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But cats are indeed curious. And curiosity can be dangerous. Maybe that’s why cats have 9 lives. But then, not all curiosity is dangerous.
Actually, most of the time, it is absolutely necessary.
For instance, what if Ben Franklin wasn’t curious about lightning? And electricity? And keys on a kite?
Aimé Argand?
Augustin Fresnel?
John Smeaton?
Yes, all great inventors, builders, engineers of their day. Life today is greatly influenced by these people.
Did you know that it is estimated that kids from the ages of 2 and 5 ask about 40,000 questions? Yes, kids are curious. But we all need to remain curious through life.
Have I piqued your curiosity? Are you curious about what that curiosity has to do with Lighthouse History?
What if our founding editor Timothy Harrison had not questioned things or been curious to read more? As we know, Tim was very curious. Tim asked thousands and thousands of questions. Researching and discovering the answers in old newspapers, books, and lighthouse keepers’ families. Because of Tim’s insatiable curiosity about lighthouse history, the keepers and families that lived in them, and the countless others who worked in Lighthouse Service and Coast Guard, we have 31 years’ worth of discovered history with thousands of stories in the archives of the Lighthouse Digest.
Curiosity is critical for research. Curiosity is a simple essential muscle that we have to exercise, develop, and strengthen over time. It’s like pulling a stray thread – one tug and everything starts to unravel. But unlike your shirt which becomes smaller, history unravels and expands.
So as the summertime travel season begins and we search out new things. And visit new lighthouses. Let’s all try to be a bit more curious when we visit that lighthouse. It is way more than just a pretty face.
It has history! Let’s be sure to honor it.
To learn more about lighthouses, please visit our website. We have over 8,000 lighthouses listed in our database at www.LighthouseDigest.com/database. And thousands of Lighthouse Digest articles archived at
www.LighthouseDigest.com/archives about hundreds and hundreds of lighthouses from around the world. Also visit www.LighthouseHistoryResearch.org to look up nearly 200 keepers who have had memorial grave markers placed to honor their time in the U.S. Lighthouse Service and U.S. Coast Guard and to make a much-needed donation to help us expand this resource and continue our mission begun by Tim Harrison over 30 years ago.
Let’s get curious!
Kathleen Finnegan-Harrison
Editor & Publisher
Lighthouse Digest
This story appeared in the
Mar/Apr 2024 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
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