Today in Technology History
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May 30
Our subject today is Piotr Alekseevich Romanov, who was born in Moscow exactly 331 years ago. Better known as “Peter the Great,” his life's work was the modernization of Russia.
Born on May 30, 1672, Peter became the sole ruler of Russia at the age of 24. (He had shared power with some siblings for several years.) A man of restless action, he instigated a great many reforms to Russia’s government, language and culture.
Peter had a lifelong interest in technology, so it naturally played a central part in his plans for reform. A year into his reign, he toured Europe in a “Grand Embassy,” sometimes traveling incognito. During this trip, he studied carpentry and shipbuilding for months in Holland and England, and he diligently visited hospitals, astronomical observatories, and other institutions at the forefront of science and technology. Upon returning to Russia, he brought with him hundreds of European engineers and technicians to help westernize his country. He also made it a policy to invite Europe’s best craftsmen, architects and shipwrights to Russia.
He made radical changes to the Russian military, totally re-equipping and reorganizing the army, and creating a navy from scratch; by the time of his death, the Russian navy had hundreds of ships. He worked to modernize his country’s arsenal, using European techniques for gunpowder, fireworks and artillery.
Peter also modernized the textile and mining industries, and he built roads and canals. Having closely studied the latest printing technology, he started Russia’s first newspaper. And he created dozens of schools to disseminate and preserve Russia’s new technological knowledge -- schools for navigation, artillery, engineering, science and math.
Peter died in 1725, at the age of 52, having done his best to yank Russia into modernity. This weekend, many dignitaries will gather in the Russian city of St. Petersburg to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of that city by Peter the Great -- a visionary who embodied the spirit of both progress and reform.
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