| MARCH 6 - BIRTHS | |
| Valentina Tereshkova | |
(source) |
 Born 6
Mar 1937
Soviet cosmonaut who was the first woman to fly in space, and is the only solo woman. She had worked in tyre and textile factories. She was selected (1961) as a cosmonaut for her expert skill in parachuting. She trained in a special woman-in-space program, and was the only one of the four women participants to complete a space mission. She was launched in Vostok 6 on 16 Jun 1963, two days after Valery F. Bykovsky in Vostok 5. Tereshkova made 48 orbits of Earth in 71 hours. The two cosmonauts landed on the same day, 19 Jun. Tereshkova left the program shortly after her return. She was honored with the title Hero of the Soviet Union. She went into space two decades before America's first woman astronaut, Sally Ride.« |
| Claude-Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer | |
(source) |
Born 6 Mar 1898 (death reported 5 Oct 1982)
French archaeologist who was the first excavator at Ras Shamra in Syria. The site, Ugarit, dates back to the sixth or seventh millennium B.C. nestled in the shadow of the Jebel al-Aqra (Mount Sanpanu) by the Mediterranean Sea, 10-km north of present-day Syrian port, Latakia. It was discovered accidentally (1928) when a peasant's plow hit the stones of a vaulted tomb. In 1929, Schaeffer began a lifetime excavating there. His stratographic soundings revealed five separate archaeological levels. The uppermost dates from the Late Bronze Age, 1600-1200 B.C., and the time of Ugarit's demise. The deeper levels date from the Middle Bronze Age, Early Bronze Age, Chalcolithic age of stone and copper, and the Neolithic.« [Image: view of a small section of the ruins at Ugarit.]  Vounous:
C.F.A. Schaeffer's Excavations..., by Anne-Elizabeth
Dunn-Vaturi, Claude F.-A. Schaeffer, et al. |
| Benton MacKaye | |
(source) |
Born 6
Mar 1879; died 11 Dec 1975.
American forester and conservationist and regional planner, who was as "father of the Appalachian Trail" was instrumental in creating a 2,000-mile footpath from Maine to Georgia. As a government planner, he spearheaded the idea of the "townless highway." Early on, he advocated preserving cultural and recreational areas in an increasingly urbanized environment. He proposed the Appalachian Trail in an Oct 1921 article. He was one of the founders of the Regional Planning Association of America (1923), through which he held a two-day "Appalachian Trail Conference" in Washington, D.C. (Mar 2-3, 1925). By 1934, 1,937 miles of the trail had been blazed through the efforts of volunteers.« Benton
MacKaye: Conservationist, Planner, and Creator of the Appalachian Trail,
by Larry Anderson. |
| Johann Georg Hagen | |
(source) |
Born 6
Mar 1847; died 5 Sep 1930.
Jesuit priest and astronomer who made a catalog of variable stars (1890-1908). Working at the Vatican Observatory he reexamined for accuracy the listing of all of the NGC (New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters) objects north of about -30 degrees. He published lists of errata in the NGC. During his observations, he observed dark nebulae, tenuous dark clusters of interstellar matter sometimes known as Hagen's clouds. These strange clouds have not been recorded by others, and are now attributed to optical illusions associated with visual observations. Jesuits have been involved in astronomy since 1551 when Fr. Christoph Clavius, SJ, a mathematician and astronomer helped Pope Gregory XIII reform the calendar.« |
| Aaron Lufkin Dennison | |
(source) |
Born 6
Mar 1812; died 9 Jan 1895.
American watchmaker who was the first person to apply the interchangeable system to the manufacture of watches, and has been called the "father of the American watch factories." He began work as a journeyman watchmaker in Boston in 1833. Having observed the precision manufacturing of firearms, around 1840 he invented the Dennison Standard Gauge, and then began to develop the "Interchangeable System" (the American System of Watch Manufacturing). In 1849, Dennison partnered with the clockmaker Edward Howard to manufacture interchangeable movement parts, tfrom 1950, o enhance quality and lower the price of watches. He moved to pursue business in Switzerland in 1865 after the American Civil War.« |
| Joseph von Fraunhofer | |
(source) |
Born 6
Mar 1787; died 7 Jun 1826.
