Humphry Davy its potential anaesthetic properties in relieving pain during surgery. Berzelius called Davy's 1806 Bakerian Lecture "On Some Chemical Agencies of Electricity" "one of the best memoirs which has ever enriched the theory of chemistry." Davy was a baronet, President of the Royal Society (PRS), Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA), and Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS). He also invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He joked that his assistant Michael Faraday was his greatest discovery. Davy was born in Penzance, Cornwall in England on 17 December 1778. Davy's brother, John Davy, writes
Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind 1909, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited the institution, and conferred their royal patronage. At this time, the institution became formally known as "The Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind". In 1985, the Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind was incorporated under the laws of Great Britain and assumed all financial and operational activities of the previously unincorporated charity. In 1997, the operations of the Queen Alexandra College and Birmingham Focus on Blindness (later Focus Birmingham) were launched as independent charitable companies that still receive support from BRIB. Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind The Birmingham Royal Institution for