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August
24 in German History
--------------------------------- 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television he developed the Nipkow disk (now outdated by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).
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