January 4, 2009, (this just so happens to be my birthday also) marks the bicentennial of the birth of Louis Braille, a genius inventor who bestowed the gift of literacy to blind people around the world.
Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France. An injury to his eye at age three resulted in total loss of vision. When he was ten, he entered the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, the world’s first school for blind children. There he would live, study, and later teach.
When Louis was fifteen, he developed an ingenious system of reading and writing by means of raised dots. Two years later he adapted his method to musical notation.
Mr. Braille accepted a full-time teaching position at the Institute when he was nineteen. He was a kind, compassionate teacher and an accomplished musician. He gave his life in selfless service to his pupils, to his friends, and to the perfection of his raised dot method, which is known today as Braille.
Louis Braille died at age forty-three, confident that his mission on earth was completed.
But whatever you do, celebrate Louis Braille!
