On this day, Pascal constructed his mechanical calculator capable of addition and subtraction, called the pascaline. Although Pascal has his fame in the convenient representation of binomial coefficients, he was the one who invented Roulette, in his search for a perpetual motion machine. Sounds fun?

Legends say that he was a monk hideous about the calamities happening around him, along with his friend Fermat. And why not? He was a devout Catholic and theologian who often disappeared on secluded retreats to focus on his work. Where better to find solitude and peace than a monastery?