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May
Important dates in History
May 31: John
Robert Schrieffer
 Born
May 31, 1931
American physicist and winner (with John Bardeen and Leon N. Cooper)
of the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physics for developing the BCS theory
(for their initials), the first successful microscopic theory of
superconductivity. Although first described by K. Onnes (1911),
no theoretical explanation had been accepted. It explains how certain
metals and alloys lose all resistance to electrical current at extremely
low temperatures. The insight of the BCS theory is that at very
low temperatures, under certain conditions, electrons can form bound
pairs (Cooper pairs). This pair of electrons acts as a single particle
in superconductivity. Schrieffer continued to focus his research
on particle physics, metal impurities, spin fluctuations, and chemisorption.
May 30: Wilbur
Wright
(Born April 16, 1867: Died May 30, 1912)
American inventor. He and his brother Orville were the aviation
pioneers who achieved the first powered, sustained, and controlled
airplane flight (1903) and built and flew the first fully practical
airplane (1905).
May 29: William
Arnold Anthony
 (Born
November 17, 1835: Died May 29, 1908)
American physicist and pioneer in the teaching of electrical engineering
in the United States. While teaching in the Physics Department at
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., he initiated and developed one
of the first courses in electrical engineering in the U.S. (1883).
During 1872-75, Anthony, with the aid of student George Moler, built
the first American Gramme dynamo for direct current, used to power
arc lamps that lighted the Cornell campus, the first American electrical
outdoor-lighting system. Anthony also built a mammoth tangent galvanometer,
a device which utilized the earth's magnetic field for the measurement
of current. He designed the dynamo for first underground electricity
distributing system. Anthony contributed to development of gas-filled
electric lamps.
May 28: Edison
patent
In 1901, Thomas A. Edison was issued patents for a "Magnetic
Separator" and an "Apparatus for Screening Pulverized
Material" (U.S. Nos. 675,056 and -7), two of several patents
for which he applied in mid-1897 concerned with "a Method of
breaking rock", rolls, a conveyor, drying apparatus, mixer,
and "Lubricating Journal-Bearings." The patent diagram
(left) shows a magnet at the centre separating falling streams of
magnetic and non-magnetic materials.
May 27: Ernst
Ruska
 (Born
December 25, 1906: Died May 27, 1988)
Ernst August Friedrich Ruska was a German electrical engineer who
invented the electron microscope. He was awarded half of the Nobel
Prize for Physics in 1986 (the other half was divided between Heinrich
Rohrer and Gerd Binnig). In 1928 Ruska attempted to focus an electron
beam with an electromagnetic lens. He went on to add a second lens
and thus produced the first electron microscope; it had a magnifying
power of about seventeen. Improvements, however, came quickly and
by 1933 the magnifying power had been increased to 7000. Soon after
he joined the firm of Siemens and began to work on the production
of commercial models. The first such model appeared on the market
in 1939. It had a resolution of about 250-500 angstroms.
May 26: Waldo
Semon
Died 26 May 1999 (born 10 Sep 1898) (Born September 10, 1898: Died
May 26, 1999)
American chemical engineer who invented plasticized PVC (vinyl).
In 1926's, he discovered how to convert polyvinyl chloride from
a hard, unworkable substance to a pliable one. It is now used in
hundreds of products such as floor tile, garden hose, imitation
leather, shower curtains, and coatings. It is produced in larger
quantities than any other plastic except polyethylene. Semon also
made pioneering contributions in polymer science, including new
rubber antioxidants. His technical leadership led to discovery of
three major new polymer families: thermoplastic polyurethane, synthetic
"natural" rubber, and oil-resistant synthetic rubbers.
Semon held 116 U.S. patents.
May 25: John
Cocke
 (Born
May 25, 1925)
American computer scientist who invented the reduced instruction
set computing (RISC) in the 1970's. This innovation boosted computer
speed by simplifying instructions for frequently used functions.
As an IBM researcher for over 35 years, he developed computer architecture
and instruction sets, for which he holds numerous patents. Today
RISC is the basic architecture for most workstations. Besides those
for RISC technology, his 22 patents cover logic simulation, coding
theory, and compiler optimization.
