27 May

NEW - Giovanni Battista Beccaria - physicist and mathematician

Monk who explained how lightning conductors work

The physicist, mathematician and Piarist monk Giovanni Battista Beccaria, whose work with electricity confirmed and expanded upon the discoveries of the American polymath and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, died in Turin on this day in 1781.  At the age of 64 he had been ill and in pain for some years but was working right up to his death on a treatise on meteors.  For much of his life, Beccaria had been occupied in the study of electricity with particular focus on the discoveries made by Franklin, with whom he corresponded regularly.  He successfully explained such things as the workings of the Leyden Jar and the Franklin square, two devices in which static electricity could be captured and stored, and why pointed objects could discharge electrified objects at a distance.  He was also able to explain why lightning rods, or lightning conductors, protect a building by providing a path along which electricity generated in the air in the form of lightning can be directed safely to earth.  Beccaria wrote and published a complete treatise on Franklin’s electrical theory, called Dell’ Elettricismo naturale ed artificiale (On Natural and Artificial Electricity) in 1753.  Read more…

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Giuseppe Tornatore - writer and director

Oscar winner for Cinema Paradiso

The screenwriter and director Giuseppe Tornatore, the creator of the Oscar-winning classic movie Cinema Paradiso, was born on this day in 1956 in Bagheria, a small town a few kilometres along the coast from the Sicilian capital Palermo.  Known as Nuovo Cinema Paradiso in Italy, Tornatore’s best-known work won the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards following its release in 1988.  The movie, written by Tornatore, tells the story of Salvatore, a successful film director based in Rome who returns to his native Sicily after hearing of the death of the man who kindled his love of the cinema, the projectionist at the picture house in his local village, who became a father figure to him after his own father was killed on wartime national service.  Much of the film consists of flashbacks to Salvatore’s life as a child in the immediate post-war years and there is a memorable performance by Salvatore Cascio as the director’s six-year-old self, when he was known as Totò, as he develops an unlikely yet enduring friendship with Alfredo, the projectionist, played by the French actor Philippe Noiret.  Read more…

Lucrezia Crivelli – lady in waiting

Mystery of the beautiful woman in painting by Leonardo

Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, who was for a long time believed to be the subject of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, died on this day in 1508 in Canneto sull’Oglio in Lombardy.  Crivelli served as a lady in waiting to Ludovico Sforza’s wife, Beatrice d’Este, from 1475 until Beatrice’s death in 1497.  She also became the Duke’s mistress and gave birth to his son, Giovanni Paolo, who went on to become the first Marquess of Caravaggio and a celebrated condottiero.  Crivelli lived for many years in the Castello of Canneto near Mantua under the protection of Isabella d’Este, the elder sister of Beatrice, until her death in 1508.  Coincidentally, her former lover, Ludovico Sforza, is believed to have died on the same day in 1508 while being kept prisoner in the dungeons of the castle of Loches en Touraine in France, having been captured by the French during the Italian Wars.  It was never proved, but it was assumed for many years that Crivelli may have been the subject of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting La belle Ferronnière, which is displayed in the Louvre in Paris.  Read more…

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Bruno Vespa – television journalist

TV host opened the door to late night political debate

Bruno Vespa, the founding host of the television programme Porta a Porta, was born on this day in 1944 in L’Aquila in Abruzzo.  Vespa has fronted the late night television talk show, which literally means ‘Door to Door’ in English, since Italy's state broadcaster Rai launched the programme in 1996.  Vespa became a radio announcer with Rai when he was 18 and began hosting the news programme Telegiornale RAI a few years later.  He had begun his career in journalism by writing sports features for the L’Aquila edition of the newspaper, Il Tempo, when he was just 16 years old.  On television, he became well known for interviewing influential world figures just before they became famous, an example being his programme featuring Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the year before he was elected as Pope John Paul II.  In June 1984, Vespa was the official commentator for the live televised broadcast of the state funeral for Enrico Berlinguer, the former leader of the Italian Communist party.  Vespa has won awards for his journalism and television programmes and has also written many books.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Playing with Fire: Histories of the Lightning Rod, edited by David J Rhees, Oliver Hochadel and Peter Heering

