The Millersville Area Historical Society (MAHS) invites the public to a slideshow on the career and life of David Rittenhouse when it meets at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 8, in Millersville's Municipal Center, 100 Municipal Drive. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and lock at 9:15 a.m.

The presenter will be Stephen J. Shaw, a military historian who has published a dozen military history magazine articles and a military history book, "German & Spanish Military Rings: A Historical Perspective (Collector's Edition)."

Rittenhouse - a surveyor, an astronomer, an inventor, a mathematician and a maker of scientific instruments - helped establish the 12-mile-radius Delaware-Pennsylvania border; was the first director of the U.S. Mint, producing the nation's first coins; and a leading 18th-century American scientist. Shaw's presentation will explore these and other aspects of Rittenhouse's life, including his involvement with other Colonial notables; his home on Wissahickon Creek; his family, which built the first paper mill in Philadelphia in 1690; his inventions; and the 1792 U.S. Mint. A question-and-answer session will conclude the program.

Shaw, a retired middle school teacher, has traveled to several European battlefields and served on active duty with the United States Marine Corps and another 20 years with the Pennsylvania National Guard, retiring as a command sergeant major. He has a special interest in Spain's civil war and is an advocate for veterans who are being adjudicated with the Lancaster County Veterans Court. A Millersville University graduate, he was raised in Millersville.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. For more details, contact Phil Gerber at 717-872-8837 before noon or at pge8507@aol.com.