Jeremiah Dixon (July 27, 1733 – January 22, 1779) was an English surveyor and astronomer who is perhaps best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon line. Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England. Year 1733 ( MDCCXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 1779 ( MDCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study Charles Mason ( Oakridge Lynch Gloucestershire, April 1728&ndash Philadelphia, October 25, 1786) was an English Astronomer The Mason–Dixon Line (or "Mason and Dixon's Line" is a Demarcation line between four U
Dixon was born in Cockfield, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham in northern England in 1733, the fifth of seven children, to George Dixon and Mary Hunter. Cockfield is a village on the edge of Teesdale County Durham, in England. Bishop Auckland is a Market town in County Durham in North East England. His father was a wealthy Quaker coal mine owner. Coal mining is the extraction or removal of Coal from the Earth by Mining. Dixon became interested in astronomy and mathematics during his education at Barnard Castle; early in life he made acquaintances with mathematician William Emerson, and astronomers John Bird and Thomas Wright. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Barnard Castle is a town in Teesdale, County Durham, England named after the castle around which it grew up William Emerson is the name of William Emerson (mathematician (1701–1782 William Emerson (minister (1769–1811 Unitarian minister John Bird (born 1709 County Durham - died 31 March 1776, London) was an English Astronomer and scientific instrument Thomas Wright (1711 - 1786 was an English Astronomer, Mathematician, instrument maker Architect and garden designer
Jeremiah Dixon served as assistant to Charles Mason in 1761 when the Royal Society selected Mason to observe the transit of Venus from Sumatra. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the Planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, obscuring a small portion of the Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two However, their passage to Sumatra was delayed, and they landed instead at the Cape of Good Hope where the transit was observed on June 6, 1761. The Cape of Good Hope ( Afrikaans: Kaap die Goeie Hoop, Kaap de Goede Hoop Cabo da Boa Esperança Persian Language: دماغه امید نیک The term transit or astronomical transit has three meanings in astronomy A transit is the astronomical event that occurs when one Events 1508 - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year Dixon returned to the Cape once again with Nevil Maskelyne's clock to work on experiments with gravity. The Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne ( 6 October[[ 732]] &ndash 9 February[[ 811]] was the fifth English Astronomer Royal. Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another
Dixon and Mason signed an agreement in 1763 with the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland, Thomas Penn and Frederick Calvert, seventh Baron Baltimore, to assist with resolving a boundary dispute between the two provinces. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Thomas Penn (1702 – 1775 was a son of William Penn, founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American Colony that Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore in County Cork, is an extinct title in the Peerage of Ireland. They arrived in Philadelphia in November 1763 and began work towards the end of the year. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The survey was not complete until late 1766, following which they stayed on to measure a degree of Earth's meridian on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland, on behalf of the Royal Society. This article describes the unit of angle For other meanings see Degree. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 This article is about the geographical concept For other uses of the word see Meridian. The Delmarva Peninsula is a large Peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by portions of three U They also made a number of gravity measurements with the same instrument that Dixon had used with Maskelyne in 1761. Before returning to England in 1768, they were both admitted to the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, in Philadelphia. The American Philosophical Society is a discussion group founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin as an offshoot of his earlier club the Junto. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə
Dixon sailed to Norway in 1769 with William Bayly to observe another transit of Venus. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional The two split up, with Dixon at Hammerfest Island and Bayly at North Cape, in order to minimize the possibility of inclement weather obstructing their measurements. is a city and municipality in the county of Finnmark, Norway. Following their return to England in July, Dixon resumed his work as a surveyor in Durham. He died unmarried in Cockfield, January 22, 1779.
It is possible that Dixon's name was the origin for the nickname Dixie used in reference to the U.S. Southern States. Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States. Origin of Dixie According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive
Jeremiah Dixon is one of the two titular characters of Thomas Pynchon's 1997 novel Mason & Dixon. Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr (born May 8 1937 is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of Fiction. Mason & Dixon, an epic postmodernist novel by Thomas Pynchon first published in 1997 centers on the collaboration of the historical Charles Mason The song Sailing to Philadelphia from Mark Knopfler's album of the same name, also refers to Mason and Dixon, and was inspired by Pynchon's book. Sailing to Philadelphia is an Album by Mark Knopfler released in 2000 Mark Knopfler OBE (born August 12 1949 Glasgow, Scotland) is a British Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter,
External links
- Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon (novel)
- Mason and Dixon Line Preservation Partnership - Information about Jeremiah Dixon and the Mason and Dixon Line
- Biography of Jeremiah Dixon from the Oxford National Dictionary of Biography
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| Preceded by Henry Willoughby |
High Sheriff of Yorkshire 1758 – 1759 |
Succeeded by Charles Turner |
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