I saw a documentary about the invention of aviation flight, airplanes.
I noted the dying words of this "pioneer":
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Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". ... On 9 August 1896, his glider stalled and he was unable to regain control. Falling from about 15 m (50 ft), he broke his neck and died the next day, 10 August 1896 (about 36 hours after the crash).
There are differing accounts of Lilienthal's last words. A popular account, inscribed on his tombstone, is "
Opfer müssen gebracht werden!"
("Sacrifices must be made!").
The director of the Otto Lilienthal Museum doubts that these were his last words.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal
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I cynically thought to myself, The Japanese Airforce were greatfull for that sacrifice.
I have quipped in the past "Why did it take humanity 1000's of years to invent a bicycle? The Egyptians had chariots. Why weren't scenes carved on Egyptian & Persian walls of folks on bicycles?"
And then I am aghast when I was reminded in the documentary that the Wright brothers were bicycle makers.
The airplane went on to kill more people then ever possible ---full bore ---along with ferrying holiday goers ever since.
In olden times a "mechanical contraption" must imo appeared to be diabolical. Akin to why China had a closed door policy with the outside world, which conversely and somewhat undeniably pursued a grotesque path during the Victorian years.
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Japanese were wearing top hats like Lincoln within years of meeting US admiral Perry who played a leading role in the
opening of Japan to the West with the
Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. In 1852, Perry was assigned a mission by American President
Millard Fillmore to force the opening of Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of
gunboat diplomacy ---if necessary.
First visit, 1853[edit]
Perry finally reached
Uraga at the entrance to
Edo Bay in Japan on July 8, 1853. His actions at this crucial juncture were informed by a careful study of Japan's previous contacts with Western ships and what he knew about the Japanese hierarchical culture. As he arrived, Perry ordered his ships to steam past Japanese lines towards the capital of
Edo, and turn their guns towards the town of Uraga.
[13] Perry refused Japanese demands to leave, or to proceed to
Nagasaki, the only Japanese port open to foreigners.
[13]
Perry attempted to intimidate the Japanese by presenting them a
white flag and a letter which told them that in case they chose to fight, the Americans would destroy them.
On March 31, 1854, the
Convention of Kanagawa ("Japan and US Treaty of Peace and Amity") was the first treaty between the United States and the Tokugawa shogunate.
Signed under threat of force, it effectively meant the end of Japan's 220-year-old policy of national seclusion (
sakoku) by opening the ports of
Shimoda and
Hakodate to American vessels.
[1] It also ensured the safety of American
castaways and established the position of an American
consul in Japan.
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Jules Verne (1828 – 1905) the "Father of Science Fiction", along with H. G. Wells and Mary Shelley and even Charlie Chaplin's movie "Modern Times", and Upton Sinclair's book "the Jungle" and too IMO the fallen regard for American Victorian architectural design ---all was predicated on a vision of maniacal adaptations of old world norms.
