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June
Important dates in History
June
30: Transistor
In 1948, the transistor was demonstrated by its inventors, John
Bardeen and Walter Brattain, scientists at the Bell Telephone Laboratory
in Murray Hill, NJ. It was a simple, tiny device utilizing the electronic
semiconducting properties of a germanium wafer. The transistor represented
a significant advance in technology. As it was developed over the
next few years, it was incorporated into electronic equipment as
a functional replacment for the vacuum tube. Such use of transistors
provided great savings in space and electrical power consumption.
This made possible the small portable, battery-powered transistor
radios which were sold to the public by late 1954.
June
29: Alexander
Parkes
(Born December 29, 1813: Died June 29, 1890)
British industrial chemist who invented many processes. Parkes was
an expert in electroplating, able to silver-plate such diverse objects
as a spider web and flowers. He patented a method of rubber coating
fabrics to waterproof them (1841), an electroplating process (1843),
and a method of extracting silver from lead ore by adding zinc (1850).
He produced the first plastic (1855), which he called Parkesine,
by dissolving cellulose nitrate in alcohol and camphor containing
ether. The hard solid result could be molded when heated, but he
could find no market for the material. (This was rediscovered in
the 1860s by John Wesley Hyatt, an American chemist, who named it
celluloid and successfully marketed it as a replacement for ivory.
June
28: Klaus
von Klitzing
(Born June 28, 1943)
German physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in
1985 for his discovery, made in 1980, of the quantized Hall effect.
Under appropriate conditions the resistance offered by an electrical
conductor is quantized; that is, it varies by discrete steps rather
than smoothly and continuously. His experiments enabled other scientists
to study the conducting properties of electronic components with
extraordinary precision. His work also aided in determining the
precise value of the fine-structure constant and in establishing
convenient standards for the measurement of electrical resistance.
June
27: Merle
Antony Tuve
(Born June 27, 1901: Died May 20, 1982)
American research physicist and geophysicist who (with Gregory Breit)
made the first use pulsed radio waves to explore the ionosphere.
He devised the necessary detecting equipment to measure the time
between receiving a direct radio pulse and a second pulse reflected
from the ionosphere. The observations he made provided the theoretical
foundation for the development of radar. Tuve, with Lawrence R.
Hafstad and Norman P. Heydenburg, made the first and definitive
measurements of the nuclear force between proton-proton force at
nuclear distances. During WW II he developed the proximity fuse.
Following the war, he made important contributions to experimental
seismology, radio astronomy, and optical astronomy.
June
26: Fluorine
In 1886, Henri Moissan isolated the element fluorine for the first
time, after many unsuccessful attempts. His work had been interrupted
four times by serious poisoning. His apparatus consisted of two
platinum-iridium electrodes sealed into a platinum U-tube containing
an electrolyte solution of dry potassium acid fluoride in anhydrous
hydrofluoric acid chilled with methylene chloride to a temperature
of -23º. The ends were closed with fluorspar screw caps covered
with a layer of gum lac. Electrolysis produced a gas at the anode.
When Moissan tested it with silicon, it immediately burst into flame,
which he regarded as a test for fluorine gas. Two days later, his
discovery was announced at the Academy of Science, Paris.
June
25: Walther
Hermann Nernst
(Born June 25, 1864: Died November 18, 1941)
German scientist who was one of the founders of modern physical
chemistry. In 1889, he devised his theory of electric potential
and conduction of electrolytic solutions (the Nernst Equation) and
introduced the solubility product to explain precipitation reactions.
In 1906, Nernst showed that it is possible to determine the equilibrium
constant for a chemical reaction from thermal data, and in so doing
he formulated what he himself called the third law of thermodynamics.
This states that the entropy, (a thermodynamic measure of disorder
in a system), approaches zero as the temperature goes towards absolute
zero. For this, he was awarded the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In 1918, he explained the H2-Cl2 explosion on exposure to light
as an atom chain reaction.
June
24: Martin
Lewis Perl
(Born June 24, 1927)
American physicist who received the 1995 Nobel Prize for Physics
for discovering a subatomic particle that he named the tau, a massive
lepton with a negative charge. The tau, which he found in the mid-1970s,
was the first evidence of a third "generation" of fundamental
particles. It is a superheavy cousin of the electron, identical
in all respects except that the tau is more than 3,500 times heavier
than the electron and survives less than a trillionth of a second,
whereas the electron is stable.
