Today is the birthday, in 1820, of Florence Nightingale. She was was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organized care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople. She significantly reduced death rates by improving hygiene and living standards. Nightingale gave nursing a favorable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of “The Lady with the Lamp” making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.
In 1860, she laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world and is now part of King’s College London.
Her social reforms included improving healthcare for all sections of British society, advocating better hunger relief in India, helping to abolish prostitution laws that were harsh for women, and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce.
Nightingale was an innovator in statistics; she represented her analysis in graphical forms to ease drawing conclusions and actionables from data. She is famous for usage of the polar area diagram, also called the Nightingale rose diagram, which is equivalent to a modern circular histogram. This diagram is still regularly used in data visualization.
In her honor, today is International Nurses Day. Thank a nurse.
By Henry Hering (1814-1893) – NPG x82368 from National Portrait Gallery, London, Public Domain
Land Rover giving birth…
I hope everyone had a good Mothers’ Day!
Moms Speak!!
Thanks to Debra and Bob for great Mothers’ Day thoughts
Today is the birthday, in 1948, of Czech-born American musician, filmmaker, record producer and singer-songwriter Ivan Král. He played bass with Blondie, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop. His songs have been recorded by such artists as U2, Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Simple Minds and John Waite, among others. He died on 2 February 2020 age 71. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU
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