Playing with Fire is a collection of historical and scientific studies that show the impressive significance of the invention, development, and use of the lightning rod in the past 250 years. The rod was a device long taken to be a symbol of enlightenment and utility, judged by some people the very first practical application of the experimental physical sciences to truly practical ends; opposition to its introduction was similarly taken to be a sign of superstition. These essays move beyond the lightning rods' storied revolutionary symbolism to explore the range of techniques and experiments that fashioned conductors and their varied meanings. An intriguing and entertaining history of one of modernity's most cherished technoscientific objects.

David Rhees is Executive Director of the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oliver Hochadel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Peter Heering is Professor of Physics and Physics Didactics at the University of Flensburg in Germany.

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Giovanni Battista Beccaria - physicist and mathematician

Monk who explained how lightning conductors work

Beccaria was Professor of Physics
at the University of Turin

The physicist, mathematician and Piarist monk Giovanni Battista Beccaria, whose work with electricity confirmed and expanded upon the discoveries of the American polymath and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, died in Turin on this day in 1781.

At the age of 64 he had been ill and in pain for some years but was working right up to his death on a treatise on meteors.

For much of his life, Beccaria had been occupied in the study of electricity with particular focus on the discoveries made by Franklin, with whom he corresponded regularly.

He successfully explained such things as the workings of the Leyden Jar and the Franklin square, two devices in which static electricity could be captured and stored, and why pointed objects could discharge electrified objects at a distance.

He was also able to explain why lightning rods, or lightning conductors, protect a building by providing a path along which electricity generated in the air in the form of lightning can be directed safely to earth. 

Beccaria wrote and published a complete treatise on Franklin’s electrical theory, called Dell’ Elettricismo naturale ed artificiale (On Natural and Artificial Electricity) in 1753.

Born in Mondovì, a town in Piedmont about 80km (50 miles) south of Turin in the province of Cuneo, in October, 1716, Beccaria entered the religious Order of the Pious Schools or Piarists at the age of 16. 

The Piarists had been founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz. It is the oldest religious order in the world dedicated to education.  After studying under the order, he taught grammar, rhetoric and mathematics. 

Benjamin Franklin, with whom
Beccaria often corresponded

He studied mathematics with such success that the order appointed him professor of experimental physics, first in the Scuole Pie of Palermo and then in Rome. 

Beccaria acquired a reputation as an effective teacher but found himself at the centre of controversy in 1748, when he was appointed by royal authority as Professor of Physics at the University of Turin. This was a coveted position and Beccaria was subjected to complaints from rivals that he was not sufficiently qualified for the role. 

In response, his sponsors came up with an idea to silence his critics. They had heard about the work of the French physicist, Thomas-François Dalibard, whose experiment at Marly-la-Ville, north of Paris, had demonstrated that lightning was a form of electricity, and urged Beccaria to make this new field his own area of expertise.

Beccaria followed their advice and set about writing and publishing a complete treatise on the electrical theory of Benjamin Franklin, news of whose work with electricity in the United States had reached Europe in 1751. Beccaria’s Dell’ Elettricismo naturale ed artificiale was published only two years later. 

Devoting himself to research on atmospheric electricity, Beccaria made use of kites, rockets, and iron wire in conducting his experiments. 

Using an early electroscope developed by the English physicist William Henley, Beccaria noted that, in broken or stormy weather, positive and negative electrification were detected, whereas in calm, serene weather, positive dominated.  He attributed the forked character of lightning to the resistance of the air and theorised that the spontaneous rupturing of the shoes worn by a man struck by a lightning bolt was the result of the "moisture of the feet flying into vapour". 

The cover page of
Beccaria's treatise

Beccaria was also among the first to recognize and clearly state that the electrical charge on a conductor is confined to the surface and endorse Franklin’s views about the preventive and protective functions of lightning conductors. He was the first Italian to extract sparks from a conductor pointed to the sky.