May 24: William
Gilbert
(Born May 24, 1544: Died December 10, 1603)
English scientist, the "father of electrical studies"
and a pioneer researcher into magnetism, who spent years investigating
magnetic and electrical attractions. Gilbert coined the names of
electric attraction, electric force, and magnetic pole. He became
the most distinguished man of science in England during the reign
of Queen Elizabeth I. Noting that a compass needle not only points
north and south, but also dips downward, he thought the Earth acts
like a bar magnet. Like Copernicus, he believed the Earth rotates
on its axis, and that the fixed stars were not all at the same distance
from the earth. Gilbert thought it was a form of magnetism that
held planets in their orbits.
May 23: John
Bardeen
(Born May 23, 1908: Died January 30, 1991)
American physicist who was cowinner of the Nobel Prize for Physics
in both 1956 and 1972. He shared the 1956 prize with William B.
Shockley and Walter H. Brattain for their joint invention of the
transistor. With Leon N. Cooper and John R. Schrieffer he was awarded
the 1972 prize for development of the theory of semiconductors,
usually called the BCS-theory.
May 22: William
Sturgeon
(Born May 22, 1783: Died December 4, 1850)
English electrical engineer who devised the first electromagnet
capable of supporting more than its own weight (1825). The 7-ounce
(200-gram) magnet was able to support 9 pounds (4 kilograms) of
iron using the current from a single cell. Sturgeon built an electric
motor (1832) and invented the commutator, now part of most modern
electric motors. In 1836, he invented the first suspended coil galvanometer,
a device for measuring current. His interests also extended to improving
the voltaic battery, and developing theory of thermoelectricity,
and even atmospheric charge conditions. From 500 kite flights made
in calm weather, he found the atmosphere is consistently charged
positively with respect to the Earth, and increasingly so at increased
height.
May 21: Hans
Berger
(Born May 21, 1873: Died June 1, 1873)
Psychiatrist who recorded the first human electroencephalogram (EEG).
In 1929, he devised a system of electrodes which he attached to
his son's skull, and connected to an oscillograph. This gave a recording
of brain waves - the rhythmic changes in electric potentials. The
most prominent of these rhythms he labelled "alpha waves"
and "beta waves."
May 20: Phillipp
Lenard
(Born June 7, 1862: Died May 20, 1947)
Philipp Edduard Anton Lenard was a German physicist and recipient
of the 1905 Nobel Prize for Physics for his research on cathode
rays. He discovered they could leave a cathode ray tube, penetrate
thin metal sheets, and travel a short distance in the air, which
would become conducting.. In 1902, he observed that a free electron
(as in a cathode ray) must have at least a certain energy to ionize
a gas by knocking a bound electron out of an atom. His estimate
of the required ionization energy for hydrogen was remarkably accurate.
Also in 1902, he showed that the photoelectric effect produces the
same electrons found in cathode rays, that the photoelectrons are
not merely dislodged from the metal surface but ejected with a certain
amount of energy.
May 19: Sir
Joseph Larmor
 (Born
July 11, 1857: Died May 19, 1942)
Irish physicist, the first to calculate the rate at which energy
is radiated by an accelerated electron, and the first to explain
the splitting of spectrum lines by a magnetic field. His theories
were based on the belief that matter consists entirely of electric
particles moving in the ether. His elaborate mathematical electrical
theory of the late 1890s included the "electron" as a
rotational strain (a sort of twist) in the ether. But Larmor's theory
did not describe the electron as a part of the atom. Many physicists
envisioned both material particles and electromagnetic forces as
structures and strains in that hypothetical fluid.
May 18: Thomas
Midgley, Jr.
(Born May 18, 1889: Died November 2, 1944)
American engineer and chemist who discovered the effectiveness of
tetraethyl lead (C2H5)4Pb in 1921 as an antiknock additive for gasoline.
Knocking jars the wall of the automobile cylinders by the explosion
instead of steadily pushing the cylinder back. This wastes a large
percentage of the energy and damages the engine. He also developed
carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) a cleaning agent and in 1930 dichlorofluoromethane
(CCl2F2) later called "Freon". This is a non-toxic and
non-flammable gas, unreactive at normal temperatures but able to
be easily liquified by pressure alone. It replaced toxic gases previously
used in home refrigeration.
