| MAY 13 - BIRTHS | |
| Henry Murray | |
(source) |
 Born 13
May 1893; died 23 Jun 1988.
Henry (Alexander) Murray was an American psychologist who developed a theory of human personality based on an individual's inborn needs and his relationship with the physical and social environment. In 1938 he was asked by the U.S. Government to put together a psychological profile on Adolph Hitler. During WW II, he served the U.S. Army by helping the forerunner of the CIA assess the psychological fitness of its agents. Murray's main interest included personology, Melville and the welfare of the world in the atomic age. In his Basic Concepts for a Psychology of Personality, (Journal of Psychology, 15, 1936), he described personology as "the disciplined study of human nature." |
| Sir Ronald Ross | |
(source) |
Born 13
May 1857; died 16 Sep 1932.
British bacteriologist who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria. His discovery of the malarial parasite in the gastrointestinal tract of the Anopheles mosquito led to the realization that malaria was transmitted by Anopheles. He began studying malaria in 1892. In 1894 he made an experimental investigation in India of the hypothesis of Laveran and Manson that mosquitoes are connected with the propagation of the disease. After two and a half years' failure, Ross succeeded in demonstrating the life-cycle of the parasites of malaria in mosquitoes, thus establishing the hypothesis of Laveran and Manson. Later, in West Africa he found the species of mosquitoes which convey the deadly African fever. |
| Yves Delage | |
(source) |
Born 13
May 1854; died 7 Oct 1920.
French zoologist known for his research and elucidation of invertebrate physiology and anatomy. He also discovered the equilibrium-stabilizing function of the semicircular canals in the inner ear (1886). Delage studied circulation in crustaceans, made important discoveries in the embryology of sponges (such as Sacculina), and investigated the nervous system of barnacles (Peltogaster) and flatworms (Convoluta). He developed a method for culturing sea urchins following artificial fertilization of the eggs with chemicals. Turning late in his career to more general problems of biology, he considered how life in individual organisms and species is manifested through cytoplasm, and he examined mechanical problems of the cell. |
| Henry William Stiegel | |
(source) |
Born 13
May 1729; died 10 Jan 1785.
German-American who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1750, and established iron forges in Lancaster and Berks Counties, Pennsylvania. Profits from the business enabled him in 1762 to buy huge amounts of land, on which he designed and built the town of Manheim in Lancaster County. Two years later he began work on a glass factory, having already made plate glass at one of the iron forges. He imported glassblowers from Venice, England, and Germany to produce glass tableware. Though none of the pieces was signed, his use of color, including high-quality blue, green, and purple, became his signature, and he also produced crystal-clear glassware. |
| MAY 13 - DEATHS | |
| Stanislaw M. Ulam | |
(source) |
 Died
13 May 1984 (born 13 Apr 1909)
Polish-American mathematician who played a major role in the development of the hydrogen bomb at Los Alamos. He solved the problem of how to initiate fusion in the hydrogen bomb by suggesting that compression was essential to explosion and that shock waves from a fission bomb could produce the compression needed. He further suggested that careful design could focus mechanical shock waves in such a way that they would promote rapid burning of the fusion fuel. Ulam, with J.C. Everett, also proposed the "Orion" plan for nuclear propulsion of space vehicles. While Ulam was at Los Alamos, he developed "Monte-Carlo method" which searched for solutions to mathematical problems using a statistical sampling method with random numbers.  Adventures
of a Mathematician, by Stanislaw M. Ulam, William G.
Mathews (Designer) |
| Otto Heckmann | |
(source) |
Died
13 May 1983 (born 23 Jun 1901)
Otto (Hermann Leopold) Heckmann was a German astronomer noted for measuring stellar positions and his studies of relativity and cosmology. He also made notable contributions to statistical mechanics. In 1931, He proved that, under the assumptions that matter is homogeneously distributed throughout the universe and is isotropic (having identical properties in every direction), the theory of general relativity could result in an open, or Euclidean, universe as readily as a closed one. Heckmann organized an international program to photograph and chart the positions of the stars in the Northern Hemisphere, which led to the publication in 1975 of the third German Astronomical Society catalog, Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog (AGK3). |
| Stanislaw Leshniewski | |
| Died
13 May 1939 (born 30 Mar 1886)
Polish logician and mathematician who was a co-founder and leading representative of the Warsaw school of logic. |
|
| Fridtjof Nansen | |
| Died
13 May 1930 (born 10 Oct 1861)
Norwegian explorer, oceanographer, statesman, and humanitarian who led a number of expeditions to the Arctic (1888, 1893, 1895-96) and oceanographic expeditions in the North Atlantic (1900, 1910-14). For his relief work after World War I he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace (1922). |
|
| Lajos Lóczy | |
(source) |
Died
13 May 1920 (born 2 Nov 1849)
Hungarian geologist who first scientifically described the mountains bordering the Tibetan Plateau that connect the Kunlun Mountains with the north-south-oriented belt of mountains and gorges in central China. In 1878, with the Hungarian Count Széchenyi Béla and Gustav Kreitner, he was the first western visitor to remote ancient Buddhist sites such as the oasis town of Dunhuang, situated at the edge of the Gobi desert, in the west of the present-day Chinese province of Gansu. He wrote many accounts his discoveries, and during his expeditions made many pictures for documentation. |
| Alexander Buchan | |
| Died
13 May 1907 (born 11 Apr 1829)
eminent British meteorologist who first noticed what became known as Buchan spells - departures from the normally expected temperature occurring during certain seasons. They are now believed by meteorologists to be more or less random. Buchan is credited with establishing the weather map as the basis of weather forecasting as a result of his tracing (1868) the path of a storm across North America and the Atlantic into northern Europe. |
|
| Gabriel Tarde | |
1899 (EB) |
Died
13 May 1904 (born 12 Mar 1843)
French sociologist and criminologist who was one of the most versatile social scientists of his time. His theory of social interaction ("intermental activity") emphasized the individual in an aggregate of persons and brought Tarde into conflict with Émile Durkheim, who conceived of society as a collective unity. |
| Friedrich Gustav Jacob Henle | |
(source) |
Died
13 May 1885 (born 15? Jul 1809)
German pathologist, one of history's outstanding anatomists, whose influence on the development of histology is comparable to the effect on gross anatomy of the work of the Renaissance master Andreas Vesalius. |
| Cyrus Hall McCormick | |
(source) |
Died
13 May 1884 (born 15 Feb 1809)
American inventor of the first practical, commercially successful reaping machine. His father had worked unsuccessfully between 1809-1816 to design a reaping machine. He followed his father's lead and by 1831, Cyrus was able to publicly demonstrate a functional machine able to cut a 4-ft swathe. In 1834, he patented his design. To defend his patent against a competitor, in 1843, a widely publicized competition was held between their rival products in which McCormick's machine was judged the better. He sold 29 harvesters that year, 50 the next, and by 1848 he was in business with a factory in Chicago, Illinois, able to produce 500 machines. With production-line assembly, within a few years, McCormick dominated the market.«  Cyrus
Hall McCormick: His Life and Work, by Herbert N. Casson. |
| Joseph Henry | |
(source) |
Died
13 May 1878 (born 17 Dec 1797)
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. |
| George Dollond | |
|
(source) |
Died
13 May 1852 (born 25 Jan 1774)
British optician who invented a number of precision instruments used in astronomy, geodesy, and navigation. |
| Georges Cuvier | |
| Died
13 May 1832 (born 23 Aug 1769)
Baron Georges Léopold Chrêtien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier was a French zoologist and statesman, who established the sciences of comparative anatomy and paleontology. |
|
| MAY 13 - EVENTS | |
| Velcro | |
In 1958, the Velcro trademark was registered for a fabric hook and loop
fastener. |
|
| Gas turbine to pump natural gas | |
|
In 1949, the first gas turbine to pump natural gas was installed at Wilmar,
Ark by the Mississippi River Fuel Corp. |
|
| First four-engine plane | |
|
In 1913, the first four-engine airplane was first built and flown by Igor
Sikorsky of Russia. |
|
| President's conservation conference | |
|
In 1908, the three-day Conference of Governors opened
at the White House, called by Roosevelt to consider the problems of conservation.
It was attended by the governors of the states and territories, the members
of the Supreme Court and the Cabinet, scientists, and various national
leaders. On 15 May 1908, the governors adopted a declaration
supporting conservation.
One result was The National Conservation Commission, appointed by Roosevelt
on 8 Jun 1908 which prepared the first inventory of the natural resources
of the United States with chairmen for water, forests, lands, and minerals.
Also, the conference led to annual governors' conferences, and the appointment
of 38 state conservation commissions. |
|
| Generator | |
|
In 1890, Nikola Tesla was issued a patent for an electric generator (No.
428,057). |
|
| American Institute of Electrical Engineers | |
|
In 1884, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was formed.
It was the predecessor to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Inc. (IEEE) |
|
| Sewing machine lamp | |
|
In 1873, Ludwig M. Wolf of Avon, CT, patented the sewing machine lamp holder
(No. 138,831). It was introduced by the Singer Sewing Machine Co. in 1876,
to meet the need of those who wished to sew at night, because the lamp
would not "jar off the table or upset," and it could be moved "without
soiling the fingers." |
|
| First U.S.-built printing press | |
|
In 1821, Samuel Rust of New York City patented the Washington press, the
first, practical and successful printing press to be built in America.
A previous invention, in 1816, by George E Clymer, the Columbian Press
had not been widely adopted in the U.S., and Clymer had taken his business
to England. |
|
| Table knife | |
|
In 1637, the table knife was created by Cardinal Richelieu in France. Until
this time, daggers were used to cut meat, as well as to pick one's teeth.
Richelieu had the points rounded off all of the knives to be used at his
table |
|
