| JANUARY 13 - BIRTHS | |
| Sydney Brenner | |
(source) |
 Born 13
Jan 1927.
South African biologist who shared (with H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston) the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2002 for their discoveries concerning how the genes regulate organ development and programmed cell death (apoptosis). Brenner established Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for the investigation of animal development including neural development. He chose this organism, a 1-mm-long soil roundworm, because of its simple structure, ease to grow in bulk populations, and finding that it is convenient for genetic analysis.  My
Life in Science, by Dr. Sydney Brenner. |
| Ross Granville Harrison | |
(source) |
Born 13
Jan 1870; died 30 Sep 1959.
American zoologist who developed the first successful animal-tissue cultures and pioneered organ transplantation techniques. In an early experiment, he joined parts of embryos from differently coloured frogs to observe the movement of cells during the subsequent development of the embryos produced in this way. In another experiment, he took tissue from an amphibian embryo that would have formed a left limb, inverted and transferred it to the embryo's right side, where it formed a right limb. He found a new method of studying cells, the hanging- drop culture method (1907), by which he kept fragments of living tissue alive in suitable media and watch them multiply. Using this technique, he settled a controversy about the embryonic origins of nerve fibres. |
| Wilhelm Wien | |
(source) |
Born 13
Jan 1864; died 30 Aug 1928.
German physicist who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1911 for his displacement law concerning the radiation emitted by the perfectly efficient blackbody (a surface that absorbs all radiant energy falling on it). While studying streams of ionized gas Wien, in 1898, identified a positive particle equal in mass to the hydrogen atom. Wien, with this work, laid the foundation of mass spectroscopy. J J Thomson refined Wien's apparatus and conducted further experiments in 1913 then, after work by E Rutherford in 1919, Wien's particle was accepted and named the proton. Wien also made important contributions to the study of cathode rays, X-rays and canal rays. |
| Oskar Minkowski | |
(source) |
Born 13
Jan 1858; died 18 Jul 1931.
German physiologist and pathologist who introduced the concept that diabetes results from suppression of a pancreatic substance (later found to be the hormone insulin). After studying how fat is metabolized by the body, in 1889, Oskar Minkowski and Joseph von Mering uncovered the role of the pancreas in diabetes. In an experiment in which they removed the pancreas from a dog, it consequently developed diabetes. He was the brother of mathematician Hermann Minkowski (whose idea of a four-dimensional or "Minkowski space", laid the mathematical foundation of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity). Oskar's son, Rudolf Minkowski was a physicist and astronomer. |
| Félix Tisserand | |
(source) |
Born 13 Jan 1845; died 20 Oct 1896.
François-Félix Tisserand was a French astronomer whose 4-volume textbook Traité de mécanique céleste (1889-96; "Treatise on Celestial Mechanics") updated Pierre-Simon Laplace's work. At age 28, he was named Director at Toulouse Observatory (1873-78). He went to Japan to observe the 1874 transit of Venus. The 83-cm telescope he installed at the Toulouse Observatory in 1875 had a wooden base insufficiently stable for photographic work, but he was able to use it for observation of the satellites of Jupiter and of Saturn. From 1892 until his death he was director of the Paris Observatory, where he completed the major work, Catalogue photographique de la carte du ciel, and arranged for its publication.« [Image right: Tisserands's 83-cm telescope.] |
| JANUARY 13 - DEATHS | |
| Robert Adams | |
(source) |
 Died
13 Jan 1875 (born c. 1791)
Irish surgeon known for his contributions to the knowledge of heart, respiratory, vascular and joint diseases, particularly on gout (which he suffered himself). In 1827 he described a condition characterized by a very slow pulse and by transient giddiness or convulsive seizures, now known as the Adams-Stokes disease or syndrome. |
| Paul Niggli | |
(source) |
Died
13 Jan 1953 (born 26 Jun 1888)
Swiss mineralogist who originated the idea of a systematic deduction of the patterns in the internal structure of crystals by means of X-ray data. He supplied a complete outline of methods that have since been used to determine these patterns. There are 230 possible different internal patterns for different crystals. Because the patterns describe a three-dimensional arrangement, they are known as space groups. Niggli also developed a notation that described the individual space groups, and co-authored a definitive set of tables describing them.  |
| Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti | |
(source) |
Died
13 Jan 1930 (born 9 Apr 1864)
English electrical engineer who promoted the installation of large electrical generating stations and alternating current distribution networks in England. He was interested in electrical and mechanical devices as a youth, and in 1881, began such employment while in his late teens. In his 20's, he began planning an ambitious generating station about 8 miles outside London, to use transmission at an unprecedented 10,000 volts - four times greater than previously practical. For this he began designing suitable cables, transformers and generators. His idea of making high voltage flexible cables using wax-impregnated paper for insulation was a landmark development used exclusively until the advent of synthetic materials. His 176 patents cover varied inventions. Ferranti
and the British Electrical Industry, 1864-1930, by J.
