On this day in history - David Brewster, inventor of the kaleidoscope, was born

Brewster was trained as a Church of Scotland minister but is said to have preached on just one occasion, preferring to devote himself to his philosophy and astronomy studies. One of his best known inventions is the kaleidoscope which he patented in 1817 and which made him a household name, although he gained little money from the invention.

Brewster was also a writer and edited the Edinburgh Magazine at the age of twenty, as well as contributing science articles to encyclopaedias. He also established the Edinburgh Journal of Science. He died in 1868 and was buried at Melrose Abbey.