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BY HOLLY FINN
At the recent Crunchies Awards in Silicon Valley, the audience was nerdy and the host British: Cambridge-educated comedian John Oliver. It seemed an odd pairing, like finding scones on the menu at In-N-Out Burger. But Mr. Oliver was an inspired choice for a night lauding technological innovation. He comes from Birmingham, a global hub of progress in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The Lunar Society of Birmingham included such "Lunartick" geniuses as Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles), Josiah Wedgwood (industrializer of pottery), Joseph Priestly (discovered oxygen) and James Watt (developed the steam engine). They met every full moon ...
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