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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