Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine was born in Jefferson Mills, New Hampshire back in 1832 to Clovis and Alpha. His grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War, his father was a drummer boy in the War of 1812.
As a young boy, his insatiable appetite for learning served him well as you’ll find out shortly. With his farm choirs, he was limited to only three months of schooling each year. When he was only fourteen he ventured out on his own and moved to Portland, Maine. He fell ill and returned home when he was eighteen. While recovering his brother invited him to attend a chemistry lecture by Professor Reginald Dinkelhoff. As a result of that meeting Dinkelhoff hired Thaddeus and thus began a learning experience for two years.
Fast forward to 1861 Thaddeus met President Abraham Lincoln at the White House and as they say the rest is history. To make a long story very short Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe, AKA Thaddeus S. C. Lowe was an American Civil War aeronaut, scientist and inventor, self-educated in the fields of chemistry, meteorology and aeronautics, better known as the father of military aerial reconnaissance in the United States. His invention of the water gas which produced large amounts of hydrogen gas made from steam and charcoal His other inventions using a process to make ice making machines made him a millionaire.
Not bad, not bad at all for someone who never had a formal education don’t you think?
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