June
23: Wilhelm
Eduard Weber
(Born: October 24, 1804, Died: June 23, 1891)
erman physicist who investigated terrestrial magnetism. For six
years, from 1831, Weber worked in close collaboration with Gauss.
Weber developed sensitive magnetometers, an electromagnetic telegraph
(1833) and other magnetic instruments during this time. His later
work (1855) on the ratio between the electrodynamic and electrostatic
units of charge proved extremely important and was crucial to Maxwell
in his electromagnetic theory of light. (Weber found the ratio was
3.1074 x 108 m/sec but failed to take any notice of the fact that
this was close to the speed of light.) Weber's later years were
devoted to work in electrodynamics and the electrical structure
of matter. The magnetic unit, termed a weber, formerly the coulomb,
is named after him.
June
22: Karl
Taylor Compton
(Born September 14, 1887: Died June 22, 1954)
American educator and physicist who directed development of radar
during WW II. His research included the passage of photoelectrons
through metals, ionization and the motion of electrons in gases,
fluorescence, the theory of the electric arc, and collisions of
electrons and atoms. In 1933, President Roosevelt asked him to chair
the new Scientific Advisory Board. When the National Defense Research
Committee was formed in 1940, he was chief of Division D (detection:
radar, fire control, etc.) In 1941, he was in charge of those divisions
concerned with radar within the new Office of Scientific Research
and Development (OSRD). Afterwards he was cited for personally shortening
the duration of the war. (Brother of Arthur H. Compton.)
June
21: Computer
In 1948, the first stored-program computer, the Small-Scale Experimental
Machine, SSEM, ran its first program. Written by Professor Tom Kilburn,
it took 52 minutes to run. The tiny experimental computer had no
keyboard or printer, but it successfully tested a memory system
developed at Manchester University in England. The system, based
on a cathode-ray tube, could store programs. Previous electronic
computers had to be rewired to execute each new problem. The Manchester
computer proved theories set forth by John von Neumann in a report
that proposed modifications to ENIAC, the electronic computer built
at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid-1940s. The report also
proposed the use of binary instead of digital numbers.
June
20: Zeppelin
flight
In 1908, Count Zeppelin made his first flight in his fourth new
airship at Friedrichshafen, Germany. The Luftschiff LZ4 had its
first flight June 20, 1908. Its first extended flight (12 hours)
was taken to Switzerland July 1, 1908. At the beginning of August,
it embarked on an extended flight which had taken it among other
places to Basel, Straussberg, and many of the major cities of southern
Germany. While moored at Echterdingen on August 5, 1908, it was
torn from the mast by high winds and destroyed. As interest in the
Zeppelins ran high in German, the incident was felt as a national
disaster. Spontaneous donations resulted in approximately 5.5 million
Marks and made it possible for Zeppelin to continue his work.
June
19: Edison
patent
In 1888, Thomas A. Edision, with co-inventor Ezra T. Gilliland were
granted a patent for "Railway Signaling" (U.S. No. 384,830).
The invention related to signalling systems for communicating between
stations and moving trains by induction from the telegraph wires
to the roofs of the cars. In such a system, transmitters were vibrators
operated by keys to send signals upon the line, and receivers were
telephone receivers connected to the ground. The patent was for
an innovation to increase the quickness, rapidity and clearness
of the vibrations. By making the transmitted vibrations as short
and distinct as possible, they may be more clearly reproduced at
the receiver.
June
18: Arthur
Edwin Kennelly
(Born December 17, 1861: Died June 18, 1939)
Irish-American electrical engineer who was a prominent contributor
to the science of electrical engineering. For six years he worked
for Thomas Edison at West Orange Laboratory, then branched out as
a consultant. Upon his co-discovery of the radio reflecting properties
of the ionosphere in the upper atmosphere, the stratum was called
the Kennelly-Heaviside layer.
