Name origin: Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811), a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican War of Independence and recognized as the Father of the Nation. Due to the oppression of poor Mexicans by the Spanish colonisers, on 16th September 1810 he gave the call to arms that triggered the Mexican War of Independence, called the Cry of Dolores.
Australian-British professor Gilbert Murray (1866-1957) helped Austria recover from World War I in 1920. He was an outstanding scholar of Ancient Greek literature, language and culture. Involved in the League of Nations from 1916, he was also president of the Ethical Union (now Humanists UK) in 1929 and 1930, and a founder of Oxfam.
Name origin: Genus of perennial flowering plants native to southern Africa, commonly called the natal or bush lily. They have green, long leaves and mainly bell-shaped flowers, with berry fruits. The genus itself is named after Charlotte Percy (née Clive), who first cultivated the plant in the U.K.
Named in honour of Ernst Heinrich Bruns (1848-1919), a German mathematician and astronomer, who also contributed to the development of the field of theoretical geodesy (measurement of the Earth’s relative geometry, gravity and orientation over time). He was mainly engaged in developing the theoretical side of Earth’s shape.
Name origin: Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (1861-1930), a Norwegian polymath, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian. He led the team that first crossed the interior of Greenland, reached a record northern latitude exploring to the North Pole, studied zoology and oceanography, and worked with the League of Nations.
Stateira was a queen of ancient Persia who died about 400 BCE; wife of Artaxerxes II. She had a son, who became Artaxerxes III. She was a popular ruler, apparently because she talked to ordinary people, but did not get on well with her mother-in-law Parysatis, who eventually poisoned her.
Brothers Auguste Marie (19 October 1862-10 April 1954) and Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864-6 June 1948), French pioneering manufacturers of photography equipment and early film production. Their screening on 22 March 1895 in Paris was likely the first presentation of projected film.
Aguntum was an ancient Roman site in what is now East Tirol, Austria (about 4km east of Lienz, the discoverer’s birthplace). The city was likely built as a mining and trading centre due to local supplies of iron, copper, zinc and gold.
Name origin: The genus Luscinia, which contains the common nightingale and three other living species. These are migratory birds originating from Europe and Asia, occurring at various latitudes but more prevalent in temperate regions. The common nightingale is renowned for its powerful and beautiful song.
Auravictrix is Latin for ‘victory against the wind’ (named for the first Schütte-Lanz zeppelin flights in 1911). The Schütte-Lanz company was an early competitor of the more famous airships built by Ferdinand von Zeppelin.