May 17: Erwin
Wilhelm Müller
(Born June 13, 1911: Died May 17, 1977)
German-U.S. physicist who invented the field emission microscope
(FIM), which provided magnifications in excess of one million. For
the first time made it possible to take pictures of individual atoms.
Images of the atomic structures of tungsten were first published
in 1951 in the journal Zeitschrift für Physik. In FIM, a voltage
of about 10kV is applied to a sharp metal tip, cooled to below 50
kelvin in a low-pressure helium gas atmosphere. Gas atoms are ionized
by the strong electric field in the vicinity of the tip and repelled
perpendicular to the tip surface. A detector images the spatial
distribution of these ions giving a magnification of the curvature
of the surface.
May 16: J.
Georg Bednorz
Born May 16, 1950
German physicist who, with Karl Alex Müller, was awarded the
1987 Nobel Prize for Physics for their joint discovery of superconductivity
in a new class of materials at temperatures higher than had previously
been thought attainable. They startled the world by reporting superconductivity
in a layered, ceramic material at a then record-high temperature
of 33 kelvin (that is 33 degrees above absolute zero, or roughly
-460 degrees Fahrenheit). Their discovery set off an avalanche of
research worldwide into related materials that yielded dozens of
new superconductors, eventually reaching a transition temperature
of 135 kelvin. Today, he develops complex oxide compounds with novel
crystal structures for possible uses in microelectronics.
May 15: William
Hume-Rothery
(Born May 15, 1899: Died September 27, 1968)
 British
metallurgist, internationally known for his work on the formation
of alloys and intermetallic compounds. During WW II, he supervised
many government contracts for work on complex aluminium and magnesium
alloys. He established that the microstructure of an alloy depends
on the different sizes of the component atoms, the valency electron
concentration, and electrochemical differences. Hume-Rothery rules
are an empirical guide to when two metals are sufficiently similar
to be completely miscible (form a single phase at all relative concentrations).
They are: (1). Atomic radii no more than about 15% different. (2).
Pure metals have the same crystal structure. (3). Atoms have similar
electronegativities. (4). Atoms have the same valence.
May 14: John
Chipman
(Born April 25, 1897: Died May 14, 1983)
American physical chemist and metallurgist who was instrumental
in applying the principles of physical chemistry to constituents
in liquid metals and to the chemical reactions between slag and
liquid iron that are important in the production of pig iron and
steel.
May 13: Joseph
Henry
(Born December 17, 1797: Died May 13, 1878)
 One
of the first great American scientists after Benjamin Franklin.
Although Henry at an early age appeared to be headed for a career
in the theater, a chance encounter with a book of lectures on scientific
topics turned his interest to science. He aided Samuel F.B. Morse
in the development of the telegraph and discovered several important
principles of electricity, including self-induction, a phenomenon
of primary importance in electronic circuitry. He was the first
Secretary (director) of the Smithsonian Institution (1846-1878),
where he established the foundation of a national weather service.
For more than thirty years, Henry insisted that basic research was
of fundamental importance.
May 12: Roy
J. Plunkett
 (Born
June 26, 1910: Died May 12, 1994)
American chemist and inventor of Teflon (the DuPont trademark name
for Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE). His discovery, while working
for DuPont, was accidental. On April 6, 1938, Plunkett found that
a tank of gaseous tetrafluoroethylene (CF2CF2) had polymerized to
a white powder. During WW II this new polymer was applied as a corrosion-resistant
coating to protect metal equipment used in the production of radioactive
material. DuPont released its trademarked Teflon coated nonstick
cookware in 1960.
May 11: Computer
memory
In 1951, Jay Forrester patented computer core memory.
May 10: John
Wesley Hyatt
 (Born
November 28, 1837: Died May 10, 1920)
US inventor and pioneer of the plastics industry who discovered
the process
for making celluloid. His other inventions included a water-purification
system, a sugar-cane mill, a machine for straightening steel rods,
a multi-stitch sewing-machine, and a widely used roller bearing.