German physicist who was the first to study the dark lines in the solar spectrum, which were seen by Wollaston in 1802, but are called Fraunhofer lines. Fraunhofer was not able to explain them, but measured 576 lines. Over 25,000 have now been found in the solar spectrum. These are caused by selective absorption of those wavelengths by atoms of elements, and their relative positions are the same whether the light is produced by heated metals in the laboratory or seen from those gaseous elements in the sun or viewed from other heavenly bodies. Before other scientists so widely adopted the technique, he used a diffraction grating instead of a prism to disperse the spectrum. He also invented a heliometer.« Spectrum
of Belief: Joseph von Fraunhofer..., by Myles W. Jackson. |
| MARCH 6 - DEATHS | |
| Hans Albrecht Bethe | |
(source) |
 Died
6 Mar 2005 (born 2 Jul 1906)
German-born American theoretical physicist who helped to shape classical physics into quantum physics and increased the understanding of the atomic processes responsible for the properties of matter and of the forces governing the structures of atomic nuclei. Bethe did work relating to armour penetration and the theory of shock waves of a projectile moving through air. He studied nuclear reactions and reaction cross sections (1935-38). In 1943, Oppenheimer asked Bethe to be the head of the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project. After returning to Cornell University in 1946, Bethe became a leader promoting the social responsibility of science. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics (1967) for his work on the production of energy in stars. The
Road from Los Alamos (Masters of Modern Physics), by
Hans Albrecht Bethe. |
| Ferdinand von Lindemann | |
(source) |
Died
6 Mar 1939 (born 12 Apr 1852)
(Carl Louis) Ferdinand von Lindemann was a German mathematician who was the first to prove that 
is transcendental (it is not a solution of any algebraic equation with
rational coefficients). This finally established
the insoluble nature of the classical Greek mathematical problem of squaring
the circle (constructing a square with the same area as a given circle
using ruler and compasses alone.) In 1873, Lindemann visited Hermite
in Paris and discussed the methods which Hermite had used in his proof
that e, the base of natural logarithms, is transcendental. Following
this visit, Lindemann was able to extend Hermite's results to show that
was also transcendental (1882).« |
| C. Lloyd Morgan | |
(source) |
Died
6 Mar 1936 (born 6 Feb 1852)
C(onwy) Lloyd Morgan was a British zoologist and psychologist, best remembered for coining Morgan's Canon expressing that the interpretation of animal behavior should be described in the simplest possible terms: "In no case may we interpret an action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher psychical faculty, if it can be interpreted as the outcome of one which stands lower in the psychological scale." (In 1947, Philip L. Harriman stated that Morgan's Canon was simply a specialised form of Occam's razor applied to animal psychology.) For his work, Morgan is sometimes called the founder of comparative, or animal, psychology. His Canon was significant in developing concepts of behaviorism in twentieth century academic psychology.« Habit
and Instinct, by C. Lloyd Morgan. |
| David Dunbar Buick | |
(source) |
Died 6 Mar 1929 (born 17 Sep 1854)
Scottish-born American inventor and pioneer automobile manufacturer. He invented the more powerful valve-in-head engine and the windshield. Lacking business acumen, he was a manufacturer for only a few years, but Buick's brand name remained after his business was taken over by his financiers. Buick had begun (1884) in the plumbing supply business, and developed a method for bonding enamel to iron in the production of baths and sinks. By 1899, he made internal combustion engines, which led to forming the Buick Manufacturing Company (1902) to manufacture automobiles. After about a year in business, his company was turned over to other businessmen able to expand it. Buick left in 1906 to pursue other interests.« The
Buick: A Complete History, by Terry B. Dunham. |
| Gottlieb Daimler | |
(source) |
Died 6 Mar 1900 (born 17 Mar 1834)
Gottlieb (Wilhelm) Daimler was a German engineer and pioneer automobile manufacturer. He invented the first high-speed internal combustion engine, operating at up to 900 rpm (1883) and a carburetor (1885) to mix petrol fuel and air. The motorbike he built in 1885 was perhaps the world's first. It was the world's first when, with Wilhelm Maybach, he constructed a four-wheeled automobile in 1886 capable of a speed of 11 mph. After developing a four-speed gearbox and a belt-drive to transfer power to the wheels, they started manufacturing. In 1890 he founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, which produced the Mercedes (1889), later merging into Daimler-Benz & Co. in 1926. Zeppelin used Daimler engines for his airships.« A
Daimler Century: The Full History of Britain's Oldest Car Maker,
by Lord Montagu. |
