Chronicling/An ongoing series highlighting University of Pittsburgh history
Samuel P. Langley
Oct. 13, 1871—The Pittsburgh Daily Commercial publishes a feature on improvements at the Allegheny Observatory and on research work by Pitt Professor Samuel P. Langley, director of the observatory from 1867 to 1890.
As historian Robert C. Alberts wrote in Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987, “Langley had begun a program of measuring distances to and between the nearby stars that was bringing international recognition and honors to himself, the observatory, and the University.”
Named assistant secretary to the Smithsonian in 1887, Langley for three years would divide his time between Pitt and Washington, where he was to become famous in 1896 for carrying out successful flights with unmanned steam-powered planes and thus pave the way for the Wright brothers.
Other Stories From This Issue
On the Freedom Road
Follow a group of Pitt students on the Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights bus tour, a nine-day, 2,300-mile journey crisscrossing five states.
Day 1: The Awakening
Day 2: Deep Impressions
Day 3: Music, Montgomery, and More
Day 4: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Day 5: Learning to Remember
Day 6: The Mountaintop
Day 7: Slavery and Beyond
Day 8: Lessons to Bring Home
Day 9: Final Lessons
