Royal Visit: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands...

Royal Visit: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands may visit Ireland later this year to mark the anniversary of a battle between Protestants and Catholics that was fought 300 years ago. The July 10, 1690, battle marked the beginning of Protestant-Catholic conflict in Ireland. A forebear of the queen, Protestant King William III of England, defeated the Jacobite forces of the deposed Roman Catholic king, James II.

Fathers of Invention: A record 10 new members were named to the National Inventors Hall of Fame on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Herman Hollerith is described as having left behind a motto for the generations: “do not fold, spindle or mutilate.” Hollerith invented the punch-card system that helped pave the way to modern computers. Robert S. Ledley was named for the computerized tomographic, or CT, scanner, which allows doctors to see the inner workings of the body. George Washington Carver and Percy F. Julian were the first blacks to be selected since the hall was begun in 1973. Carver developed more than 500 uses for peanuts (including printer’s ink) and sweet potatoes (including synthetic rubber). Julian, a Chicago chemist, was the first to synthesize human cortisone.

Reagan Review: Ronald Reagan these days may be doing the same as he did in his eight years in the presidency: he can put his foot in his mouth from time to time, but most people still seem to like him, says John Milton Cooper, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin who studies former Presidents. “I think there is a broad reservoir of good feeling and admiration for Reagan in the public,” he said. Reagan drew criticism for accepting a reported $2 million from a media firm in Japan last October. The former President has said he could have made more by reviving his acting career, but that would have been “cashing in on the presidency.”