| JUNE 14 - BIRTHS | |
| Sir James Black | |
(source) |
 Born 14
June 1924
Sir James Whyte Black is a British pharmacologist who (along with George H. Hitchings and Gertrude B. Elion) received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for his development of two important drugs, propranolol and cimetidine. Propranolol was the first clinically useful beta-receptorblocking drug (1964). This type of drug is now being used in the treatment of coronary heart disease (angina pectoris, myocardial infarction) and hypertension. In 1972 Black characterized a new group of histamine receptors, H2-receptors, and subsequently developed the first clinically useful H2-receptorantagonist, cimetidine (Tagamet). This introduced a new principle in the treatment of peptic ulcer. |
| E. Cuyler Hammond | |
| Born 14
June 1912; died 3 Nov 1986.
Scientist who was the first to link smoking with lung cancer. In 1957, while research director of the American Cancer Society, Hammond told congressional investigators that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer and has a severe effect on a number of other diseases. "Evidence that smoking is a serious health hazard has been accumulating slowly since about 1915," he said, and that recent studies have produced "overwhelming" evidence that cigarette smoking "is a causative factor of great importance in the occurrence of lung cancer." He continued that there has been an "alarming trend in the death rates from lung cancer," with the number of deaths rising from 2,500 in 1930 to an estimated 29,000 in 1956. |
|
| Atle Selberg | |
(source) |
Born 14
June 1917
Norwegian-born mathematician who is one of the foremost analytic number theorists. After working in isolation during WW II, due to the occupation of Norway by the Nazis, his accomplishments in the theory of the Riemann zeta function became known. During the 1950's he developed the Selberg trace formula, his most famous accomplishment. It establishes a duality between the length spectrum of a Riemann surface and the eigenvalues of the Laplacian which is analogous to the duality between the prime numbers and the zeros of the zeta function. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1950 for his work in number theory on generalisations of the sieve methods of Viggo Brun. In 1986 he won the Wolf Prize. |
| Karl Landsteiner | |
(source) |
Born 14
June 1868; died 26 Jun 1943.
Austrian immunologist and pathologist, who received the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the major blood groups and development of the ABO system of blood typing that much reduced risk and made blood transfusion a routine medical practice. Such blood type analysis proved useful also in genetic and legal applications. He first reported that blood had types in 1901. The basis of these types are specific proteins called antigens that are found on the surface of the red blood cells and anti-bodies found in the plasma. He also discovered the Rh factor which explained some complications of pregnancy and birth when the Rh factor of the mother and baby do not match. |
| Alois Alzheimer | |
(source) |
Born 14
June 1864; died 19 Dec 1915
German psychiatrist, who recognized the disease named after him. In Nov 1901, a 51-year old female patient with signs of dementia had been admitted to the Frankfurt hospital where Dr. Alzheimer was working. At a meeting German psychiatrists in Nov 1906, Alzheimer reported on this patient. The title of his lecture was Über eiene eigenartige Erkrankung der Hirnrinde (On a peculiar disorder of the cerebral cortex). Later on, at the suggestion of Emil Kraepelin, presenile dementia was designated "Alzheimer's disease." This disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that affects the brain. The first symptoms are loss of memory, inability to think and understand and gradual behaviour changes. Death follows in from 8 to 20 years.« |
| John Ulric Nef | |
(source) |
Born 14
June 1862; died 13 Aug 1915.
Swiss-American chemist whose studies demonstrated that carbon can have a valence (i.e., affinity for electrons) of two (such as quinone) as well as a valence of four, thus greatly advancing the understanding of theoretical organic chemistry. He provided a basis for the modern system of chemical notation. He studied tautomerism, especially of nitroparaffins, and discovered what is now called the "Nef reaction"; the acid-catalyzed conversion of primary and secondary nitroalkanes to aldehydes and ketones, respectively. His major research was on bivalent carbon, including isonitriles, carbon monoxide, fulminates and methylene. In later years, he studied the complex reactions of sugars in alkali and acid. |
| Andrey Andreyevich Markov | |
(source) |
Born 14
June 1856; died 20 Jul 1922.
Russian mathematician who helped to develop the theory of stochastic processes, especially those called Markov chains, sequences of random variables in which the future variable is determined by the present variable but is independent of the way in which the present state arose from its predecessors. (For example, the probability of winning at the game of Monopoly can be determined using Markov chains.) His work based on the study of the probability of mutually dependent events has been developed and widely applied to the biological and social sciences. |
| Charles-Augustin de Coulomb | |
(source) |
Born 14
June 1736; died 23 Aug 1806.
French physicist best known for the formulation of Coulomb's law, which states that the force between two electrical charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Coulombic force is one of the principal forces involved in atomic reactions. The inverse-square relationship is also seen in the relationship of the gravitation force between masses. In 1777, he invented a torsion balance which he subsequently modified for electrical measurements. He also did research on friction of machinery, on windmills, and on the elasticity of metal and silk fibres. |
| Thomas Pennant | |
(source) |
Born 14
June 1726; died 16 Dec 1798.
Welsh naturalist and traveller, one of the leading zoologists of his time. His extensive travels took him through Europe, mostly on horseback, where he observed and recorded not only the flora and fauna, but also the local people and antiquities. Pennant wrote about these is an exceptionally readable style. His book British Zoology (1766) generated new interest in animal research, especially birds. Pennant believed in meticulous research and preparation and in the importance of high quality illustrations. He popularized and promoted the study of natural history, though on the whole he was not a propounder of new theories. Pennant is best known for his travels and extensive writings about touring in Wales, her language, people, history and landscape. |
|
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| JUNE 14 - DEATHS | |
| John Logie Baird | |
(source) |
 
Died 14 June 1946 (born 13 Aug 1888)
Scottish engineer, the first man to televise outline pictures of objects (1924) followed the next year by recognizable human faces. By 1926, he was able to demonstrate TV for moving objects at the Royal Institution, London, and colour TV in 1928. In 1936, the BBC started the world’s first regular high-definition service from Alexandra Palace using the Baird system, though it was abandoned one year later in favour of a system developed by Marconi-EMI. By 1939, 20,000 television sets were in use in Great Britain. In 1940, Baird gave a demonstration of a high-definition full colour stereo television. Baird continued experimenting, and was reported to have completed his researches on stereoscopic television in 1946.  Television
And Me: The Memoirs of John Logie Baird, by John Logie
Baird, Malcolm Baird. |
| William Wallace Campbell | |
| Died
14 June 1938 (born 11 Apr 1862)
astronomer known particularly for his spectrographic determinations of the radial velocities of stars--i.e., their motions toward the Earth or away from it. In addition, he discovered many spectroscopic binary stars, and in 1924 he published a catalog listing more than 1,000 of them. (EB) |
|
| Karl Gegenbaur | |
(source) |
Died
14 June 1903 (born 21 Aug 1826)
German anatomist who laid emphasis on comparative anatomy. This research led him to become one of Europe's strongest supporters of the theory of evolution. Gegenbaur's work on fishes provided evidence in support of Huxley's stand against a theory that held that the skull originated from expanded vertebrae. From studies in embryology, he asserted that all eggs are simple cells (1861) as suggested earlier by Schwann (1838). Thus not only the eggs and sperm of mammals, but all eggs and sperm were single cells, and so were even the relatively huge eggs of birds and reptiles.« |
| Elkanah Billings | |
(source) |
Died
14 June 1876 (born 5 May 1820)
Canadian geologist and paleontologist, who was the first Canadian paleontologist. For three years as the editor of the Ottawa Citizen, he wrote a series of articles on science, including geology and paleontology. He published his first scientific paper on Trenton fossils in 1854. He launched a new monthly periodical, The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist in 1856, which he also edited and was the major contributor. In Aug 1856 he was appointed staff paleontologist with the Canadian Geological Survey by William Edmond Logan, the founder of the Survey. Billings immediately began the task of identifying a 20-year backlog of fossils collected by the Survey. By 1863 he had published descriptions of no fewer than 526 new species of fossils. |
| Heinrich Louis d' Arrest | |
| Died
14 June 1875 (born 13 Jul 1822)
German astronomer who, while a student at the Berlin Observatory, hastened the discovery of Neptune by suggesting comparison of the sky, in the region indicated by Urbain Le Verrier's calculations, with a recently prepared star chart. The planet was found the same night. |
|
| Pierre-Charles L'Enfant | |
(source) |
Died
14 June 1875 (born 2 Aug 1754)
French-born and educated as an architect, L'Enfant came to the U.S. as a French engineer who assisted the American Continental Army in its fight against the British during the American Revolution. Appointed by President Washington in 1791 to design the new federal city, L'Enfant designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C., based on many European cityscapes. L'Enfant was dismissed from his job in 1792 following professional disagreements and personality clashes with the three commissioners appointed by President Washington to oversee the project. |
| James Short | |
(source) |
Died
14 June 1768 (born 10 Jun 1710)
