| NOVEMBER 14 - BIRTHS | |
| Edward H. White, II | |
(source) |
 Born 14
Nov 1930; died 27 Jan 1967.
First U.S. astronaut to walk in space. With James A. McDivitt he manned the four-day orbital flight of Gemini 4, launched on 3 Jun 1965. During the third orbit White emerged from the spacecraft, floated in space for about 20 minutes, and became the first person to propel himself in space with a maneuvering unit. Two years later, White was one of the three-man crew of Apollo 1 who in 1967 were the first casualties of the U.S. space program, killed during a flight simulation (the others were Virgil I. Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee). |
| Zhores Medvedev | |
(source) |
Born 14
Nov 1925
Zhores Aleksandrovich Medvedev is a Soviet biologist and historian who exposed the nuclear disaster which occurred in the Urals in the 1950's. For his dissident activities in his homeland, he became one of the earliest to be detained in a mental institution as the way Soviet officials attempted to stifle opposition. After he accepted a one-year invitation from the National Institute for Medical Research to work in London, in 1973, within six months of his arrival, he was forced into exile by the Soviet Union which revoked his passport. He became a senior research scientist for the NIMR . His books include The Rise and Fall of T.D. Lysenko (1969), The Medvedev Papers (1971), and Soviet Science (1978).  Nuclear
Disaster in the Urals, by Zhores A. Medvedev.
 Booklist
for Russia Nuclear Disaster |
| Sir Frederick Grant Banting | |
(source) |
Born 14
Nov 1891; died 21 Feb 1941.
Canadian physician who, assisted by Charles H. Best, was the first to extract (1921) the hormone insulin from the pancreas. Injections of insulin proved to be the first effective treatment for diabetes, a disease in which glucose accumulates in abnormally high quantities in the blood. Banting was awarded a share of the 1923 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for this achievement. Banting:
A Biography, by Michael Bliss.
Booklist
for Frederick Grant Banting |
| Leo Hendrik Baekeland | |
(source) |
Born 14
Nov 1863; died 23 Feb 1944.
Belgian-born U.S. industrial chemist who invented the first thermosetting plastic, Bakelite, that did not soften when heated. His first successful invention was Velox (in the 1890's), a photographic paper that could be used with artificial light rather than sunlight, which he sold in1899 to George Eastman for $1 million. He then experimented to find a synthetic substitute for shellac, a useful insulator of wires in electric coils. Eventually, he was able to control heat and pressure for a formaldehyde-phenol reaction. By 1909, he displayed the world's first fully synthetic plastic, which could be used not only for insulators, but moulded into buttons, knobs and countless other items. With this patented product, he helped found the modern plastics industry.« |
| Auguste Laurent | |
| Born 14
Nov 1807; died 23 Apr 1853.
French chemist who advanced knowledge of the structure of organic compounds. Booklist
for Auguste Laurent |
|
| Sir Charles Lyell | |
| Born 14
Nov 1797; died 22 Feb 1875.
(Baronet) Scottish geologist largely responsible for the general acceptance of the view that all features of the Earth's surface are produced by physical, chemical, and biological processes through long periods of geological time. The concept was called uniformitarianism (initially set forth by James Hutton). Principles
of Geology, by Charles Lyell.
Booklist
for Charles Lyell |
|
| Henri Dutrochet | |
(source) |
Born 14
Nov 1776; died 4 Feb 1847.
Rene-Joachim-Henri Dutrochet was a French physiologist who discovered and coined the name for (1863) osmosis, the process in which a solvent passes through a semipermeable membrane into a region of greater solute concentration, thus equalizing concentrations on either side of the membrane. He also studied development of eggs of birds. He was the first to recognize that the take-up of carbon dioxide by plant cells depends on their green pigment. The light sensitivity, and geotropism of plants also drew his interest. He was one of the most successful champions, in animal as well as vegetable physiology, of the modern ideas which displaced the old vitalistic school of thought after 1820.« |
| Xavier Bichat | |
 |
Born 14
Nov 1771; died 22 Jul 1802
(Marie François) Xavier Bichat was a was a young French physician who was the first to investigate the body's organs as a complex of simpler structures. He made hundreds of post-mortem examinations, with an unaided eye, noting the effect of disease on the organs. Even before knowledge of the cell as the functional unit of living things, he was among the first to visualize the organs of the body as being formed through the differentiation of simple, functional units. For these, typically thin layers that make up the organs, he coined the term "tissues" and identified 21 types in his book General Anatomy (1800). He died young, at age 30, after fainting and falling down the steps in his laboratory. « Xavier
Bichat and the Medical Theory of the Eighteenth Century,
by Elizabeth Haigh. |
| Robert Fulton | |
 |
Born 14
Nov 1765; died 24 Feb 1815.
