Fun Fact: According to the Merrian-Webster dictionary, the first known written use of “Sign Language" in English is from 1824
Discover: Treshelle Edmond is a Californian Deaf actress and model whose latest film role was in "Jay and Silent Bob: The Reboot" (2019). Her first opportunity was a role in the TV series House (S5, E22) in 2009. He also does theatre
Fun Fact: The only brother of Ivan the Terrible was born deaf. His name was Yuri of Uglich, he lived between 1532 and 1563 and, because being deaf, he was thus never considered to be a candidate as heir to the Russian throne. Despite this, he ruled the appanage principality of Uglich on the Volga
Fun Fact: The first deaf person in France to obtain a doctorate was Suzanne Lavaud (1903-1996) in 1932. She defended her thesis at the age of 29 with the help of her mother, who repeated the examiners questions to her. In addition, since 1958 she has been a member of the WFD
Fauna: Some animals, like bees or ants, do not have ears as such, that is, they lack a tympanal organ connected to sensory neurons. Instead, they have Johnston's organ on the antennas, with which they perceive vibrations. Despite being deaf, they have been on Earth for 100 million years
Fun Fact: King Croesus, of ancient Greek (560-546 B.C.), had two sons, one deaf and crippled whom he despised and the other who stood out in all fields. Fortunately, today deaf people also stand out in all fields. The painting in the image is entitled ‘The Deaf-mute Son of King Croesus Prevents the Persians from Killing His Father’ (work by Salvator Rosa, 1615-1673)
Fauna: Cats of the Khao Manee breed, also known as "Diamond Eye", are usually born deaf or partially deaf. The breed originates from Thailand and was considered to bring good luck. They can currently reach 10,000 $ for sale
Fauna: Many animals are born deaf, such as the common wolf, the gerbil and the red squirrel, which are also born blind. Seventy-five percent of ferrets with a white stripe on the face, white spots on the face or a completely white head are deaf
Discover: Suffragettes are the women who fought in the women's suffrage movement. There were also deaf suffragettes with decisive contributions to the emancipation of women around the world: the astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, the nurse Helen Kirkpatrick Watts, the physiotherapist and social worker Kate Harvey or the journalist and poet Laura Redden Searing
Fun Fact: The universal genius Leonardo da Vinci learned Sign Language from the Deaf painter Cristoforo de Predis. From Deaf people and Sign Language, da Vinci learned how to make his paintings more expressive and even allowed him to introduce a ‘secret signature’ in some of his paintings with the initials of his name and surname: LV or LDV. The painting Virgin of the Rocks is the most obvious example
Fun Fact: The demonym of Villedieu-les-Poêles, a former commune in northwestern France, is Sourdins, from the French sourd, meaning deaf. This is because most of its inhabitants who worked in the manufacture of copper pans became deaf from repeated hammering
Fun Fact: On the far side of the moon there is a 65 km diameter crater called Leavitt Crater. It is named for Henrietta Swan Leavitt, a deaf astronomer at Harvard University, and is dedicated to all deaf people who have made significant contributions to science
Fun Fact: Two deaf people have won a Nobel Prize in history: Charles Nicolle, in medicine in 1928, and John Cornforth, in chemistry in 1975. Charles became deaf in one ear around the age of 35, although this did not deter him. John's deafness began at about age 10 until he was totally deaf by the age of 20
Fauna: Several research and thousands of hours of observation show that elephants have complex communication systems that include a kind of Sign Language, using the trunk, eyes, ears, legs and tail. In addition, they can sense vibrations on the ground
Fun fact: On this day Pierre Desloges was born in 1742 (France), considered the first deaf person in the world to write a book in 1779. Sign Language saved his life: although his deafness began at the age of seven and he could already read French brefore he becaen deaf, he lost his teeth and control of his mouth due to smallpox, so Sign Language allowed him to have a social life without limitations. He believed that deaf children could only lear without difficulty through Sign Languge'
Fun fact: Bernard Bragg was born today in 1928 (United States). Actor, director, producer, playwright, teacher, poet and co-founder of the National Theatre of the Deaf theatre company. He is considered a pioneer of visual vernacular and has even been called the 'father of visual vernacular'