His work confirmed the American’s finding that pointed rods could discharge electricity in the air, which eventually led to such rods being attached to tall buildings for the protection in an electrical storm of individuals on the ground. The King of Sardinia, Charles Emmanuel III, was so impressed that he asked Beccaria to install a lightning rod on the Royal Palace, 

In 1755, Beccaria was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London. His work Dell'elettricismo artificiale e naturale was translated into English in 1778. Franklin described the treatise as “one of the best pieces on the subject in any language.”

Piazza Maggiore, the main square of the historic
Piedmont town of Mondovì, near Cuneo

Travel tip:

The historic town - and ancient city - of Mondovì is located in the Monregalese Hills at the foot of the southern Alps, where the Piedmont and Liguria regions meet. It is built on two levels, the upper being divided into several rioni (ancient quarters). The lower town developed from the 18th century when railway connections saw industries emerge. A funicular railway links the Breo quarter with Piazza, the oldest part of the town. Although the origins of Mondovì date back to the Roman Empire, it flourished during the Middle Ages, occupying a strategic position at the intersection of trade routes between Piedmont and the Mediterranean coast.  Piazza was founded around 1198 by the inhabitants of three hamlets, who joined forces to protect their community from outside threats. Nonetheless, the town was seized by the Bishops of Asti, followed by Charles I of Anjou, the Angevins, the Visconti, the Marquisate of Montferrat, the Acaja and, from 1418, the House of Savoy, who would leave an indelible mark on the character and architecture of the town, fortifying its walls and constructing buildings that still stand today.  In the mid-16th century, when it was occupied by France, Mondovì was the largest city in Piedmont and the seat of the region’s first university.

Cuneo's elegant Piazza Galimberti is one of the
largest squares in the whole of Italy

Travel tip:

The city of Cuneo, which developed at the confluence of the Stura and Gesso rivers about 28km (17 miles) west of Mondovì, is set out in a grid system with an elegant central square, Piazza Galimberti, one of the largest squares in Italy, after Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples. Surrounded by neo-classical buildings, it has a large statue of Giuseppe Barbaroux, the author of the Albertine Statute that formed the constitution of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1848. The square is named after Duccio Galimberti, one of the heroes of the Italian resistance in the Second World War.   Cuneo had been acquired by the Duchy of Savoy in 1382 and remained an important stronghold of the Savoy state for many centuries.  Cuneo is the home of a chocolate confection called Cuneesi al rhum - small meringues with dark chocolate coating and a rum-based chocolate filling. They were the creation of Andrea Arione, whose bar and pasticceria, Caffè Arione, is still located in Piazza Galimberti.

Also on this day:

1508: The death of da Vinci painting subject Lucrezia Crivelli

1944: The birth of television journalist Bruno Vespa

1956: The birth of screenwriter and director Giuseppe Tornatore

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26 May

Napoleon becomes King of Italy

French Emperor places Iron Crown of Lombardy on his own head

Napoleon Bonaparte was declared King of Italy on this day in 1805 in Milan.  He crowned himself at a ceremony in the Duomo using the Iron Crown of Lombardy.  The title King of Italy signified that Napoleon was the head of the new Kingdom of Italy, which was at that time a vassal state of the French Empire. The area controlled by Napoleon had previously been known as a republic, with Napoleon as its president.  But Napoleon had become the Emperor of France the year before and had decided Italy should become a Kingdom ruled by himself, or a member of his family.  Before the ceremony, the Iron Crown had to be fetched from Monza. The crown consisted of a circlet of gold with a central iron band, which according to legend was beaten out of a nail from Christ’s true cross, found by Saint Helena in the Holy Land. The crown is believed to have been given to the city of Monza in the sixth century.  During his coronation, Napoleon is reported to have picked up the precious relic, announced that God had given it to him, and placed it on his own head.  After the coronation there were celebratory fireworks in Milan.  Read more…

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Luca Toni - World Cup winner