F. Wilson |
| Peter Waage | |
(source) |
Died
13 Jan 1900 (born 29 Jun 1833)
Norwegian chemist who, with his brother-in-law Cato Guldberg published the mass action law in 1864. The law states that the rate of a chemical change depends on the concentrations of the reactants. Thus for a reaction: A + B >> C the rate of reaction is proportional to [A][B], where [A] and [B] are concentrations. Guldberg and Waage also investigated the effects of temperature. They did not gain full credit for their work at the time, partly due to their first publishing the law in Norwegian. Even when published in French (1867) the law received little attention. Its importance was rediscovered by William Esson and Vernon Harcourt working at Oxford University. |
| Henri Braconnot | |
| Died
13 Jan 1855 (born 29 May 1781)
French chemist known for isolating glucose, a simple sugar, directly from such plant material as sawdust, linen or bark by boiling them with acid (1819). Previously, glucose had only been derived from starch. In 1811, he was the first to find fungtine - in mushrooms. (It was named chitin in the 1830's when it was also isolated in insects.) Chitin is one of the most abundant polysaccharides found in nature. In 1832, Braconnot prepared "xyloidine" by treating starch, sawdust, and cotton with nitric acid. He found that this material was soluble in wood vinegar and attempted to make coatings, films, and shaped articles from it. This was an early discovery preceeding the work of other scientists with nitrocellulose that led to the advent of plastics and rayon. |
|
| JANUARY 13 - EVENTS | |
| Female astronauts | |
In 1978, NASA selected its first U.S. women astronauts. |
|
| Reading for the blind | |
|
In 1976, the first machine for reading printed matter aloud was given its
first public demonstration, by its inventor, Raymond Kurzwell. Using a
camera with a computer, pages of printed matter could be scanned, the letters
analysed, and reproduced in synthesized English speech at 150 words per
minute. The material used could be books, magazines or typewritten correspondance.
The machine was manufactured by the Kurzwell Computer Products, Inc., and
was tested by the National Federation for the Blind. |
|
| Petition | |
 |
In 1958, Linus Pauling (1901-1994) presented the petition of 9,000 scientists
to the U.N., asking to halt the testing of nuclear bombs. Pauling,
together with his wife, was instrumental in collecting thousands of signatures
from scientists all over the world for the petition to end nuclear bomb
testing, which was presented to Dag Hammarskjöld, secretary general
of the United Nations. A few months later the Soviet Union called for an
immediate halt to nuclear testing, and in October, after more tests by
both sides that added markedly to world concern about fallout, talks began
in Geneva to discuss details of a possible test ban. |
| Frisbee | |
 |
In 1957, the Wham-O Company developed the first frisbee; a representative
of the company got the idea for the product when he saw some truck drivers
from the Frisbee Pie Co. of Connecticut showing Yale students how to throw
pie pins in the air. Image:
patent diagrams of the Frisbee. |
| Ejection seat | |
|
(source) |
In 1943, the first use of an ejection
seat to save a pilot was made. Schenk,
a German test pilot, required its use when his He 280 refused to separate
from the tow aircraft due to the cable release mechanism icing up. As a
precaution, Schenk ejected and landed safely. The tow was being made because
the He-280 was powered by two Argus pulse-jets that required a high forward
speed to start up. The first ejection seat was made by Heinkel, for the
He
280. It was pneumatically powered, and accelerated the pilot upwards
at between seven-g and nine-g. The He-280 was the first twin-jet engined
aircraft and the first jet aircraft to go beyond prototype stage.