| John Goodsir | |
(source) |
Died
6 Mar 1867 (born 20 Mar 1814)
Scottish anatomist who was one of the earliest and most acute observers of cell-life. In his early medical career, he identified the independent origins of deciduous and permanent teeth. Goodsir recognized the importance of cell division as the basis of growth and observed the cell is divided into a number of departments. His discoveries anticipated by a number of years the work of Rudolph Virchow. In 1842, he showed that stomach upsets with vomiting were caused by bacteria, treated it accordingly, and thus, before Pasteur, was the first to successfully recognise and treat a bacterial infection. Goodsir taught anatomy, physiology and pathology, while maintaining his research at the dissecting-table.« |
| William Whewell | |
(source) |
Died
6 Mar 1866 (born 24 May 1794)
British scientist, best known for his survey of the scientific method and for creating scientific words. He founded mathematical crystallography and developed Mohr's classification of minerals. He created the words scientist and physicist by analogy with the word artist. They soon replaced the older term natural philosopher. Other useful words were coined to help his friends: biometry for Lubbock; Eocine, Miocene and Pliocene for Lyell; and for Faraday, anode, cathode, diamagnetic, paramagnetic, and ion (whence the sundry other particle names ending -ion). In metereology, Whewell devised a self-recording anemometer. He was second only to Newton for work on tidal theory. He died as a result of being thrown from his horse*.« William
Whewell: Theory of Scientific Method, by William Whewell |
| Henry Miller Shreve | |
(source) |
Died
6 Mar 1851 (born 21 Oct 1785)
American steamboat designer and builder who helped develop the commercial potential of the inland waterways of the Mississippi River system. Within a few years of Robert Fulton's successful steamboat experiment (1807), Shreve had built his own, the Enterprise (1813), which made the first complete upriver trip from New Orleans to Pittsburgh. He fought legal battles against Fulton's monopoly on river routes. By 1821, Shreve addressed the need to make navigation safer by clearing the river of obstructions. He created snag-boats with a jaw-like bow able to pull up snags (tree trunks), and put them through a sawmill on their deck. Shreve's work was a major contribution to the great era of steamboat traffic prior to the Civil War.« |
| John Stevens | |
(source) |
Died
6 Mar 1838 (born 1749)
American engineer and lawyer who invented the screw propeller (1802) and the multitubular boiler engine. His Phoenix was the first oceangoing steamboat (1809), and he operated the Juliana, the first steam-boat ferry. His interest in applying steam steam power to transportation began in the late 1780s. Stevens petitioned the U.S. Congress to establish a U.S. patent law (enacted 1790) and registered patents for his improved boiler and engine designs (1792). The sea voyage of the Phoenix paddle-wheel steamboat was from New York City to Philadelphia. On 11 Oct 1811, the Juliana, began operations as a ferry between New York, NY, and Hoboken, NJ. He demonstrated the first steam locomotive in the U.S. on his estate (1825). |
| Guarino Guarini | |
(source) |
Died
6 Mar 1683 (born 17 Jan 1624)
Italian architect and theologian whose study of mathematics led him to a career in architecture in which he created the most fantastic geometric elaboration of all baroque churches. In his Santissima Sindone, Guarini created a diaphanous dome - a geometrical optical illusion in the dome made through the use of the actual structure which creates the illusion that the dome recedes farther up into space than it really does. He wrote two architectural treatises and other works that concentrate on his mathematical knowledge. Therein, Guarini discusses Desargue's projective geometry, which reveal a scientific basis for his daring structures. He worked primarily in Turin and Sicily, with his influence stretching into Germany, Austria and Bohemia.« Guarino
Guarini and His Architecture, by H. Meek. |
| MARCH 6 - EVENTS | |
| Biosphere 2 | |
(source) |
In 1994, in Biosphere 2, a glass enclosed ecosystem, a group of seven people
from five countries began a new study in self-contained living. Their aim
was to live within the structure, supported by the several simulated types
of ecosystems therein, to provide information which may be applied to solving
ecological problems created by man. Biosphere 2 was built in the desert
outside of Oracle, Ariz. |
| DNA structure | |
(source) |
In 1953, Watson and Crick submitted to the journal Nature their
first article on the structure of DNA. It was published
in the 25 Apr 1953 issue. "We wish to put forward a radically different
structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid. This structure has
two helical chains each coiled around the same axis... Both chains follow
right-handed helices... The novel feature of the structure is the manner
in which the two chains are held together by purine and pyrimidine bases...