In the 1860s he became interested in finding a substitute for the
ivory used to make billiard balls. With his brother Isaac, he improved
the techniques of molding pyroxylin (a partially nitrated cellulose)
with camphor by dissolving in an alcohol and ether mixture to make
it softer and more malleable. This he called "Celluloid,"
a name trademarked on January 14, 1873. It was the first synthetic
plastic, for which he took out a patent in 1870. Later in life he
had over 200 patents.
May 9: Paul-Louis-Toussaint
Héroult
 (Born
April 10, 1863: Died May 9, 1914)
French chemist who invented the electric-arc furnace, widely used
in making steel; and, independently of the simultaneous work of
Charles M. Hall of the United States, devised the electrolytic process
for preparing aluminum. This process made low-priced aluminum available
for the first time, securing the widespread use of the metal and
its alloys.
May 8: Dacron
In 1951, Dacron men's suits were introduced in New York City. The
8-oz fabric consisted of 55% Dacron and 45% worsted. The fabri,
made by Deering, Milliken & Co., of New York City, and the suits
sold by Hart, Schaffner & Marx Co, used a new polymer fiber
made of polyethylene terephthalate. Dacron, a registered trademark
of DuPont, (along with Terylene in England), became the first commercially
marketed polyester fiber. Dacron® is available as yarn, staple,
and fiberfill. Polyester is durable and washes well, with good resistance
to bleaches, soaps, detergents and dry cleaning agents. Dacron is
also resistant to creasing and abrasion.
May 7: Intergrated
Circuit
In 1952, the concept of the integrated circuit chip was first published,
by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer, in Washington DC.
May 6: Hindenburg
 In
1937, at 7:25 pm, the dirigible The Hindenburg burned while landing
at the naval air station at Lakehurst, N.J. On board were 6l crew
and 36 passengers. The landing approach seemed normal, when suddenly
a tongue of flame appeared near the stern. Fire spread rapidly through
the 7 million cubic feet of hydrogen that filled the balloon. Within
a few seconds the zeppelin exploded in a huge ball of fire. The
ship fell tail first with flames shooting out the nose. It crashed
into the ground 32 seconds after the flame was first spotted; 36
people died. Captain Ernst Lehmann survived the crash but died the
next day. He muttered "I can't understand it," The cause
remains the subject of debate.
May 5: Peter
Cooper Hewitt
(Born May 5, 1861: Died August 25, 1921)
American electrical engineer who invented the mercury-vapour lamp,
a major step in electrical lighting. He studied the production of
light using electrical discharges (while Edison was still developing
incandescent filaments). The mercury-filled tubes he began developing
in the late 1890s, gave off an unattractive blue-green light. Thus,
despite its brilliance, it was unsuitable as a lamp in homes. However,
photo studios widely adopted his lamps because the black and white
film of the time just needed very bright light, despite its colour.
There were also many industrial uses for the lamp. His manufacturing
company (est. 1902) was bought by General Electric in 1919 which
produced a new design in 1933.
May 4: Lightning
photograph
In 1884, the first photograph of a lightning flash made in the U.S.
was made by W. C. Gurley of the Marietta Observatory, Ohio. The
flash was about 3 miles away.
May 3: Sir
Charles Tilston Bright
(Born June 8, 1832, Died May 3, 1888)
British engineer who superintended the laying of the first Atlantic
telegraph cable.
May 2: Electrolysis
of water
In 1800, English chemist William Nicholson took wires from the poles
of a battery he had built and dipped them in water. He found bubbles
of gas were released due to the effect of current flow through water
and thus became the first to observe electrolysis. At the (positive)
anode, oxygen was released and hydrogen appeared at the cathode.
Electricity had separated the molecules of water.
May 1: BASIC
 In
1964, first BASIC program was run on a computer at about 4:00 a.m.
Invented at Dartmouth University by professors John G. Kemeny and
Thomas E. Kurtz, the first implementation was a BASIC compiler.
Basic is an acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction
Code, designed to be an easy programming language to learn quickly
how to write simple programs. Originally for mainframes, BASIC was
adopted for use on personal computers when they became available.
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