Every Day Is Special: Khan

Showing posts with label Khan. Show all posts

April 3 - Happy Birthday, Fazlur Rahman Khan

Posted on April 3, 2019

Fazlur Rahman Khan was born in what is now Bangladesh, on this date in 1929. That region underwent quite a bit of political turbulence as it converted from British-ruled India to East Pakistan to Bangladesh, and it continues to face problems of poverty, low literacy rates, and lack of educational opportunities.

But when you read a fact like a particular nation faces "problems of poverty, low literacy rates, and lack of educational opportunities," you have to remember that not everyone in a nation suffers from those problems.

Khan's father was a math teacher and a textbook author, and Khan was able to get a good education. He studied civil engineering in two different Bangladeshi colleges and then was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship that enabled him to come study in the United States.

Get this: in three years, Khan was able to earn TWO master's degrees AND a PhD (in theoretical and applied mechanics and structural engineering)!!

Fazlur Rahman Khan became a U.S. citizen, a pioneer in computer-aided design (CAD), the "Father of Tubular Designs" for skyscrapers, the "Einstein of Structural Engineering," and the "Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century."

Khan designed the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower, below), the tallest building in the world from 1973 to 1998, and the 100-story John Hancock Center (right).

Kahn's innovations in skyscraper design are still used today.

The reason that tubular designs are so important for skyscrapers is that horizontal forces such as wind and earthquakes are much more substantial the higher a building rises. By creating buildings that have central tubes (for elevator shafts and other services) "wrapped" by cantilevered floors and (in tube-within-a-tube designs) an exterior "tube," the building has enough strength to withstand those horizontal forces while using fewer vertical beams and therefore having more usable floor space.

It's a complicated topic, of course, but here are a few diagrams to help you appreciate tubular design and cantilevers (which are horizontal beams fixed on only one end):

The multi-level building is an example of bundled-tube design.

By the way, although most of Khan's fame revolves around high-rise buildings, he also designed things like stadiums and an airport terminal, and he even helped design the building for a solar telescope.

Also on this date:

National Tweed Day

Canada's Got Talent

Find a Rainbow, Share a Rainbow Day

World Party Day

Anniversary of the start of the Pony Express

Conservationist John Burroughs's birthday

Weed Out Hate: Sow the Seeds of Greatness Day

Anniversary of first flight over Mount Everest

Don't Go to Work Unless It's Fun Day

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November 5 – Happy Birthday, Ghazan!

Posted on November 5, 2016

It always surprises me when we know the exact birthday of someone who lived a really, really long time ago. Naturally, when we do, it's the birthdate of someone really important. A king, probably, or an emperor or some other sort of ruler.

From 1295 to 1304, Ghazan was the ruler of the Ilkhanate. If you don't know what “the Ilkhanate” refers to, you are not alone! Most of us do not know that Genghis Khan's grandson created a state – a part of the Mongol Empire – that was made up of most of what we know call Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was called the Ilkhanate.

The Mongol Empire shortly before the breakup, above.
After the partitioning of the empire, below.

This region was ruled by direct descendants of Genghis Khan, and it remained a Mongol khanate even after the the Mongol Empire was split up into four chunks.

One of those descendants-of-Genghis-Khan was Mahmud Ghazan. Born in 1271, Ghazan spoke several languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Latin, and his own native language of Mongolian. He had many hobbies, including saddle making, metal smithing, and other craftswork. Also, Ghazan did a bit more in the vein of diplomacy than (it seems to me) other leaders of his time cared to do. I mean, don't get me wrong, he had his cousin killed so that he could take over as ruler of the Ilkhanate and he waged war often, and well...But he also put a stop to some of the religious persecution other rulers did, he tried maintained alliances with other Mongol khanates, and he tried to establish diplomatic relations with European powers. He introduced standardized coins and measures, he constructed hostels and hospitals and schools, and he is known for other reforms, as well.

Ghazan is not that famous for those good traits, however. Instead, he is most famous for converting from Buddhism to Islam. He did so in order to gain and keep political power, but that did change things so that Islam became the dominant religion of Mongols in the region.

By the way, Ghazan's principal wife was a Mongol princess sent by Kublai Khan, escorted from the Mongol capital to the Ilkhanate by Marco Polo.

Although I have never heard of Ghazan (or his wife, Kokochin) before, I have definitely heard of several people in the tale of his life: Genghis khan, Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo!

Also on this date: