| MARCH 14 - BIRTHS | |
| Eugene Andrew Cernan | |
 Born 14
Mar 1934
American astronaut who left his spacecraft for more than two hours of extravehicular activity during the Gemini 9 mission (1966). As a member of Apollo 10 (1969), he piloted the lunar module to within 10 miles of the lunar surface. |
|
| Frank Borman | |
| Born 14
Mar 1928
American astronaut, who was a member of the Apollo 8 mission (1968) as it took the first manned flight around the moon. |
|
| Albert Einstein | |
 |
Born 14
Mar 1879; died 18 Apr 1955.
German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Recognized in his own time as one of the most creative intellects in human history, in the first 15 years of the 20th century Einstein advanced a series of theories that proposed entirely new ways of thinking about space, time, and gravitation. His theories of relativity and gravitation were a profound advance over the old Newtonian physics and revolutionized scientific and philosophic inquiry. |
| Lev Simonovich Berg | |
(source) |
Born 14
Mar 1876; died 24 Dec 1950.
geographer and zoologist who established the foundations of limnology in Russia with his systematic studies on the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of fresh waters, particularly of lakes. Important, too, was his work in ichthyology, which yielded much useful data on the paleontology, anatomy, and embryology of fishes in Russia. |
| Vilhelm Bjerknes | |
(source) |
Born 14
Mar 1862; died 9 Apr 1951.
Vilhelm F(riman) K(oren) Bjerknes was a Norwegian meteorologist and physicist, one of the founders of the modern science of weather forecasting. As a young boy, Bjerknes assisted his father, Carl Bjerknes (a professor of mathematics) in carrying out experiments to verify the theoretical predictions that resulted from his father's hydrodynamic research. After graduating from university, Bjerknes moved on to his own work applying hydrodynamic and thermodynamic theories to atmospheric and hydrospheric conditions in order to predict future weather conditions. His work in meteorology and on electric waves was important in the early development of wireless telegraphy. He evolved a theory of cyclones known as the polar front theory with his son Jakob.  "Appropriating
the Weather: Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Construction of a Modern Meteorology"by
Robert Marc Friedman |
| Paul Ehrlich | |
| Born 14
Mar 1854; died 20 Aug 1915.
German medical scientist known for his pioneering work in hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy and for his discovery of the first effective treatment for syphilis. He received jointly with Élie Metchnikoff the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1908. |
|
| Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton | |
| Born 14
Mar 1844; died 16 Sep 1916.
(1st Baronet) Scottish physician who played a major role in establishing pharmacology as a rigorous science. He is best known for his discovery that amyl nitrite relieves the pain of angina pectoris. |
|
| Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli | |
(source) |
Born 14
Mar 1835; died 4 Jul 1910.
Italian astronomer who is remembered for his observations of Mars over seven oppositions and named the "seas" and "continents". In 1877, he saw on the surface of the planet Mars the markings that he called canali (channels), later misinterpreted as "canals." He made extensive studies, both observational and theoretical, of comets, determining from the shapes of their tails that there was a repulsive force from the sun. He showed that meteor swarms travel through space in cometary orbits. He explained the regular meteor showers as the result of the dissolution of comets and proved it for the Perseids. He suggested that Mercury and Venus rotate on their axes, discovered the asteroid Hesperia (1861) and was a major observer of double stars. |
| Lucy Hobbs Taylor | |
(source) |
Born 14
Mar 1833; died 3 Oct 1910.
Lucy Beaman Taylor (née Hobbs) was the first woman dentist in America to graduate (1866) from a dental college as a Doctor of Dental Surgery. Earlier, being long refused admission to dental schools (1859-65), she had acquired the skills of dentistry, and practiced without a diploma, as was common at the time. Then the Iowa State Dental Society supported Lucy's ambition for a college degree, demanded her admission, and she was accepted by the Ohio College of Dentistry. After graduation, she practiced for a short time in Chicago, then married James M. Taylor and taught him dentistry. The couple moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in December, 1867, opened a joint office and soon enjoyed a prosperous practice (1867-86). |
| Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae | |
| Born 14
Mar 1821; died 15 Aug 1885.
Danish archaeologist, a principal founder of prehistoric archaeology. His Danmarks Oldtid oplyst ved Oldsager og Gravhøie (1843; The Primeval Antiquities of Denmark) was one of the most influential archaeological works of the 19th century. |
|
| James Bogardus | |
(source) |
Born 14
Mar 1800; died 13 Apr 1874.
American inventor and builder who popularized cast-iron construction, which was commonly used in American industrial and commercial building from 1850-80. He did so by shipping prefabricated sections from his factory in New York City to construction sites. His first iron-fronted building was a 5-story chemists shop (1848). His best-known building was his own 4-story factory that he built on Center Street, New York City, with an exterior consisting entirely of cast-iron piers and lintels. He had previously been a manufacturer of grinding machines, and was also known for his invention of engraving and die-sinking machinery.  Cast-Iron
Architecture in America: The Significance of James Bogardus,
by Margot Gayle and Carol Gayle |
| Pieter van Musschenbroek | |
| Born 14
Mar 1692; died 19 Sep 1761.
Dutch mathematician and physicist who invented the Leyden jar, the first effective device for storing static electricity. He grew up in a family that manufactured scientific instruments such as telescopes, microscopes and air pumps. Before Musschenbroek's invention, static electricity had been produced by Guericke using a sulphur ball, with minor effects. In Jan 1746, Musschenbroek placed water in a metal container suspended on silk cords, and led a brass wire through a cork into the water. He built up a charge in the water. When an unwary assistant touched the metal container and the brass wire, the discharge from this apparatus delivered a substantial shock of static electricity. The Leyden name is linked to the discovery having being made at the University of Leiden. |
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Today in Science History Science Store Browse a selection of Bargain Science and Nature Books |
| MARCH 14 - DEATHS | |
| Howard Hathaway Aiken | |
(source) |
 Died
14 Mar 1973 (born 9 Mar 1900)
American mathematician who invented the Harvard Mark I, forerunner of the modern electronic digital computer. While a graduate student and instructor Harvard University, Aiken's research had led to a system of differential equations which could only be solved using numerical techniques, for which he began planning large computer. His idea was to use an adaptation of Hollerith's punched card machine. When eventually built, (1943) it weighed 35 tons, had 500 miles of wire and could compute to 23 significant figures. There were 72 storage registers and central units to perform multiplication and division. It was controlled by a sequence of instructions on punched paper tapes, and used punched cards to enter data and give output from the machine. |
| Therkel Mathiassen | |
(source) |
Died
14 Mar 1967 (born 5 Sep 1892)
Danish archaeologist and ethnographer laid the groundwork for the scientific study of arctic archaeology. His excavations (1921-23) of the Thule prehistoric Eskimo culture were the first scientific archaeological investigations in the Canadian Arctic. Mathiassen, as a member of the Danish Fifth Thule Expedition (1922), excavated ruins at Naujan (called Nauyat by local people), one of the most important sites of its time period. He uncovered and mapped a dozen sod house ruins, tent rings, graves, meat caches, kayak stands, and a refuse heap almost larger than the houses. His work defined the culture of the people who had lived in there. The Thule (pronounced Too-lee) people are ancestors of the modern Inuit.« [source for date of death] |
| Arthur Rudolf Hantzsch | |
(source) |
Died
14 Mar 1935 (born 7 Mar 1857)
German chemist who won fame at the age of 25 for devising the synthesis of substituted pyridines. He studied stereochemistry of such nitrogen compounds. He synthesised pyridine (1882), cumaron (1886) and thiazol (1889) and he gave a nomenclature of heterocyclic compounds. His investigations of triphenylmethane coloring materials led to progress in the spectrographic analysis, and also the theory of chemical indicators. He was also noted for his study of acids, in which he showed their properties depended on reaction with a solvent; and the electrical conductivity of organic compounds. From 1907 he studied cryoscopy and UV-spectroscopy. |
| John Scott Haldane | |
(source) |
Died
14 Mar 1935 (born 3 May 1860)
Scottish physiologist and philosopher of science whose extensive work on human respiration included the effects of pulmonary diseases and the physiology of the blood. Early in his career he studied the air in sewers for microorganisms, which he found rather limited. Haldane was known for experimentation on himself to find the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood was a stimulus for the respiratory centre of the brain. He reported on investigations of the effects of carbon monoxide from mine fires and explosions (1896). For the safety of deep-sea divers, he built on Paul Bert's work on the bends and produced the first staged decompression tables (1907). He also devised a decompression apparatus. He invented a gas mask used in WW I.« 
The
philosophy of a biologist, by J.S. Haldane. |
| George Eastman | |
1915 (source) |
Died
14 Mar 1932 (born 12 Jul 1854)
American inventor and industrialist who was a pioneering manufacturer of photographic materials, including rolled film (first patented on 14 Oct 1884) and the Kodak camera (patented 4 Sep 1888). He founded the Eastman-Kodak Company, which for years held a virtual monopoly in the camera and film industry. His introduction of the first Kodak (a coined word, 1888, that became a trademark) camera helped to promote large-scale amateur photography. [Timeline]  |
| Pyotr Nikolayevich Lebedev | |
| Died
14 Mar 1912 (born 8 Mar 1866)
Russian physicist who demonstrated experimentally the minute pressure that light exerts on bodies (1910). |
|
| Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs | |
(source) |
Died
14 Mar 1885 (Born 24 Mar 1819)
German founder of experimental pathology whose emphasis on the teaching of physiology and medical biochemistry helped give clinical medicine a scientific foundation. He brought medical recognition of multiple sclerosis a step closer by elaborating on the clinical description of MS provided by Cruveilhier and identifying specific symptoms and key features of the illness. Frerichs' clinical account for the first time recognised remissions as a characteristic feature of MS. In addition, he made a major contribution by providing the first medical description of mental disorders in MS, recognising the possible impact of the disease on cognitive and other higher functions of the brain. |
| Johann Heinrich Mädler | |
(source) |
Died
14 Mar 1874 (born 29 May 1794)
German astronomer who (with Wilhelm Beer) published the most complete map of the Moon of the time, Mappa Selenographica, 4 vol. (1834-36). It was the first lunar map to be divided into quadrants, and it remained unsurpassed in its detail until J.F. Julius Schmidt's map of 1878. Mädler and Beer also published the first systematic chart of the surface features of the planet Mars (1830). |
| MARCH 14 - EVENTS | |
| Space Grapple | |
In 1994, a magnetic grappling system was used in outer space for the first
time. The 50-foot robot arm was operated by several Columbia astronauts
taking turns. |
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| Offshore sulphur mine | |
|
In 1960, the first offshore sulphur mine obtained sulphur. It was built
off the Louisiana coast. |
|
| Movie theatre design | |
|
In 1931, the first US motion picture theatre built especially for rear
projection of the movie was opened in New York City. |
|
| Woman engineer | |
|
In 1927, the first woman in the US to be elected to the American Society
of Civil Engineers was Elsie Eaves, who became an associate member. |
|
| Concrete ship | |
|
In 1918, the first US concrete seagoing ship was launched at Redwood City,
California. |
|
| US bird sanctuary | |
|
In 1903, the first US national bird sanctuary was established by executive
order issued by President Theodore Roosevelt. This order protected the
nesting colony of pelicans and herons of the Pelican Island, nr. Sebastian,
Florida. |
|
| Zeppelin patent | |
|
In 1899, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
was issued a U.S. patent for his invention of his "Navigable Balloon,"
the rigid airship, known as the Zeppelin (No. 621,195). The overall cylindrical
shape with rounded ends was covered with a cotton shell, framed with aluminium
struts, wire-braced and contained a number of independent hydrogen balloons
used for lift. Two or more seperate engines were suspended below for propulsion.
He had earlier patented it in
Germany, 31 Aug 1895, titled, "Lenkbarer Luftfahrzug" (steerable air-cruising
train), referred to a feature whereby additional cylindrical mid-segments
could be connected together for a longer airship with greater carrying
capacity, though none were ever made in this form.« |
|
| Photography | |
Herschel (source) |
In 1839, Sir John Herschel referred
to "photography" in a lecture
to the Royal Society—possibly the first use of the word. Following Fox
Talbot's publication of his invention of what became known as the Calotype
process, a number of scientific men made their own investigations, including
not only Herschel but also Berard, Robert Hunt and Draper. Herschel used
the name Chrysotype
(from the Greek word for gold) for his process. It used paper washed in
a solution of ammonio-citrate of iron and brought out the image with a
solution of soda or chloride of gold, or with nitrate of silver, and fixing
it in the first case by washing it with iodide of potassium and in the
second, with hyposulphite of soda.*
It had technical difficulties
in controlling the contrast, colour and fogging of the image.« |
| Cotton gin | |
|
In 1794, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin. His invention replaced much
processing by hand labour, and revolutionized the textile industry. Cotton
became commercially important in the southern US, with a resulting demand
for slaves to tend the fields and harvest the cotton crops. |
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