John Harrison (3 April [O.S. 24 March]1693– 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea. His solution revolutionized navigation and greatly increased the safety of long-distance sea travel. The problem he solved was considered so important following the Scilly naval disaster of 1707 that the British Parliament offered financial rewards of up to £20,000 (£2.81million) under the 1714 Longitude Act. Harrison came 39th in the BBC's 2002 public poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
Early life
John Harrison was born in Foulby, near Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the first of five children in his family. His father worked as a carpenter at the nearby Nostell Priory estate. A house on the site of what may have been the family home bears a blue plaque.
In around 1700, the Harrison family moved to the Lincolnshire village of Barrow upon Humber. Following his father's trade as a carpenter, Harrison built and repaired clocks in his spare time. Legend has it that at the age of six, while in bed with smallpox, he was given a watch to amuse himself and he spent hours listening to it and studying its moving parts.
Harrison served as a Labour councillor on North Tyneside Council for 21 years before being elected leader of the Labour group in 2003.
He was Leader of the Labour Group of councillors for two years from 2003-2005.
He has also served as Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Finance Committee, Older Peoples Policy Committee, Area Housing Committee, Budget Monitoring Committee and Safer Communities Committee.
Harrison was brought up in Longbenton and started his working life as an apprentice at Parsons, before spending three years in the merchant navy.
He returned to shore to work in the rail industry and up to May 2005 was working as a Health and Safety Advisor in local public transport.
John Harrison is an American writer, director, producer and composer.
Harrison was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BS in Theater Arts. For several years after that, he performed on the road with his band Homebrew before moving back to Pittsburgh to take a master's degree in film and television from Carnegie Mellon University. At the same time, he joined legendary blues guitarist Roy Buchanan, with whom he toured across the US and internationally for four years. He was also featured on several of Buchanan's albums, including That's What I'm Here For (1974), Live Stock (1975), and A Street Called Straight (1976).
In 1973, Harrison and his friends, Dusty Nelson and Pasquale Buba formed a film production company eventually named The Image Works to produce commercials and industrials in the Pittsburgh area. This partnership eventually led to the production of the film Effects (1980) which Harrison produced and performed in as the character Lacey Bickle. In 1974, Harrison began a long collaboration and friendship with filmmaker George A. Romero. Harrison performed as Sir Pelinore in Romero's Knightriders, then became his 1st Assistant Director for both Romero films Creepshow (1982) and Day of the Dead (1985).
William C. "Bill" Leary and John Harrison were head coaches for the 1899 season. They coached the team as a part of a new alumni coaching program. Although most around the program considered the experiment a success, the program was discontinued with the hiring of the University's first full-time salaried coach, Dr. Henry L. Williams. The 1899 season was the only season under head coaches Leary and Harrison. This season's 0-3 record left Minnesota in a last place tie with Illinois.
Harrison was born in Hull on 12 November 1890. His father was a plater and boilermaker in the Earles Shipyard. After leaving school, Harrison studied at St John's College, York (now York St John University) where he was Rugby club captain and also represented the College at cricket and swimming before becoming a teacher later at Lime Street School in Hull. In York, he caught the attention of the York rugby league club and played for them five times in 1911-12, scoring three tries.
He returned to Hull in September 1912 and married Lillian on 1 September 1914. He was invited to join Hull which included Billy Batten, and played his first match on 5 September 1912. In 1913/4 season he scored a record 52 tries and he went on to score a total of 106 tries in 116 matches for Hull up to 1916. Jack scored one of two tries scored by Hull in the Challenge Cup victory over Wakefield Trinity at Halifax.