June
17: Goodyear
In 1837, Charles Goodyear obtained his first rubber-processing patent
(U.S. No. 240). At this time, the original india-rubber would become
sticky melt in the summer heat. Goodyear resolved to solve this
problem. After various unsuccessful methods, he devised a process
to treat the India rubber with metallic solutions such as copper
nitrate and strong acid for a few minutes, followed by washing with
water. Such process treated both rubber on the surface and below
the surface to a useful condition. His patent explained this method,
and also the use of a water paste of quicklime to bleach the rubber
for which he listed various new purposes. He obtained additional
patents as he continued to revised his process by using sulphur
and oil of turpentine.
June
16: IBM
In 1911, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) was incorporated,
a predecessor of IBM (1924). Earlier, in 1890, Dr. Herman Hollerith
had constructed an electromechanical machine using perforated cards
for use in the U.S. census, and in 1896 he founded the Tabulating
Machine Co. to construct sorting machines. In 1911, CTR was the
result of the merger of the Tabulating Company (founded by Hollerith),
the Computing Scale Company, and the International Time Recording
Company)
June
15: Lightning
experiment
In 1752, Ben Franklin's kite-flying experiment proved lightning
and electricity were related while flying a kite with a key attatched.
In September 1752, he equipped his house with a lightning rod, connecting
it to bells that ring when rod is electrified. He explained how
to perform a kite experiment in the October 19, 1752 issue of the
Pennsylvania Gazette. He had earlier proposed use of lightning rods
to protect houses in a March 2, 1750 letter to Collinson and in
the same year, on July 29, 1750, he devised an experiment involving
a sentry-box with a pointed rod on its roof, to be erected on hilltop
or in church steeple, with rod attached to a Leyden jar which would
collect the electrical charge, and thus prove lightning to be a
form of electricity.
June
14: Univac1
In 1951, the Univac1 was unveiled in Washington,
DC. and dedicated as the world's first commercial computer. The
Univac was manufactured for the U.S. Census Bureau by Remington
Rand Corp. The massive computer was 8 feet high, 7-1/2 feet wide
and 14-1/2 feet long. It could retain a maximum of 1000 numbers
and was able to add, subtract, multiply, divide, sort, collate and
take square and cube roots. Its transfer rate to and from magnetic
tape was 10,000 characters per second. This was five years after
the ENIAC, the first electronic computer in the U.S., was completed.
June
13: Willard
Harrison Bennett
(Born June 13, 1903: Died September 28, 1987)
American physicist who discovered (1934) the pinch effect, an electromagnetic
process that may offer a way to magnetically confine a plasma at
temperatures high enough for controlled nuclear fusion reactions
to occur. He proposed (1936) the tandem Van de Graaff accelerator,
which later became widely used in nuclear research. He invented
a radio-frequency mass spectrometer, developed in 1950. Since it
required no heavy magnet, it was the first launched into space to
measure the masses of atoms. Sputnik III carried the first R-F mass
spectrometer into space. It was the only space instrument used by
the Russians and credited to an American inventor in their own Russian-language
publications.
June
12: Bert
Sakmann
(Born June 12, 1942)
German medical doctor and research scientist who in 1991, (with
German physicist Erwin Neher), won the Nobel Prize for Physiology
or Medicine for research into basic cell function and for development
of the patch-clamp technique (a laboratory method widely used in
cell biology and neuroscience to detect electrical currents as small
as a trillionth of an ampere through cell membranes.)
June
11: Edison
patent
In 1889, Thomas A. Edison was issued a patent for an "Electrical
Distribution System" (U.S. No. 404,902).
June
10: Mylar
In 1952, Mylar® was registered as a DuPont trademark for an
extraordinarily strong polyester film that grew out of the development
of Dacron® in the early 1950s. During the 1960s its superior
strength steadily replaced cellophane because of its its superior
strength, heat resistance, and excellent insulating properties.
The unique qualities of the film made new consumer markets in magnetic
audio and video tape, capacitor dielectrics, packaging and batteries
possible. By the 1970s, it become DuPont’s best-selling film, despite
mounting competition. It is also used as food wrap, for balloons,
and by instrument manufacturers to produce high-quality drumheads.
June
9: Einstein
published
In 1905, Albert Einstein published his analysis of Planck's quantum
theory and its application to light. His article appeared in Annalen
der Physik. Though no experimental work was involved, it was for
these insights that Einstein earned his Nobel Prize.
