awarded the Iron Cross (1942). She was one of the last people to see Hitler in his bunker and flew the last German combat plane out of Berlin. She continued her flying career and continued to set records after the war.

August 24, 2003

 Death of the East German author, Herbert Otto.  Among his noted works are:  Time of the Storks, 1966 (Zeit der Störche) and the novel, The Dream of the Moose, 1983 (Der Traum vom Elch).