British Rail Class 20 locomotive 20187 was named Sir Charles Wheatstone by British Rail Telecommunications
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Charles Wheatstone
Sir Charles Wheatstone was an English physicist and inventor best known for his contributions to the development of the Wheatstone bridge, originally invented by Samuel Hunter Christie, which is used to measure an unknown electrical resistance, and as a major figure in the development of telegraphy. His other contributions include the English concertina, the stereoscope and the Playfair cipher.
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science · English physicist and inventor (1802–1875) · cryptographer · mathematician · physicist · inventor · musical instrument maker · photographer · also Charles Wheatstone, Sir Charles Wheatstone, Wheatstone
Born 6 February 1802 · Died 19 October 1875 · Q156942
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1994· 1 entry
1891· 2 entries
Now in the public domain and available at this site
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"In 1835, at the Dublin meeting of the British Association, Wheatstone showed that when metals were volatilised in the electric spark, their light, examined through a prism, revealed certain rays which were characteristi
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1875· 2 entries
Died 1875-10-19.
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Was created an honorary member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
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1870· 1 entry
The electric telegraph lines of the United Kingdom, worked by different companies, were transferred to the Post Office, and placed under Government control
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1868· 3 entries
Won Copley Medal (1868).
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Awarded Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order (1868).
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After his completion of the automatic telegraph
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1867· 1 entry
Won Albert Medal (1867).
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1866· 1 entry
Leaving a family of five young children to his care
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1859· 2 entries
Was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and in 1873 a Foreign Associate of the French Academy of Sciences
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Wheatstone was appointed by the Board of Trade to report on the subject of the Atlantic cables, and in 1864 he was one of the experts who advised the Atlantic Telegraph Company on the construction of the successful lines
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1854· 1 entry
Awarded honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (1854).
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1852· 2 entries
Won Royal Society Bakerian Medal (1852).
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And is in some sort the reverse of the stereoscope, since it causes a solid object to seem hollow, and a nearer one to be farther off; thus, a bust appears to be a mask, and a tree growing outside of a window looks as if
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1845· 1 entry
Had become the first person to be arrested as the result of telecommunications technology
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1844· 1 entry
One fascinated observer recorded the following:
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1843· 2 entries
Won Royal Medal (1843).
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Wheatstone communicated an important paper to the Royal Society, entitled 'An Account of Several New Processes for Determining the Constants of a Voltaic Circuit
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1841· 2 entries
A difference arose between Cooke and Wheatstone as to the share of each in the honour of inventing the telegraph
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And was publicly exhibited at Paddington as a marvel of science, which could transmit fifty signals a distance of 280,000 miles per minute (7,500 km/s)
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1840· 7 entries
Won Royal Medal (1840).
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Wheatstone had patented an alphabetical telegraph, or, 'Wheatstone A B C instrument,' which moved with a step-by-step motion, and showed the letters of the message upon a dial
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Gave evidence before the Railway Committee of the House of Commons on the feasibility of the proposed line from Dover to Calais
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Was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society for his explanation of binocular vision, a research which led him to make stereoscopic drawings and construct the stereoscope
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Wheatstone introduced his chronoscope, for measuring minute intervals of time, which was used in determining the speed of a bullet or the passage of a star
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Alexander Bain mentioned to the Mechanics Magazine editor his financial problems
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Wheatstone brought out his magneto-electric machine for generating continuous currents
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1836· 1 entry
Awarded Fellow of the Royal Society (1836).
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1835· 1 entry
Lectured on the system of Baron Schilling, and declared that the means were already known by which an electric telegraph could be made of great service to the world
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1834· 2 entries
– the measurement of the velocity of electricity in a wire
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Wheatstone, who had won a name for himself, was appointed to the Chair of Experimental Physics in King's College London
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1828· 1 entry
Wheatstone improved the German wind instrument, called the Mundharmonika, creating the symphonium (or symphonion), a mouth-blown free-reed instrument with a logical layout of button keys, patented on 19 December 1829, pr
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1827· 1 entry
Wheatstone introduced his 'kaleidophone', a device for rendering the vibrations of a sounding body apparent to the eye
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1823· 1 entry
His uncle, the musical instrument maker, died, and Wheatstone, with his elder brother, William, took over the business
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1802· 1 entry
Born 1802-02-06.
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