American inventor, engineer, and artist who brought steamboating from the experimental stage to commercial success. He did not invent the steamboat, which had been built in the early 1700's, but rather applied his engineering skills to their design. He changed the proportions, arrangements, and velocities of already proposed ideas. In 1807, work was completed on the Clermont, the first steamboat that was truly successful, and the culmination of many years of work. It's maiden voyage was on 17 Aug from New York City to Albany, a distance of 150 miles completed in 32 hours. A mechanical genius with many talents, he also designed a system of inland waterways, a submarine (Nautilus, 1801), and a steam warship. 
Booklist
for Robert Fulton Steamboats |
| William Hewson | |
| Born 14
Nov 1739; died 1 May 1774.
British anatomist and physiologist who described blood coagulation and isolated a key protein in the coagulation process, fibrinogen, which he called coagulable lymph. He also investigated the structure of the lymphatic system and described red blood cells. |
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| NOVEMBER 14 - DEATHS | |
| Elman Rogers Service | |
(source) |
 Died
14 Nov 1996 (born 18 May 1915)
American anthropological theorist and formulator of the nomenclature now in standard use to categorize primitive societies as bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states. Although widely accepted, the system was abandoned by Service himself because his subsequent research made him question the accuracy of the terminology. Service did fieldwork among the Havasupai of the Grand Canyon and in Paraguay and Mexico. His principal theoretical interests were in kinship, cultural evolution, theories of culture and the evolution of political institutions. His principal ethnographic contribution was Tobati: Paraguayan Town (1954), written with his wife Helen. [Image: Havasupai Cliff Dwelling] |
| John Aitken | |
| Died
14 Nov 1919 (born 18 Sep 1839)
Scottish physicist and meteorologist known for his research work on atmospheric dust, the formation of dew, cyclones and evaporation. He invented the koniscope to detect and study atmospheric dust particles. He determined that condensation of atmospheric water vapor from clouds and fogs begins on the surface of microscopic particles (now known as Aitken nuclei) as a crucial step in the formation of rain and dew. Combustion produces a profusion of such particles. Suffering from ill health, he worked from a laboratory in his Falkirk home. Much of his work was published in the journals of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.« |
|
| Robert Whitehead | |
(source) |
Died
14 Nov 1905 (born 3 Jan 1823)
British engineer who invented the modern torpedo. His first torpedo lacked speed and range. However, by 1870 he had managed to increase its speed to 7 knots and could now hit a target 700 yards away. The following year the British Navy purchased Whitehead's invention. Although a star torpedo, a charge attached to a long pole and carried by a small boat, had been used during the American Civil War, Robert Whitehead was the first to produce a self-propelling torpedo. Whitehead's torpedo was propelled by a compressed-air engine, carried 18lbs. of dynamite. Its most important feature was a self-regulating device which kept the torpedo at a constant preset depth. Edison made a movie of a Whitehead topedo launch (1900). Booklist
for Robert Whitehead |
| Henry Bell | |
| Died
14 Nov 1830 (born 1767)
Scottish engineer who launched the first commercially successful steamship in Europe. |
|
| Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin | |
| Died
14 Nov 1829 (born 16 May 1763)
French chemist who discovered the elements chromium (1797) and beryllium (1798). |
|
| Thomas Mudge | |
(source) |
Died
14 Nov 1794 (born Sep 1717)
English watchmaker who invented the lever escapement (about 1757). He made one for Queen Charlotte, but few others. It eventually came to displace all other types of watch escapements, and remains the only type of escapement being presently manufactured for watches. It consists of an escape wheel, the "lever" itself and a balance wheel. The lever, when acted on by the balance wheel, locks and unlocks the escape wheel, allowing power to flow through the gear train in a uniform motion. He was the first to use stones for pallets and impulse pins. From 1771, he worked on the development of the chronometer. He sent one for its first trial in 1774, for which he was eventually was awarded £3,000 by the House of Commons. |
| Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz | |
(source) |
Died
14 Nov 1716 (born 1 Jul 1646)
German philosopher, mathematician, and political adviser, important both as a metaphysician and as a logician and distinguished also for his independent invention of the differential and integral calculus. Through meeting with such scholars as Christian Huygens in Paris and with members of the Royal Society, including Robert Boyle, during two trips to London in 1673 and 1676, Leibniz was introduced to the outstanding problems challenging the mathematicians and physicists of Europe. Leibniz's independently discovered differential and integral calculus (published 1684), but became involved in a bitter priority dispute with Isaac Newton, whose ideas on the calculus were developed earlier (1665), but published later (1687). The
Early Mathematical Manuscripts Of Leibniz, by Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz.