Striker one of stars of 2006 triumph in Germany

The footballer Luca Toni, who played an important role in Italy’s achievement in winning the soccer World Cup in Germany in 2006, was born on this day in 1977 in the small town of Pavullo nel Frignano in Emilia-Romagna.  Toni scored twice in Italy’s 3-0 victory over Ukraine in the quarter-finals before starting as the azzurri’s main striker in both the semi-final triumph over the hosts and the final against France, in which they eventually prevailed on penalties. Toni hit the bar with one header and saw another disallowed for offside in the final.  The goals were among 16 he scored in 47 appearances for the national team but it was his remarkable club career that makes him stand out in the history of Italian football.  A muscular 6ft 4ins in height and hardly the most mobile of forwards, he was never seen as a great player, more an old-fashioned centre forward of the kind rarely seen in today’s game.  Yet between his debut for his local club, Modena, in 1994 and his retirement in 2016 following his final season with Hellas Verona, Toni found the net 322 times in club football, which makes him the fourth most prolific goal scorer among all Italian players.  Read more…

Alberto Ascari - racing driver

F1 champion killed amid eerie echoes of father's death

Racing driver Alberto Ascari, who was twice Formula One champion, died on this day in 1955 in an accident at the Monza racing circuit in Lombardy, just north of Milan.  A hugely popular driver, his death shocked Italy and motor racing fans in particular.  What many found particularly chilling was a series of uncanny parallels with the death of his father, Antonio Ascari, who was also a racing driver, 30 years previously.  Alberto had gone to Monza to watch his friend, Eugenio Castellotti, test a Ferrari 750 Monza sports car, which they were to co-drive in the 1000 km Monza race.  Contracted to Lancia at the time, although he had been given dispensation to drive for Ferrari in the race, Ascari was not supposed to test drive the car, yet he could not resist trying a few laps, even though he was dressed in a jacket and tie, in part to ensure he had not lost his nerve after a serious accident a few days earlier.  When he emerged from a fast curve on the third lap, however, the car inexplicably skidded, turned on its nose and somersaulted twice. Ascari was wearing Castellotti’s white helmet but he suffered multiple injuries nonetheless.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: A Brief History of Italy: Tracing the Renaissance, Unification, and the Lively Evolution of Art and Culture, by Dominic Haynes

Perhaps no country has had such a lasting impact on Western culture as Italy. Whether it’s the frescoes of the Renaissance, the politics of ancient Rome, or the struggles of the Catholic Church, Italy holds a central place on the world’s stage.  But how much do you actually know about Italy and its history? You’ve likely heard of Rome, Florence, and Pompeii. But do you know about the Etruscans, who laid the foundations of modern civilization way back in the 6th century BCE? Do you know what happened between the fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance? Or how and why Mussolini came to power in WWII? A Brief History of Italy gives a concise but detailed overview of Italy’s grand, sweeping history, from ancient city-state to modern cultural mecca, rivaling the grandeur of Greece and the scholarly might of Cambridge.  Whether you’re a student of Italian history looking for a refresher, a brand new learner looking for an introduction, or a future traveller looking to enhance your experience through books, this is an easy-to-read overview of the major players, events, and forces in Italian history, from antiquity to today.

Dominic Haynes is the author and publisher of Dominic Haynes Histories, a series of more than 20 titles that aim to provide readers with a concise introduction to the history of a particular country or topic.

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25 May

Padre Pio – Saint

Capuchin friar is claimed to have cured cancer

Padre Pio, who has become one of the world’s most famous and popular saints, was born on this day in 1887 in Pietrelcina in Campania.  He was well-known for exhibiting stigmata, marks corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, constantly making him the subject of controversy.  Padre Pio has said that at five years old he decided to dedicate his life to God and as a youth he reported experiencing heavenly visions and ecstasies. At the age of 15 he was admitted to the novitiate of the Capuchin Order, taking the name of Fra Pio, in honour of Pope Pius I.  He suffered from poor health for most of his life and fellow friars say he often appeared to be in a stupor during prayers. One claimed to have seen him in ecstasy, levitating above the ground.  In 1910 he was ordained a priest and moved to a friary in San Giovanni Rotondo in Foggia.  He was called up to serve in the Italian army during the First World War and assigned to the medical corps in Naples, but because of his poor health he was declared unfit for service and discharged.  In 1918 he exhibited stigmata for the first time while hearing a confession. This was to continue until his death 50 years later.  Read more…

