January 15

 


JANUARY 15

Celebrity Fortnightly Vol. 6 No. 07, January 15, 1984

                On the Cover: Nikki Coseteng

 

January 15 in Philippine History

1849 – Governor Narciso Claveria y Zaldua issued an ordinance that forbids regular clergy to alienate property.

1890 – Jose Rizal’s “Ingratitud” was published in La Solidaridad.

1945 – Vicente Lim, Filipino general and head of the 41st Division in Bataan during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, was executed by the Japanese Imperial Army at the Chinese Cemetery in Manila for guerilla activities.

1955 – The Sablayan Colony, also known as the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, was established in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.

1992 – The first successful domesticated hatching of a Philippine eagle’s egg. The eaglet was nicknamed Pag-asa (Hope) to symbolize the “hope” to save this endangered bird species.



GLIMPSE FROM THE PAST

Vintage magazine True Action, January 1959,
Featuring “The Gorgeous Castaways:
Survivor Carmody’s Two-Girl Paradise.”
Cover illustration by Mort Kunstler



Pinoy personalities and celebrities born on January 15:

1894 – Hilario Lara, physician, academician, and National Scientist for public health – in Imus, Cavite. (d. December 18, 1987)

1910 – Rosario Encarnacion, social worker, community developer, 1968 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for community development, and co-founder with her husband of the Bantug Cooperative Credit Union – in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija (d. 1986).

1954 – Jose Y. Dalisay Jr., poet, writer, and Palanca Awards Hall of Famer – in Romblon.

Ang Fluorescent Lamp

          Alam niyo ba kung sino talaga ang nag-imbento ng fluorescent lamp? Mayroong nagsasabi na Amerikano. Sa ibang aklat, Pranses naman daw. Ngunit may mga record at ebidensiya na ang inventor ng fluorescent lamp ay isang Filipino. Siya ay si Agapito G. Flores (1897-1943).

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          Ang konsepto ng ng glass tube lighting ay unang pinag-aralan ng French physicist na si Antoine Cesar Becquerel (1788-1878). Sa kaniyang eksperimento, pinaraan niya ang kuryente sa isang tubong yari sa salamin na pinahiran ng mga iba’t-ibang kemikal. Ito ang simula ng glass tube lighting.

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          Taong 1932 nang simulan ni Flores ang pag-aaral at paggawa ng fluorescent light. Nang si Manuel Luis Quezon (1878-1944) ay maging pangulo ng Pilipinas noong 1935, nagpunta si Flores sa Malacañang upang ipakita sa pangulo ang kaniyang imbentong “light in a glass tube bulb.” Sa kasamaang-palad, hindi alam ni Quezon ang gagawin dito. Mabuti na lamang at may bisitang French official na nakakita sa invention ni Flores. Tinulungan siya nitong makakuha ng international patent sa pamamagitan ng French government. Tinawag ng mga pahayagan ang invention ni Flores na “A Daylight at Night.”

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          Naging masalimuot na ang kuwento pagkatapos nito. Sinasabing nabili ng General Electric ang invention ni Flores. Isang American physicist din umano ang nag-eeksperimento rito, si Arthur H. Compton (1892-1962). Ang modelo ni Flores diumano ang naging breakthrough sa eksperimento ni Compton, bagama’t walang hayagang pag-aming ginawa tungkol dito. Noong 1939, nagsimulang gumawa ng commercial type ng fluorescent lamp ang General Electric.

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Iron Man portrayed by Robert Downey Jr
(for the film Iron Man 2)
on the cover of Empire (January 2010)

Picture Trivia

          The film Iron Man 2 was 2010’s third highest-grossing film in the United States, and the seventh overall internationally. It is also the 2011 People’s Choice Award winner for “Favorite Action Movie.”

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