WAB

Presented by Patrick McKay, Rochester Hills Museum
Tuesday, September 11, 2018 - 7 pm
Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm
Free for Museum members, $5 for public attendees

Imagine a world without the discovery of iron ore in the Upper Peninsula, the solar compass or the Global Positioning System, the equatorial sextant, used to determine the location of a ship at sea, or the typewriter and, subsequent, keyboard.

William Austin Burt inventor, legislator, surveyor and millwright was known as the “father of the typewriter” and invented the first workable solar compass, and the equatorial sextant. He also discovered the Marquette Iron Ore Range in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1844.

Born in Massachusetts, Burt moved to Michigan in 1822 settling in the village of Mount Vernon near the village of Stoney Creek. From the age of fifteen, he determined his calling to be such as would be useful to mankind.

Join Patrick McKay of the Rochester Hills Museum and learn the fascinating story of this amazing local man, one of our own, who achieved his desire to be useful to mankind and about the products of his life’s work that were Agents of Change.

See more information at Rochester Hills Museum!

Share

2000px Christianity percent population in each nation World Map Christian data by Pew Research.svg

Presented by Dr. Jamey Walters
Monday, September 17, 2018 - 7 pm
Rochester College, Auditorium

Why did Christianity succeed in the Roman Empire? How did this movement, which began with a small group of disciples who had dedicated their lives to following the teachings of a Jewish peasant who was crucified as an insurrectionist against the Roman Empire, ultimately become so widespread and popular that it would be adopted as the official religion of the Empire? It is obvious from surviving historical data that Christianity grew exponentially in its first few centuries, but it is not obvious how or why it grew so quickly. Scholars of early Christianity have been writing about this problem for quite some time, yet the answer remains a highly-disputed issue.
 
In this presentation, Dr. Walters will provide a survey of the major theories that have been proposed regarding the rise of the Christian movement, as well as the historical and methodological problems that make this question so difficult to answer.

Register at Rochester College (coming soon)!

Share