"Eject!:
The Complete History of U.S. Aircraft Escape Systems" by
Jim Tuttle. |
| Plastic automobile patent | |
(source) |
In 1942, the first U.S. patent for construction of an automobile using
plastic was issued to Henry Ford of Dearborn, Mich. It covered an automobile
body construction, an auto body chassis frame made of steel tubes or pipes
designed for use with automobiles made from plastics. The first such car
manufactured in the U.S. was produced by the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn,
Mich. in Aug 1941. Fourteen plastic panels were mounted on a tubular welded
frame. Together with windows and windshield made of acrylic sheets, a decrease
in weight of approximately 30 percent was accomplished. (No. 2,269,451) |
| Experimental TV sets installed | |
|
In 1928, three television sets were installed by RCA and GE in homes in
Schenectady, New York. American inventor E.F.W. Alexanderson demonstrated
the first home television receiver which delivered a poor and unsteady
picture only 1.5 inches square. The picture, with 48 lines at 16 frames
per second, was transmitted over 2XAF on 37.8 meters and the sound was
transmitted over WGY radio station. The sets were in the homes
of Alexanderson and two board members. On 28 May 1928, the first television
station WGY began broadcasting regular programs on Tuesday, Thursday, and
Friday afternoons from 1:30 to 3:30 pm, using 24 lines. Sets were built
and distributed by General Electric in Schenectady. |
|
| First one-kilometer circuit flight | |
(source) |
In 1908, Henry Farman, an English-born Frenchman, flew the first
one-kilometer circuit, winning the Grand Prix de Aviation and its 50,000
franc purse. He crossed the starting poles about 4-m (13-ft) in the air,
then flew straight out for about 500-m. Slowly climbing to 12-m (40-ft)
he then made a wide, flat turn, using rudder alone to slide around the
marker. He came back and made another turn, crossed the point at which
he started, and landed gently. The entire flight lasted 28-sec, and covered
the prescribed kilometer. Although the Wrights may have accomplished this
at an earlier date, this was the first such flight in front of official
witnesses. |
| First U.S. advertisement for a radio receiver | |
(source) |
In 1906, this date is sometimes given for the first U.S. advertisement
for a radio receiver. However, the earliest one-inch advertisement for
the Telimco appeared in the 25 Nov
1905 issue of the Scientific American. Both these, and several
similar weekly advertisements in between, were run by Hugo Gernsback of
The Electro Importing Company of New York. It seems that Gernsback himself
appeared to have forgotten the exact date on which the first Telimco advertisement
appeared. The Electro Importing catalogs from the mid-teens state that
the ads premiered in Scientific American in Nov 1905. However, in
a special issue of Radio Craft published in Mar 1938, Gernsback
gave the date as 13 Jan 1906. |
| Granville Woods patent | |
(source) |
In 1903, Black American inventor, Granville
T. Woods, was issued a U.S. patent for an "Electric Railway System."
of the type that "current for the car-motor is taken from working contacts
or conductors along the road bed." The object of Woods' invention was to
"insure safety from shock at the working conductor or contacts, reduce
leakage to a minimum, economize current in the operation of the system,
and at the same time provide a system which can be easily constructed and
perfectly controlled." He assigned the right to the General Electric Company
of New York. Woods produced many
inventions
relating to railways. (No. 718,183)
Black
Inventors in the Age of Segregation, by Rayvon Fouche |
| Chenille manufacturing machine patented | |
(source) |
In 1n 1863, the first U.S. patent for a chenille manufacturing machine
was issued to William Canter of New York City, who made the first such
machine in the U.S. (No. 37,415) |
| Railway track scale patent | |
| In
1857, the first U.S. patent for a railway track scale was issued to Thaddeus
Fairbanks (No. 16,381).
Such a platform scale was introduced by the E. and T. Fairbanks and Company
of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. It was designed to weigh railway cars either
alone or in train. The platform of the scale was fitted with two rails
arranged in line with the railway track such that cars and carriages could
readily be rolled on and off. The mechanism beneath was set in a pit. It
was constructed with suitable levers and bearings to permit weighing a
great range of loads accurately. Thaddeus and his brother built their company's
scale business starting over two decades earlier with their invention of
a platform scale for merchandise,
which they patented 30 Jun 1831. |
|
| Accordion patent | |
|
In 1854, the first U.S. patent for an accordion was issued to Anthony Faas
of Philadephia. Pa. (No. 11,062).
Faas claimed two improvements. First, he combined with the diatonic scale
of the large keys two other scales, namely, one for producing all the intermediate
notes, or semitones, and the other founded upon the subdominant of said
diatonic scale, and both arranged so as to be fingered by a single set
of small keys for the purpose of enabling the instrument to produce full
and correct harmony in any key. His second improvement consisted in providing
the accordion with a sound-board, for the purpose of producing more strength,
fullness and resonance of tone with the instrument. |
|
| Callisto | |
(NASA) |
In 1610, Galileo Galilei discovered Callisto, the fourth satellite
of Jupiter. Galileo originally called the Jupiter's moons the "Medicean
planets", after the Medici family and referred to the individual moons
numerically as I, II, III and IV. Galileo's naming system would be used
for a couple of centuries. It wouldn't be until the mid-1800's
that the names of the Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, would be officially adopted, and only after it became apparent that naming moons by number would be very confusing as new additional moons were being discovered. It is now known that Callisto is larger than the planet Mercury, and composed mostly of water and water ice with large quantities of ice exposed on the surface. |
| Alchemy | |
|
In 1404, English alchemists were forbidden
to use their knowledge to create precious metals. Since the time of Roger
Bacon, it had fascinated the imagination of many ardent men in England.
During the reign of Henry IV, the Act of Multipliers was passed by the
Parliament, declaring the use of transmutation to "multiply" gold and silver
to be felony. Great alarm was felt at that time lest any alchymist should
succeed in his projects, and perhaps bring ruin upon the state, by furnishing
boundless wealth to some designing tyrant, who would make use of it to
enslave his country. In 1689, Robert Boyle lobbied
for repeal of the Act. |
|
