"When discussing #Lithuanian emigration today, Norway or the United Kingdom often come to mind. But 150 years ago, #Lithuanians – and particularly Lithuanian #Jews – were looking much farther afield, to #America, #Palestine and even #SouthAfrica.
#Historians say the great migration of the #19thcentury was driven not only by economic need and political pressure but also by the promise of a more liberal life and the growing influence of global transportation networks."
This was a big chunk of my family. Got here in the 1890s.
"When discussing #Lithuanian emigration today, Norway or the United Kingdom often come to mind. But 150 years ago, #Lithuanians – and particularly Lithuanian #Jews – were looking much farther afield, to #America, #Palestine and even #SouthAfrica.
#Historians say the great migration of the #19thcentury was driven not only by economic need and political pressure but also by the promise of a more liberal life and the growing influence of global transportation networks."
This was a big chunk of my family. Got here in the 1890s.
Here's How #Japan Is Turning #Footsteps Into #Electricity
By Samyak Goswami, Aug. 16, 2025 6:15 pm EST
Excerpts: "While Japan's implementation of #piezoelectric tiles is new, the underlying technology itself dates back to the late #19thCentury. The Curie brothers discovered that pressing substances like quartz, topaz, sugarcane, and more induced a voltage across the substance, known as the piezoelectric effect. The converse is also true, as piezoelectric materials also change shape or vibrate when an electric current is passed through them. Due to these properties, piezoelectric substances find use in numerous applications like quartz watches, sonars, and electricity-producing sidewalks. Common kitchen lighters, too, use a piezoelectric material to produce their characteristic spark from the pressure applied to the trigger.
"Piezoelectric substances generally produce a low voltage that depends on various factors. Japan's implementation of the piezoelectric sidewalk generated around 0.1W of power when a 60kg person stepped on a tile, back in 2008. The power from one footstep isn't substantial, but the figure quickly grows when millions of people take a step in crowded places like Tokyo's Shibuya Station. Moreover, the technology has evolved, and more efficient tiles can generate up to 30W of power with each step."
[...]
"The biggest roadblock that has limited piezoelectric tiles to niche applications is the high upfront cost associated with them. The cost depends on their efficiency and can range from $50 to $100. Installing a wide network of such tiles over a large area can quickly shoot up the initial investment. However, research shows that crowded areas such as subway stations are best suited for piezoelectric tiles, despite the high cost. A 2017 research even claimed that these tiles can result in up to 99.93% lower cost of electricity over the tile's lifespan, taking Cairo's busting Elshohadaa station as an example.
"That said, low power output is another big factor that makes piezoelectric tiles economically unfeasible. Conventional renewable energy sources, like solar panels, have evolved over time and can generate more electricity at a much lower cost. Additionally, power generation takes a nosedive in lightly populated areas, restricting the technology to only a few busy spaces. Moreover, higher maintenance costs and frequent repairs due to enormous stress in crowded areas are other factors stopping piezoelectric tiles from becoming mainstream. That said, a high-output tile with greater durability could make its adoption economically feasible in the future."
#SolarPunkSunday #SolarPunk #FootTraffic #ElectricityGeneration #19thCenturyTechnology #TechnologyAdaptation
Here's How #Japan Is Turning #Footsteps Into #Electricity
By Samyak Goswami, Aug. 16, 2025 6:15 pm EST
Excerpts: "While Japan's implementation of #piezoelectric tiles is new, the underlying technology itself dates back to the late #19thCentury. The Curie brothers discovered that pressing substances like quartz, topaz, sugarcane, and more induced a voltage across the substance, known as the piezoelectric effect. The converse is also true, as piezoelectric materials also change shape or vibrate when an electric current is passed through them. Due to these properties, piezoelectric substances find use in numerous applications like quartz watches, sonars, and electricity-producing sidewalks. Common kitchen lighters, too, use a piezoelectric material to produce their characteristic spark from the pressure applied to the trigger.
"Piezoelectric substances generally produce a low voltage that depends on various factors. Japan's implementation of the piezoelectric sidewalk generated around 0.1W of power when a 60kg person stepped on a tile, back in 2008. The power from one footstep isn't substantial, but the figure quickly grows when millions of people take a step in crowded places like Tokyo's Shibuya Station. Moreover, the technology has evolved, and more efficient tiles can generate up to 30W of power with each step."
