Beginning of the Month of Frimaire November 21st

The rational calendar divided the year into twelve 30-day months, plus 5 days for end of year festivities. And a leap year every 4 years.

Weeks were 10 days long, 3 per month. Days were named first day, second day, third day up to tenth day. There were ten hours in a day, 100 minutes per hour, and 100 seconds per minute. But this last part didn’t last very long, French people really objected to their day and hours being mucked up.

The Revolutionary Year was adopted in 1793 but began retrospectively from September 22nd, 1792 commemorating when the Republic was proclaimed. Thereafter, the First Republic started on: Le premier Vendémiaire de l’an 1.

Napoleon gave it up as a bad job in 1806, and restored the Gregorian Calendar.

For my fuller explanation of the French Revolutionary Calendar click here).

On this Day

1847 James Young Simpson wrote an account of his testing of Chloroform for use as an anaesthetic. It was published in the medical journal, the Lancet. Chloroform was invented in 1831, used on animals successfully in 1842. But it was considered too dangerous for humans.

Simpson and his two assistants were in the habit of meeting in his Edinburgh house, at 52 Queen Street, in the New Town. There they tested new chemicals. He obtained some Chloroform, for the three of them to try. They found themselves merry, and the next thing they remember was waking up to a new dawn.

Chloroform is more effective than Ether, but the margin of error is tighter. Simpson and his friends were lucky the chosen dose didn’t kill them. Nor did the sudden unconsciousness  knock them out or injure them.

They then tried it on his niece, Miss Petrie.  Success meant it was set to become the anaesthetic of choice, particularly for childbirth, for the next 100 years.

1877 Thomas Edison announced the invention of the phonograph.  This ushered in a new age of inexpensive recordings of music. Musicians feared it meant the end of the careers of most musicians.  And indeed, it had profound effects, but live music survived.  And so we hope it will also survive AI.

Wikipedia describes the process that produces the music for the gramophone, as:

The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a helical or spiral groove engraved, etched, incised, or impressed into the surface of a rotating cylinder or disc, called a record.

First published on November 21st 2022, republished on November 21st 2023, 2024, 2025