Posted in Daily Story on Feb 19th, 2012
February 19, 1473: Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer, was born. He proposed that planets have the Sun as fixed point to which their motions are to be referred, Earth is a planet that besides orbiting the Sun annually, while turning once daily on its own axis, and that very gradual changes in direction of this axis [...]
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 18th, 2012
February 18, 1745: Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, Italian physicist was born. He invented electric battery, which enabled reliable, sustained supply of current. His voltaic pile used plates of two dissimilar metals (zinc & silver) each separated with porous brine-soaked cardboard. Previously, only discharge of static electricity had been available. Volt, a unit of [...]
Posted in Events on Feb 16th, 2012
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 16th, 2012
February 16, 1937: Wallace Carothers, DuPont research chemist, received a patent for nylon. His synthetic fiber patent covered linear condensation polymers capable of being drawn into strong pliable fibers, as well as process for making them. One of first consumer uses of this new wonder plastic was replacing hog bristles in tooth brushes. February 16, [...]
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 16th, 2012
February 15, 1898: Massive explosion of unknown origin sank battleship USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor, 258 sailors died. “Remember the Maine!” soon became battle cry of American yellow journalists. USA blamed Spain, which marked beginning of Spanish-American War. In 1976, team of American naval investigators concluded that Maine explosion was likely caused by spontaneous [...]
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 16th, 2012
February 14, 1929: Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist, introduced his mold by-product called penicillin to cure bacterial infections. His accidental discovery led to one of great developments of modern medicine. Having left plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, Fleming noticed that a mold that had fallen on the culture killed many of the bacteria. He identified the [...]
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 13th, 2012
February 13, 1912: Robert Millikan began collecting data from his famous oil drop experiment. On this day he gathered observations on the first of the 58 drops he ultimately published. Millikan used his measurements of motion of oil drops within an electric field to estimate fundamental unit of charge. He earned a Nobel Prize for [...]
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 12th, 2012
February 12, 1809: Abraham Lincoln, who is best known as President of the United States, was born in Kentucky. Few people know that he is the only U.S. president to hold a patent, which he received on May 22, 1849. His patent was for a device to lift boats over shoals. Note: Lincoln displayed a [...]
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 11th, 2012
February 11, 1847: Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor was born. He created world’s first industrial research laboratory. His first invention was an automated telegraph message machine. He attached a gadget to a clock that would send a signal even if he was asleep. Edison invented more than 2000 gadgets, held 1,093 patents, some which improved [...]
Posted in Daily Story on Feb 10th, 2012
February 10, 1846: Ira Remsen, American chemist who co-discovered saccharin was born. Remsen specialized in chemistry of benzene rings & related groups. With a student working under his direction, he first synthesized orthobenzoyl sulfimide. Student accidentally discovered its intensely sweet taste by touching his fingers to his lips while unknowingly having a few grains on [...]