[...]
"The biggest roadblock that has limited piezoelectric tiles to niche applications is the high upfront cost associated with them. The cost depends on their efficiency and can range from $50 to $100. Installing a wide network of such tiles over a large area can quickly shoot up the initial investment. However, research shows that crowded areas such as subway stations are best suited for piezoelectric tiles, despite the high cost. A 2017 research even claimed that these tiles can result in up to 99.93% lower cost of electricity over the tile's lifespan, taking Cairo's busting Elshohadaa station as an example.
"That said, low power output is another big factor that makes piezoelectric tiles economically unfeasible. Conventional renewable energy sources, like solar panels, have evolved over time and can generate more electricity at a much lower cost. Additionally, power generation takes a nosedive in lightly populated areas, restricting the technology to only a few busy spaces. Moreover, higher maintenance costs and frequent repairs due to enormous stress in crowded areas are other factors stopping piezoelectric tiles from becoming mainstream. That said, a high-output tile with greater durability could make its adoption economically feasible in the future."
#SolarPunkSunday #SolarPunk #FootTraffic #ElectricityGeneration #19thCenturyTechnology #TechnologyAdaptation
The last person to play this rare boxwood flute was likely its owner, James Glencairn Burns, son of Robert Burns. Claire Mann is currently the only musician with permission to play it, & the flute – & Claire – will go on tour as part of a wider fundraising campaign called Saving The Home of Auld Lang Syne which will be launched later this year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62wly2qydno
#Scottish #literature #music #RobertBurns #flute #19thcentury #musichistory
The last person to play this rare boxwood flute was likely its owner, James Glencairn Burns, son of Robert Burns. Claire Mann is currently the only musician with permission to play it, & the flute – & Claire – will go on tour as part of a wider fundraising campaign called Saving The Home of Auld Lang Syne which will be launched later this year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62wly2qydno
#Scottish #literature #music #RobertBurns #flute #19thcentury #musichistory
RBCG & Gabriela met in Paris when he was 26 & she was only 17. They were married just 6 weeks later. They travelled to the USA & settled into a Bohemian life in Mexico, where RBCG taught fencing & Gabriela taught French & guitar.
10/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #Mexico
They returned to Scotland where Gabriela won the admiration of her husband’s society friends – Wilde, Yeats, Engels, & others – with her “slight accent, neither French nor Spanish, but most attractive and charming, as foreign accents sometimes can be, especially with ladies.”
11/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #OscarWilde #Yeats #WBYeats #Engels #FredrichEngels
RBCG’s wife, Gabriela de la Balmondière, was equally exotic & romantic. Born in Chile, her father – French nobleman Francisco Jose de la Balmondière – & his elegant Spanish wife were both killed when Gabriela was 12. She grew up with an aunt in Paris.
📷 Gabriela de la Balmondière
9/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian
RBCG & Gabriela met in Paris when he was 26 & she was only 17. They were married just 6 weeks later. They travelled to the USA & settled into a Bohemian life in Mexico, where RBCG taught fencing & Gabriela taught French & guitar.
10/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #Mexico
“You ought, Mr Graham, to be the first president of a British Republic.” “I ought, madam, if I had my rights,” he answered sardonically, “to be the king of this country. And what a three weeks that would be!”
—Ford Madox Ford, Return to Yesterday
🎨 “Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham”, Sir John Lavery (1893)
8/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #FordMadoxFord
RBCG’s wife, Gabriela de la Balmondière, was equally exotic & romantic. Born in Chile, her father – French nobleman Francisco Jose de la Balmondière – & his elegant Spanish wife were both killed when Gabriela was 12. She grew up with an aunt in Paris.
📷 Gabriela de la Balmondière
9/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian
“An impenitent & unashamed dandy” – from Joseph Conrad’s Letters to R.B. Cunninghame Graham, ed. C.T. Watts (Cambridge University Press, 2011), quoting George Bernard Shaw
7/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #Conrad #JosephConrad #Shaw
“You ought, Mr Graham, to be the first president of a British Republic.” “I ought, madam, if I had my rights,” he answered sardonically, “to be the king of this country. And what a three weeks that would be!”
—Ford Madox Ford, Return to Yesterday
🎨 “Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham”, Sir John Lavery (1893)
8/18
#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #20thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #FordMadoxFord