The first balloonist in Croatia was Karlo Mrazovic, who performed two balloon flights in Zagreb with his own balloons in 1789 and 1790. He was born in Boka kotorska. See [Croatia – Europe, III, Barok i prosvjetiteljstvo, p. 426, the article by Vladimir Muljevic].
Simun Stratik (Simone Stratico, 1733-1829), outstanding specialist in nautical theory, was born in Zadar (in the family of Schiavoni which came to Zadar from Crete). He lectured mathematics and nautical theory in Padova, and then nautical theory at the University of Pavia. By the end of his life he prepared a new edition of Vitruvius‘ famous Architecture (1825) in four books accompanied with 320 tables. He published among others his translation into Italian (published in Padova in 1776) and his…
Ludwig (Ljudevit) Mitterpacher von Mitterburg (Mitterburg = Pazin in Istria, 1734 – 1814), was born in Bellye (Bilje in eastern Croatia, near Danube river) and educated in Austria. He studied mathematics and theology at Vienna University and was appointed a teacher of religion in 1762. In 1777, Mitterpacher became the first professor of the newly-established agricultural faculty at the Pest University, a position he kept until his death. A very popular lecturer, Mitterpacher also wrote several schoolbooks and lecture notes….
Filip Vezdin or Wesdin (Paulinus a Sancto Bartolomaeo, 1748-1806), pioneer of European indology, was born in a Croatian village of Cimov (Hof am Leithagebirge) in Lower Austria in Burgenland (Gradisce). He completed his studies of philosophy and theology, Roman languages and English in Linz and Prague. Besides native Croatian he spoke Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese and English. As a Carmelitan missionary (with monastic name Paulin of St. Bartholomew) Vezdin was sent to India in 1776, where he…
Franjo Domin (born in Zagreb, 1754-1819), studied physics and theology in Vienna and later became a dean at the Faculty of Philosophy and rector of the University of Budapest. He was among the first who cured various diseases by electrotherapy using static electricity.
Nikola Toma Host (Nikolaus Thomas Host, or Nicolai Thomae Host, 1761-1843) was a personal physician of the Austrian Emperor Franz I. The Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna bears his name: Host’s Garden (Host’scher Garten), which he has directed until his death in 1834. His herbarium is kept in the Nature Museum in Vienna.
The first torpedo was constructed by Ivan Lupis Vukic in the 19th century in Rijeka, where its production had started in 1866 in the Whitehead factory. He was born in the village of Nakovane on the beautiful Peljesac peninsula near Dubrovnik. The project for the Theater building in Rijeka was drawn up by Helmer and Fellner studio from Vienna. The building was illuminated with electricity, one of the first theaters in the world to have its own generator. See the…
The first ship-screw (propeller) has been constructed by Yosip Ressel in 1827 (the first steamers were constructed with paddles). Joseph Ressel was of the Czech and German origin, working as engineer of forestry in the lovely Istrian town of Motovun. It is interesting that this important discovery was inspired by ordinary spiral corkscrew. The first propellers were tested on a boat in Trieste. The first journey across the Atlantic with screw-driven ship was in 1839 within 40 days, with Ressel’s…
In 1888 Josip Belusic constructed the first electric speedometer. Belusic was born in the region of Labin in Istria, and was professor in Kopar. This invention was patented in Austria – Hungary under the name of “velocimeter.” NOTE: Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) is since recently credited for this discovery, see here.
David Schwarz, a Zagreb Jew (1852-1897), invented steerable metal airship that is today unjustly bearing the name of the German count Zeppelin. Indeed, Zeppelin bought the complete project from Schwartz’s wife, shortly after his premature death. It is true that in 1897 the `Zeppelin’ constructed by Schwartz fell down during its trial flight near Berlin, due to a small technical error in the propeller, having reached the height of 460 m. It was 47.5 m long and had 35 tons….