They are joined together in pairs, a single base from one chain being hydrogen-bonded
to a single base from the other chain, so that the two lie side by side
with identical z-co-ordinates. One of the pair must be a purine
and the other a pyrimidine in order for bonding to occur."« [Image:
DNA as illustrated in the Nature article.] |
| Silly Putty | |
(source) |
In 1950, Silly
Putty was introduced as a toy by Peter
Hodgson, a marketing consultant, who packaged one-ounce portions of
the rubber-like material in plastic eggs. It could be stretched, rolled
into a bouncing ball, or used to transfer colored ink from newsprint. The
original discovery was made in 1943 by James
Wright who combined silicone oil and boric acid at the laboratories
of General Electric. He was researching methods of making synthetic rubber,
but at the time no significant application existed for the material. However,
it was passed around as a curiosity. Hodgson saw a sample and realized
its potential simply for entertainment and coined its name for marketing
it as a toy. Its popularity made him a millionaire.« |
| Frozen food | |
(source) |
In 1930, General Foods put the first individually packaged
frozen foods - "Birds Eye Frosted Foods" - on sale in Springfield, Massachussetts,
USA. To test the market, the product was sold in 18 retail stores to see
how consumers react to frozen foods. Clarence
Birdseye got his idea after seeing Canadians thawing and eating naturally
frozen fish. From 1922, he prepared frozen fish for sale, and developed
freezing processes. By 1927, he turned his attention to a wider range of
foods. The initial Birds Eye line featured 26 items, including 18 cuts
of frozen meat, spinach and peas, a variety of fruits and berries, blue
point oysters and fish fillets. By May, sales increased dramatically. This
experiment is considered the birth of retail frozen foods.  |
| Bohr's model of the atom | |
(source) |
In 1913, this date was written by Niels
Bohr on his first paper describing his new ideas on atomic structure,
and mailed to his mentor, Ernest Rutherford. It was one of three historic
papers he wrote on this subject. |
| Aspirin | |
(source) |
In 1899, "Aspirin" was patented by Felix Hoffmann. He had successfully
created
a chemically pure and stable form of acetylsalicylic acid in 1897. His
handwritten laboratory notes suggested: "Through its physical characteristics
such as a sour taste without any corrosive effect, acetylsalicylic acid
has an advantage over salicylic acid and will therefore be tested for its
usability in this context." His success was Aspirin
- a better pain reliever for his father's rheumatoid arthritis than the
salicylic acid previously used despite unpleasant side effects, such as
stomach bleeding and a horrid taste. Hoffmann had improved on the earlier
impure form derived by French chemist Charles Frederic Gerhardt (1853). |
| Horseless carriage | |
|
In 1896, the first appearance of an auto on the streets in Detroit occurred
when Charles Brady King drove his "Horseless Carriage" down one of its
main streets. When his auto broke down, speculators responded by telling
him to "get a horse". |
|
| First American AC power plant | |
|
In 1886, America's first alternating current power plant began operation
in Great Barrington, Mass. George
Westinghouse demonstrated transmission at 500 volts for 4000 feet,
with a step-down for lights in stores. Driven by a water mill there, it
started producing commercial power two weeks later, but subsequently became
damaged by an accident and was abandoned. However, it had sucessfully showed
the great advantage of using transformers at the source for transmission
at higher voltage, with decreased energy losses, for distances greater
than was possible by Edison's direct currect ventures. Westinghouse opened
his first successful A.C. generating plant on 30
Nov 1886 at Buffalo, NY.«
A
Life of George Westinghouse, by Henry G. Prout |
|
| Periodic table | |
(source) |
In 1869, Dmitry Mendeleev published
his first version of the periodic table of the elements. He was a Russian
chemist
who developed the periodic classification
of the elements. In his final version of the periodic table (1871) he left
gaps, foretelling that they would be filled by elements not then known
and predicting the properties of three of those elements.
"Dmitry
Ivanovich Mendeleyev: His Life and His Work" by O. N.
Pisarzhevsky |
| Transactions of the Royal Society | |
|
In 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society was published. It became the world's oldest continuing periodical. |
|
| Royal Society | |
|
In 1661, the Royal Society, London, England, elected their first president
- Sir Robert Moray. |
|
| First machine patent | |
|
In 1646, the first patent for any machine in the New World was issued by
the Pilgrim Bay Colony to Joseph Jenkes, Mass. with these words: "The Cort,
considering the necessity of raising such manufactures of engines of mils
to go by water, for speedy dispatch of much worke with few hands, &
being sufficiently informed of the ability of the petions to pforme such
workes, grant his petition (yt no othr pson shall set up or use any such
new invention or trade for fourteen yeares, without the licence of him,
the said Joseph Jenkes." |
|
