Do you know why Gimme Fibre Day is celebrated every year on 4 November? Because it is the birthday of Nobel Prize winner Sir Charles Kuen Kao, the man who changed the way the world communicates… by transmitting light in fibres for optical communication. Sir Kao turned 80 in 2013.
"Thank you for so honouring Professor Kao on his birthday", declared Mrs. Gwen Kao, Professor Charles Kao's wife. "Back in the early days, when he announced that optic fibre would change the world, I laughed at him and joked about a Nobel Prize! Decades later, we live in a high-tech world so full of creativity, where products improve so fast that items become obsolete overnight. We are finally able to fully appreciate the impact of his vision. He would be very touched if he understood the event, but he has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for the last 11 years. On his behalf, I wish you a successful Gimme Fibre Day!"