British optician and astronomer who produced the first truly parabolic and elliptic (hence nearly distortionless) mirrors for reflecting telescopes. During his working life of over 35 years, Short made about 1,360 instruments - not only for customers in Britain but also for export: one is still preserved in Leningrad, another at Uppsala and several in America. Short was principal British collator and computer of the Transit of Venus observations made throughout the world on 6th June 1761. His instruments travelled on Endeavour with Captain Cook to observe the next Transit of Venus on 3rd June 1769, but Short died before this event took place. [Image: .Binocular Gregorian telescope by James Short, c. 1765, focal length 9.5 inches. Tubes numbered 275/1307 and 276/1308. The 275 and 276 are the numbers made of this focal length, and 1307 and 1308 are the total number of telescopes he made.] |
| Colin Maclaurin | |
| Died
14 June 1746 (born Feb 1698)
Scottish mathematician who developed and extended Sir Isaac Newton's work in calculus, geometry, and gravitation. |
|
| JUNE 14 - EVENTS | |
| DDT | |
In 1972, the insecticide DDT was banned from use in the U.S. after 31 Dec
1972, by executive order of the Environmental Protection Agency. |
|
| Atomic submarine Nautilus | |
|
In 1952, the keel was laid for the first American atomic submarine
Nautilus
in a ceremony attended by President Harry S. Trumann. It was built by the
Electric Boat Company division of General Dynamics Corp. at Groton, Conn.,
under the supervision of Captain Hyman George Rickover. Its liquid-cooled
atomic reactor provided power for steam turbines. The submarine was launched
in early 1954, commisioned later that year. It was tested under nuclear
power on 17 Jan 1955 and completed 22 Apr 1955. |
|
| Univac 1 | |
|
In 1951, the Univac1 was unveiled in Washington, DC. and dedicated as the
world's first commercial computer. The Univac was manufactured for the
U.S. Census Bureau by Remington Rand Corp. The massive computer was 8 feet
high, 7-1/2 feet wide and 14-1/2 feet long. It could retain a maximum of
1000 numbers and was able to add, subtract, multiply, divide, sort, collate
and take square and cube roots. Its transfer rate to and from magnetic
tape was 10,000 characters per second. This was five years after the ENIAC,
the first electronic computer in the U.S., was completed. |
|
| Helicopter buses | |
(source) |
In 1943, helicopter buses were proposed
by Greyhound for large-scale public travel in an application filed with
the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). Industrial designer Raymond
Loewy and inventor Igor Sikorsky
created the concept for a streamlined 14-seat air bus. A scale model was
shown at hearings before the CAB, but none were built. Overly-optimistic
plans were to provide landing ports by adapting Greyhound bus terminals.
The proposed venture was publicized in a New York Times article on 9 Sep
1945. However, Greyhound Skyways began with a pair of four-place S-51 Sikorsky
Helicopters, painted in blue-and-white with a greyhound logo. Within just
a few years, it closed after facing the reality of being non-economic.«
[Image:
Artist's conception of a Greyhound Heliport from Standard Oil's quarterly
Bulletin in late 1943, showing Loewy's helicopter design.] |
| Chlorophyll | |
|
In 1938, chlorophyll was patented as a "therapeutic agent for the use in
the treatment of infection" of the blood stream, infected parts, and for
open cuts and wounds. (U.S. No. 2,120,667). The patent was issued to Dr.
Benjamin Gruskin of Philadelphia, Pa., who assigned it to the Lakeland
Foundation of Chicago, Ill. Chlorophyll is the green pigment responsible
for photosynthesis in plants. Gruskin proposed that chlorophyll could be
prepared in a water-soluble form (chlorophyllins) to be applied directly
to infected parts, or applied intravenously to the blood stream. He stated
he had discovered that in this way there would be a gradual attenuation
of infectious bacteria. Also, the formation of granulation tissue is enhanced,
promoting healing. |
|
| Edison patent | |
|
In 1932, Thomas Alva Edision was issued his next to last patent, for a
method of "Production of Molded Articles" (U.S. No. 1,862,740). |
|
| Edison patents | |
|
In 1898, three patents were issued Thomas A. Edison, which were for a "Drying
Apparatus" (U.S. No. 605,475), a "Phonograph" (No. 605,667) and a "Mixer"
(No. 605,668). |
|
| Edison patents | |
|
In 1892, a number of patents were issued to Thomas A. Edison for a variety
of inventions, U.S. Nos. 476,983 to 476,993. They were for, respectively,
a "Pyromagnetic Generator," an "Expansible Pulley," a "Trolley for Electric
Railways," a "Means for "Propelling Electric Cars," an "Electric Locomotive,"
a "Lightning-Arrester," a "Conductor for Electric Railways," an
"Electric Meter," a "Method of and Apparatus for Separating Ores," an "Incandescent Electric Lamp" and an "Electric-Arc Lamp." |
|
| Buried utility wires | |
|
In 1884, New York was the first state in the U.S. to enact legislation
requiring the burying of utility wires. It required that in any incorporated
city with a population over 500,000 "all telegraph, telephonic and electric
light wires and cables ... be placed under the surface of the streets,
lanes and avenues." Furthermore, the act required that telegraph pole were
to be removed prior to 1 Nov 1885. |
|
| Shay locomotive patent | |
(USPTO) |
In 1881, a U.S. patent was issued for the gear-driven steam locomotive
invented by Ephraim Shay (No. 242,992). He designed an engine suitable
to haul heavy logging trains at low speeds over rough terrain with even
poorly-laid, uneven track, sharp curves, and grades up to 14 percent. The
locomotive bogie-wheels were formed with bevel-gear teeth driven by a bevel-gear
on a shaft directly connected to the engine. Power to the shaft was transferred
through a crankshaft and universal joints from vertically mounted pistons.
Having been in the saw-mill business since 1869, Shaw developed his locomotive
when he saw the need for a better way to move logs harvested from the forest
to the mill to replace horse-drawn sleds.« [Image:
detail from patent diagram showing bevel gears on wheel and longitudinal
drive shaft.] |
| Edison patents | |
|
In 1881, six patents were issued to Thomas A. Edison for electrical inventions,
U.S. Nos. 242,896 to 242,901. They were for, respectively, two concerning
an "Incandescent Electric Lamp," an "Incandescent Electric Lamp," a "Magneto
or Dynamo Electric Machine," about "Electric Lighting," about "Manufacturing
Carbons for Electric Lamps" and an "Electric Meter." |
|
| Player piano | |
|
In 1881, a patent was issued for his invention of a piano player to John
McTammany, Jr., of Cambridge, Mass. He had earlier filed a caveat on 7
Sep 1876. His patent descibed his "mechanical mucical instrument" as a
mechanism for automatic playing of organs using narrow sheets of perforated
flexible paper which governed the notes to be played. The first completely
automatic piano player to be manufactured in the U.S. was the
Angelus
made in Feb 1897, which was patented by its inventor, Edward H. Leveaux,
in England on 27 Feb 1879, and who was issued a U.S. patent on 4 Oct 1881
for an "apparatus for storing and transmitting motive power." |
|
| First U.S. federal entomologist | |
|
In 1854, the first U.S. federal entomologist was commissioned. Townend
Glover was selected as the "expert for collecting statistics and other
information on seeds, fruits and insects of the United States." His first
report was printed the same year under the imprint of the U.S. Patent Office,
entitled Insects Injurious and Beneficial to Vegetation. Two months
earlier, on 15 Apr 1854, the New York state legislature provided funding
for an entomologist to do research in their state. Asa Fitch was appointed
4 May 1854 to produce a report describing local insects, especially those
injurious to vegetation. |
|
| Sandpaper | |
|
In 1834, the first U.S. invention of sandpaper was covered by four patents
issued on this date to Isaac Fisher, Jr., of Springfield, Vt. These patents
were titled "Coating Paper." (No X8246, -7) |
|
| Diving suit | |
(USPTO) |
In 1834, the first U.S. patent
for a practical underwater diving suit was issued to Leonard Norcross of
Dixfield, Maine (No. X8255).*
Calling it a "Diving Armor," he designed an airtight leather outfit with
a brass helmet connected via a rubber hose to an air bellows pump on a
boat. To reduce buoyancy, the feet were weighted with lead shot. In May
1834, one month earlier, he tested the diving suit in the Webb River. Norcross
named his son Submarinus in honor of the achievement.*
The first truly effective diving suit with pump is attributed to an Englishman,
Augustus Siebe, who designed
it in 1829 and was entrusted with equipping the French Navy until 1857.* |
| Royal Dublin Society | |
|
In 1731, fourteen men met
in Trinity College to form
the "Dublin Society for improving Husbandry, Manufactures and other Useful
Arts." Two weeks later, 8 Jul 1731, the designation "and Sciences" was
added to the end of its name. From 1821, it was known as the Royal Dublin
Society when George IV became patron of the Society. In 1766-1806, the
Society's afforestation initiative resulted in over 55 million trees planted
in Ireland including commercial species, parkland, ornamental and fruit
trees. A mineralogist was appointed in 1786 to conduct research into Irish
mineral deposits in Ireland. The Society opened its Botanic Gardens in
1795. In 1853, the Society held Ireland's first International Exhibition
of Manufactures.« |
|
| Steam-power demonstrated | |
(source) |
In 1699, Thomas Savery, at the
weekly meeting
at Gresham-College, demonstrated before the Royal Society a small model
of his invention - a steam-powered water pump - which he patented 25
Jul 1698, "for raiseing water and occasioning motion to all sorts of
mill-work by the impellant force of fire; which will be of great use and
advantage for drayning mines, serveing townes with water, and for the working
of all sorts of mills where they have not the benefit of water nor constant
windes." Steam in a vessel condensed by an external spray of cold water
caused a partial vacuum to lift water into the vessel from a lower sump,
which was then forced further upward when more high-pressure steam entered.«
[Ref:
Philosphical
Transactions of the Royal Society, London, vol. 21, p.228.] |
