Bartolomeu de Gusmão, born Bartolomeu Lourenço (1685, Santos, São Paulo, Brazil - November 18, 1724, Toledo, Spain), was a Portuguese priest and naturalist, recalled for his early work on lighter-than-air airship design. Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years), with 43 remaining. ... Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... Alternate meanings: see Toledo (disambiguation) The façade of Toledo cathedral Toledo is a city located in central Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. ... Roman Catholic priest LCDR Allen R. Kuss (USN) aboard USS Enterprise A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now usually viewed as a number of distinct scientific disciplines. ... The expression lighter than air refers to objects, usually aircraft, that are buoyant in air because they have an average density that is less than that of air (usually because they contain gases that have a density that is lower than that of air). ... Akron in flight, 2 November 1931 An airship is a buoyant (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. ...

He began his novitiate in the Society of Jesus at Bahia when he was about fifteen years old, but left the same in 1701. He went to Portugal and found a patron at Lisbon in the person of the Marquess d'Abrantes. He completed his course of study at the University of Coimbra, devoting his attention principally to philology and mathematics, but received the title of Doctor of Canon Law. He is said to have had a remarkable memory and a great command of languages. The Society of Jesus — also known by its Latin name Societas Iesu or its English variant Jesuit Order — is a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope. ... For the genus of wildflowers in the family Asteraceae, see Bahia (Botany) Bahia is a state in the north-east of Brazil. ... Lisbon (in Portuguese, Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. ... The University of Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra) is a Portuguese state university in Coimbra, a city in central Portugal. ... Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote quotations related to: Mathematics Look up Mathematics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Mathematics Bogomolny, Alexander: Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. ...

In 1709 he presented a petition to King John V of Portugal, begging a privilege for his invention of an airship, in which he expressed the greatest confidence. The contents of this petition have been preserved, as well as a picture and description of his airship. Following after Francesco Lana, S.J., Gusmão wanted to spread a huge sail over a bark like the cover of a transport wagon; the bark itself was to contain tubes through which, when there was no wind, air would be blown into the sail by means of bellows. The vessel was to be propelled by the agency of magnets which, apparently, were to be encased in two hollow metal balls. The public test of the machine, which was set for June 24, 1709, did not take place. According to contemporary reports, however, Gusmão appears to have made several less ambitious experiments with this machine, descending from eminences. His contrivance in the main represented the principle of the kite (aeroplane). In all probability he did not have magnets in the aforementioned metal shells, but gases and hot air generated by the combustion of various materials. Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ... John V (Portuguese João) (1689-1750), king of Portugal, was born at Lisbon on October 22 1689, and succeeded his father Peter II of Portugal in December 1706, being proclaimed on January 1, 1707. ... Akron in flight, 2 November 1931 An airship is a buoyant (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ...

It is certain that Gusmão was working on this principle at the public exhibition he gave before the Court on August 8, 1709, in the hall of the Casa da India in Lisbon, when he propelled a ball to the roof by combustion. The king rewarded the inventor by appointing him to a professorship at Coimbra and made him a canon. He was also one of the fifty chosen members of the Academia Real da Historia, founded in 1720; and in 1722 he was made chaplain to the Court. He busied himself with other inventions also, but in the meantime continued his work on his airship schemes, the first idea for which he is said to have conceived while a novice at Bahia. His experiments with the aeroplane and the hot-air balloon led him to conceive a project for an actual airship, or rather a ship to sail in the air, consisting of a cleverly designed triangular pyramid filled with gas, but he died before he was able to carry out this idea. August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ... Lisbon (in Portuguese, Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. ... Events January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace. ... Events Abraham De Moivre states De Moivres theorem connecting trigonometric functions and complex numbers Publication of the first book of Bachs Well-Tempered Clavier Fall of Persias Safavid dynasty during a bloody revolt of the Afghani people. ...

The fable about the Inquisition having forbidden him to continue his aeronautic investigations and having persecuted him because of them, is probably a later invention. The only fact really established by contemporary documents is that information was laid against him before the Inquisition, but on quite another charge. He fled to Spain and fell ill of a fever, of which he died in Toledo. He wrote: Manifesto summario para os que ignoram poderse navegar pelo elemento do ar (1709): Varios modos de esgotar sem gente as naus que fazem agua (1710); some of his sermons also have been printed. Pedro Berruguete. ...

Biographie Universelle, XIX (Paris, 1817), 218-220; Carvalho, Memoria que tem por objecto revindicar para a nação portugueza a gloria da invenção das machinas aerostaticas (Lisbon, 1843); Simões, A invenção dos aerostatos reivindicada (Evora, 1868); Moedebeck, Zeitschrift für Luftschiffahrt (1893), 1-10; João Jalles, Os balões (Lisbon, 1887); Wilhelm, An der Wiege der Luftschiffahrt, Pt. II (Hamm, Westphalia, 1909).

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910