Booklist
for Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz |
| NOVEMBER 14 - EVENTS | |
| Fullerenes | |
In 1985, the first discovery of a fullerene was published in the journal
Nature. In Sep 1985, the American chemists Robert F. Curl, Jr. and Richard
E. Smalley, colleagues at Rice met with Sir Harold W. Kroto of the University
of Sussex, England. In 11 days of research, they discovered the first fullerene,
C60, a spherical cluster of carbon atoms. The discovery, dubbed buckminsterfullerene
or buckyballs, opened a new branch of chemistry, and all three men were
awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their work.
Booklist
for Fullerenes |
|
| Laser patent | |
|
In 1967, a U.S. patent for "Ruby Laser Systems" was issued to Theodore
Maiman (No. 3,353,115), for which he had applied on 13 Apr 1961. He
had first operated
a laser based on a ruby crystal on 16
May 1960, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
Booklist
for Theodore Maiman |
|
| BBC | |
(source) |
In 1922, the BBC officially opened
and began its daily domestic radio service broadcasting with the 6:00pm
news read by Arthur Burrows from 2LO, Marconi House, London. Next day,
Manchester (2ZY) and Birmingham stations (5IT) were brought into service.
The first trial
broadcast of station 2LO in London had been made from a 100W transmitter
on the top floor on 11 May 1922. A week later, talks began to form a UK
broadcasting syndicate, which led to the formation of the British Broadcasting
Company. A Broadcasting Licence Fee of 10 shillings (then worth
£18 in today's money) was introduced on 1 Nov 1922. The original
2LO transmitter was presented by the BBC to the Science Museum on 3 Nov
2002. [Image: 2LO antenna]
Booklist
for BBC history |
| Flight from a ship | |
(source) |
In 1910, the first airplane flight from a ship was made by Eugene
Ely from the bow of the scout cruiser Birmingham, anchored at
the Hampton Roads Yatch Clubhouse at Willoughby Spit. His runway was 83
feet long, with a five degree slope, but because the plane itself was 57
feet long, the available runway for takeoff was only 26 feet. He then flew
through fog and rain to Hampton Rpads, Va. For his effort, he won a $5,000
prize offereed by John Barry Ryan. Ely was a civilian pilot for the Curtiss
Aviation Company. The following year, 18 Jan 1911, Ely made another first
in history when he landed
on he battleship USS
Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay. |
| Emancipation run | |
|
In 1896, the speed limit for horseless carriages in Britain was raised
to 14mph.* An "emancipation
run" of cars began with over thirty motorists in London on a drive to Brighton,
to celebrate the repeal
of the so-called "Red Flag Act" earlier in the year. Section 3 of that
former Act of Parliament (1865) had required "at least three persons shall
be employed to drive or conduct such a locomotive... one of such persons...
shall precede such locomotives on foot by not less than sixty yards and
shall carry a red flag constantly displayed and shall warn drivers and
riders of horses of such locomotives." Under the old Act, speed had
been reduced to a limit to 4 mph in the country or 2 mph in towns. |
|
| Street car | |
|
In 1832, the first street car to be used in the U.S. took its initial trip
with municipal officals in New York City. Named the John Mason,
after a prominent New York Banker, the carriage was horse-drawn and rode
on iron wheels along iron rails laid in the middle of the road. The track
ran along Fourth Avenue from Prince Street to 14th Street. The carriage
had three non-connecting compartments, each able to carry ten passengers.
Public transportation began on 26 Nov 1832 for a fare of 12-1/2 cents.
The conveyance was designed and built by John Stephenson in Philadelphia.
Although horses had previously been used to haul trains on railroad tracks,
this was the first horse-drawn street-car. |
|
| Iron ship | |
|
In 1825, the first ship made in the U.S. with sheet iron was tested on
the Susquehanna River. Named the Codorus, the vessel
was built by Quaker John Elgar at York, Pa. using sheet iron fastened with
iron rivets. The ship weighted five tons, of which two tons was for the
coal- and wood- fueled boiler which provided power for an 8 h.p. engine.
With a keel length of 60-ft and a 9-ft beam, the ship drew about seven
inches of water. The next spring, the steamboat performed according to
design by completing an upriver trip to Binghamton, N.Y. - the only steamboat
to do so. The difficult three-month voyage proved that upstream navigation
on the shallow, rock-filled Susquehanna was impractical. |
|
| First blood transfusion | |
|
In 1666, the English physician, Samuel Pepys, made an record
in his diary describing Richard
Lower making the first
documented blood transfusion.
"Dr. Croone told me ... there was a pretty experiment
of the blood of one dog let
out, till he had died, into the body of another on one side, while
all his own run out on the other side. The first died upon the place, and
the other very well and likely to do well. This did give occasion to many
pretty wishes, as of the blood of a Quaker to be let into an Archbishop
and such like; but, as Dr. Croon says, may, if it takes, be of mighty use
to man's health, for the amending of bad blood by borrowing from a better
body." Two days later, 16 Nov, Pepys noted
meeting with Robert
Hooke, and hearing the dog was very well.
Booklist
for Blood Transfusion |
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