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Gaetano Scirea - footballer

Multiple champion who died tragically young

The World Cup-winning footballer Gaetano Scirea, one of the most accomplished players in the history of the game, was born on this day in 1953 in the town of Cernusco sul Naviglio in Lombardy.  Scirea, who became an outstanding performer in the so-called libero role, was a key member of the Italy team that won the 1982 World Cup in Spain and enjoyed huge success also in club football.  In a career spent mostly with Juventus, he won every medal that was available to a club player in Italy, some several times over.  During his time there, the Turin club won the scudetto - the popular name for the Serie A championship - seven times and the Coppa Italia twice.  He also won the UEFA Cup, the European Cup-Winners’ Cup, the European Cup (forerunner of the Champions League), the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.  Scirea retired in 1988 but continued to work for Juventus. Tragically, while visiting Poland in 1989 to make a scouting report on an upcoming opponent in a UEFA Cup match, the car in which he was travelling collided head-on with a truck in heavy rain and he was killed, along with two fellow passengers.   Read more...

Enrico Berlinguer - communist politician

Popular leader turned left-wing party into political force

Enrico Berlinguer, who for more than a decade was Western Europe's most powerful and influential communist politician, was born on this day in 1922 in the Sardinian city of Sassari.  As secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party from March 1972 until his death in 1984, he led the largest communist movement outside the Eastern Bloc, coming close to winning a general election in 1976.  He achieved popularity by striving to establish the Italian Communists as a political force that was not controlled from Moscow, pledging a commitment to democracy, a parliamentary system, a mixed economy, and Italian membership of the Common Market and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.  At its peak, Berlinguer's Westernised brand of communism appealed to nearly a third of Italian voters.  His policies were adopted by other left-wing parties in Europe under what became known as Eurocommunism.  As support for the previously dominant Christian Democrats waned in the 1970s, he proposed an ''historic compromise'' with other parties, rejecting the traditional left-wing vision of violent revolution, and declared that the Italian Communists would be happy to enter into a coalition with Christian Democrats and others.  Read more…

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Stefano Baldini - Olympic marathon champion

Won gold medal over historic course in Athens

Stefano Baldini, the marathon runner who was Olympic champion in Athens in 2004 and twice won the European marathon title, was born on this day in 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto, about 14km (nine miles) north-west of the city of Reggio Emilia.  Although Baldini’s class was not doubted, his Olympic gold was slightly tarnished by an incident seven kilometres from the finish when a spectator broke through the barriers and attacked the Brazilian runner, Vanderlei de Lima, who was leading the field.  The spectator, an Irishman called Cornelius Horan who had disrupted the British Grand Prix motor race the previous year, was wrestled off de Lima by another spectator but the incident cost the Brazilian 15 to 20 seconds and much momentum. He was passed subsequently by Baldini and finished third.  Baldini finished the race, which followed the historic route from Marathon to Athens, in two hours 10 minutes and 55 seconds, although this was not the fastest time of his career.  His best was the 2:07:56 he clocked at the 1997 London Marathon, when he finished second, in what is still the fastest time by an Italian over the marathon distance.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Padre Pio: The True Story, by C Bernard Ruffin

Before his death in 1968, Padre Pio was known throughout the world as a very holy man - many even called him a living saint. This humble Italian priest who bore the wounds of Christ received thousands of letters and visitors each year, seeking his spiritual counsel, healing, and prayer. Padre Pio’s intense spirituality and holiness remain legendary and life-changing.  This is the comprehensive life story of the priest who became world famous for his stigmata, miracles, and supernatural insights. Read in detail about the many miracles of Padre Pio, and discover how knowing this powerful saint can change your life, too. Padre Pio: The True Story is said by some to be the best biography of Padre Pio ever written. This edition is newly updated.

C Bernard Ruffin was an American non-fiction author, as well as an educator, theologian, and a pastor. He was the author of more than a dozen books on religious or historical subjects.

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