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Time travel Tuesday #timetravel a look back at the Adafruit, maker, science, technology and engineering world
Road? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. – Dr. Emmett Brown.
Here’s a look back at the maker world and beyond!
1886 – Getting the Word Out In Rows
The first Linotype Machines went into commercial use one hundred twenty-seven years ago come this Saturday. Linotype allowed entire lines of metal type at once (“line-o-type”), which replaced manual, labor-intensive letter-by-letter typesetting that had been the standard for years before. Using matrices, a linotype machine operator could enter text on a keyboard, which would come off as a single line called a “slug.” Since then, there have some subsequent improvements, which look something like this: mimeograph –> phototypesetting –> dot-matrix printing –> laser printing –> inkjet printing –> 3D printing –> digital press –> ?
1828 – Toilets Indoors in America
The cornerstone for the first hotel with indoor plumbing in America was laid in on Independence Day in 1828 at the Tremont House at the edge of Boston Commons. Freedom from outhouses, at least for Charles Dickens and Davy Crockett, who were among the hotel’s noted guests over the years. Happy Fourth of July!
1646 – Happy Birthday Leibniz
Gottfried, Wilhelm Leibniz, son of a Schmuck (Catharina Schmuck), (but not one at all in the modern sense of the word!) was born on July 1, 1646. He and Newton simultaneously and independently laid the groundwork for differential and integral calculus, but he also made important contributions to philosophy, notably in Discourse on Metaphysics where he argued about the nature of the physical world, and the nature of good and evil as it relates to God.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: CircuitPython 2025 Wraps, Focus on Using Python, Open Source and More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