June
8: Arsène
d' Arsonval
.(Born June 8, 1851: Died December 31, 1940)
Jacques-Arsène d' Arsonval was a French physician and physicist
known for his researches in electrotherapy. He introduced the first
reflecting moving-coil galvanometers used to measure weak electric
currents (1882), invented mechanisms to obtain high-frequency currents
used to treat diseases of the skin and mucous membranes ("d'Arsonvalization";
1890), and demonstrated how a human being could conduct an alternating
current strong enough to light an electric lamp (1892).
June
7: Alan
M. Turing
(Born June 23, 1912: Died June 7, 1954)
Alan Mathison Turing was an English mathematician and logician who
pioneered in the field of computer theory and who contributed important
logical analyses of computer processes. He made major contributions
to mathematics, cryptanalysis, logic, philosophy, and biology and
to the new areas later named computer science, cognitive science,
artificial intelligence, and artificial life.
June
6: Prototype
metre bar and kilogram mass
In 1799, the first definitive prototype metre bars and kilograms
constructed in platinum. This followed the legal definition of the
metric system by the French National Assembly on April 7, 1795.
June
5: Apple
II
In 1977, first personal computer, the Apple II, went on sale. They
were the invention of Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. They have the
6502 microprocessor, ability to do Hi-res and Lo-res color graphics,
sound, joystick input, and casette tape I/O. They have a total of
eight expansion Slots for adding peripherials. Clock speed is 1MHz
and, with Apple's Language Card installed, standard memory size
is 64kB. (The Apple I designation referred to an earlier computer
that was not much more than a board. You had to supply your own
keyboard, monitor and case.) The Apple II was one of three prominent
personal computers that came out in 1977. Despite its higher price,
it quickly pulled ahead of the TRS-80 and the Commodore Pet.
June
4: Edison
patent
In 1907, Thomas A. Edison was issued a patent for a "Diaphragm
for Talking-Machines" (U.S. No. 855,562) that "will be
readily responsive to vibrations of comparatively great amplitude."
The invention comprised a duplex diaphragm made of at least two
disks, each of which is radially sloted so that each disk constitutes
a series of reeds. By staggering the slots of the disks, a continuous
surface is presented for actuating the sound waves. The disks, made
of mica about one-thousandth of an inch thick, are cemented together
with an elastic cement, such as a solution of gum rubber.
June
3: J.
Presper Eckert, Jr.
 (Born
April 9, 1919: Died June 3, 1995)
John Presper Eckert, Jr. was an American engineer and coinventor
of the first general-purpose electronic computer, a digital machine
that was the prototype for most computers in use today. In 1946,
Eckert with John W. Mauchly fulfilled a government contract to build
a digital computer to be used by the U.S. Army for military calculations.
They named it ENIAC for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.
By 1949, they had started a manufacturing company for their BINAC
computer. This was followed by a business oriented computer, UNIVAC
(1951), which was put to many uses and spurred the growth of the
computer industry. By 1966 Eckert held 85 patents, mostly for electronic
inventions.
June
2: Hydroelectricity
In 1889, a hydroelectric power plant generated alternating current
electricity which was for the first time made available to consumers
at a significant distance from its origin. A 13 mile power line
linked the Willamette Falls Electric Co. power plant to Portland,
Ore. Two 300 h.p. Stilwell & Bierce waterwheels together drove
a single phase, 720 kilowatt generator. It was not the first hydroelectric
power plant, for one had been demonstrated in Appleton, Wisc., 30
Sep 1882 with a small dynamo. Rather, it is the use of alternating
current that is significant, for this makes possible long-distance
transmission that overcomes the problems of direct current. AC generators
driven by steam power had been in use elsewhere since 1886.
June
1: E-lamp
In 1992, the E-Lamp, an electronic electrodeless 20-year lightbulb,
was announced by Pierre Villere. The E-Lamp is illuminated when
radio waves excite a phosphor coating, an efficient process that
can save as much as 75% of lighting costs. The E-lamp technology
was licensed from Diablo Research Corporation that developed it
in the late 1980s. However, they were not approved for residential
use in the U.S. In Apr 1994, General Electric (G.E.) Lighting announced
that "the world's first practical compact high-tech induction
reflector lamp" would be on the market in Europe within weeks
using the tradename Genura. It is smaller than the incandescent
reflector lamp it replaces.
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