| AUGUST 25 - BIRTHS | |
| Frederick Chapman Robbins | |
 Born 25
Aug 1916
American pediatrician and virologist who received (with John Enders and Thomas Weller) the 1954 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for successfully cultivating poliomyelitis virus in tissue cultures. This accomplishment made possible the production of polio vaccines and the development of sophisticated diagnostic methods. |
|
| Arnold Neustadter | |
 |
Born 25
Aug 1910; died 17 Apr 1996.
Inventor of the Rolodex, an alphabetized rotating card file with a ball-bearing clutch. He invented the device in the 1940s with the help of an engineer who developed the cylindrical housing. Neustadter specialized in office technology, also inventing the Swivodex, spill-proof inkwell and the Clipodex, a knee-top dictation tool. |
| Sir Hans Adolf Krebs | |
(source) |
Born 25
Aug 1900; died 22 Nov 1981.
German-born British biochemist who received (with Fritz Lipmann) the 1953 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery in living organisms of the series of chemical reactions known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle (also called the citric acid cycle, or Krebs cycle) - the basic system for the essential pathway of oxidation process within the cell. These reactions involve the conversion - in the presence of oxygen--of substances that are formed by the breakdown of sugars, fats, and protein components to carbon dioxide, water, and energy-rich compounds.The Krebs cycle explains two simultaneous processes: the degradation reactions which yield energy, and the building-up processes which use up energy. |
| Joshua Lionel Cowen | |
(source) |
Born 25
Aug 1880; died 8 Sep 1965.
American inventor of electric model trains who founded the Lionel Corporation (1901), which became the largest U.S. toy train manufacturer. At age 18, he had invented a fuse to ignite the magnesium powder for flash photography, which the Navy Department bought from him to be a fuse to detonate submarine mines. He designed an early battery tube light, but without practical application. (His partner, Conrad Hubert, to whom he gave the rights improved it and founded the Eveready Flashlight Company.) At age 22, he created a battery-powered train engine intended only as an eye-catcher for other goods in a store window. To his surprise, many customers wanted to purchase the toy train. Thus he started a model railroad company.«  All
Aboard : The Story of Joshua Lionel Cowen & His Lionel Train Company,
by Ron Hollander. |
| Theodor Kocher | |
(source) |
Born 25
Aug 1841; died 27 Jul 1917.
Theodor Emil Kocher was a Swiss surgeon who did pioneering work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1909. The gland is of great importance in the general nutrition of the adult, and especially in individuals still undergoing development. The loss of thyroid function results in serious disturbances in this nutrition. Metabolism is significantly diminished; growth ceases; the skin and the subcutaneous tissues are the site of mucous infiltration; degenerative processes occur in internal organs; serious disturbances make their appearance in the functions of the nervous system and muscles. |
| Martin Heinrich Rathke | |
(source) |
Born 25
Aug 1793; died 3 Sep 1860.
German physiologist and pathologist who was one of the founders of modern embryology. He was the first to describe the embryonic precursors of gill slits and gill arches in the embryos of higher animals - mammals and birds - which have none when fully grown. Rathke compared the development of the air sacs in birds and the larynx in birds and mammals. In 1839, he traced the origin of the anterior pituitary gland from a depression in the roof of the mouth, which embryonic structure is now known as Rathke's pouch. Rathke also did pioneering work in marine zoology, as being first to describe lancet fish.« |
|
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| AUGUST 25 - DEATHS | |
| John R. Dunning | |
(source) |
 
Died 25 Aug 1975 (born 24 Sep 1907)
John R(ay) Dunning was an American nuclear physicist whose experiments in nuclear fission helped lay the groundwork for the development of the atomic bomb. After the fission of the rare U235 uranium isotope was verified in an experiment using a microscopic quantity, (0.02 millionths of a gram), great difficulty remained in separating U235 from the more abundant U238. Dr. John R. Dunning led the research team at Columbia University which studied the gaseous diffusion method for uranium separation. This process was based on the slightly smaller size of the U235 isotope molecules. When pushed through a porous barrier, U235 would move through faster, and several repetitions would produce almost pure U235. [Image right: (source)] |
| Alfred C. Kinsey | |
| Died
25 Aug 1956 (born 23 Jun 1894)
American zoologist and student of human sexual behaviour who wrote The Sexual Behavior of the Human Male. |
|
| George Washington Pierce | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1956 (born 11 Jan 1872)
American inventor who was a pioneer in radiotelephony and a noted teacher of communication engineering. He did work that led to the practical application of a variety of experimental discoveries in piezoelectricity and magnetostriction. He developed the Pierce oscillator, which utilizes quartz crystal to keep radio transmissions precisely on the assigned frequency and to provide similar accuracy for frequency meters. His other accomplishments include the mathematical calculation of the radiation properties of radio antennae; invention of the mercury-vapor discharge tube, which was the forerunner of the thyratron; invention of a method of recording sound on film; and sound generation by bats and insects. |
| Clark Wissler | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1947 (born 18 Sep 1870)
American anthropologist who devised the age-area concept which held that the age of cultural traits could be found by correlating the diffusion of those traits throughout their associated area. (It is not presently regarded as practical.) He contributed much research on Native Americans, beginning (1902-05) with the Blackfoot, and various Siouan tribes of Montana and the Dakotas. He wrote many articles, and six books. Wissler's theories on culture diverged from those of his contemporaries, such as Franz Boas. Wissler believed that culture was biologically innate in humans. He held the position of Curator of Ethnology, and with the American Museum of Natural History for 40 years.« |
| Edouard Michelin | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1940 (born 23 Jun 1859)
Édouard Michelin was a French industrialist who, with his older brother André, founded Michelin Tyre Co. in 1888, expanding the rubber company established (1832) by their grandfather, Aristide Barbier, and Nicolas Edouard Daubree. The Michelins made the first pneumatic tyres that could be easily removed for repair, for bicycles (1891) and for automobiles (1895). They introduced tire tread patterns, low-pressure balloon tires, and steel-cord tires. The company created a tourist guide organization which placed milestones on French roads and established a standard road map service for most of Europe. André created Michelin guides to promote tourism by car. The first Red Guide, with restaurant ratings, was published in 1900.« The
Michelin Men: Driving an Empire by Herbert Lottman |
| Curtis Marbut | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1935 (born 19 July 1863)
Curtis Fletcher Marbut was a U.S. geologist and cofounder of modern soil science, who worked closely with experts from many countries to develop international classification systems (1927) for soil materials. From 1895 Marbut taught geology at University of Missouri, while also working for the Missouri Geological Survey and directing the Missouri Soil Survey. In 1910 he left Missouri and was a soil scientist for the U.S. Bureau of Soils, for the rest of his life. Due to his exceptional service, his mandatory civil service retirement at 70 was twice waived by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He died during a field trip to China. |
| Peter Cooper Hewitt | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1921 (born 5 May 1861)
American electrical engineer who invented the mercury-vapour lamp, an important forerunner of fluorescent lamps. He studied the production of light using electrical discharges (while Edison was still developing incandescent filaments). The mercury-filled tubes he developed from the late 1890s, gave off an unattractive blue-green light. Although unsuitable in homes, its brilliance won wide adoption by photo studios because the black and white film of the time needed just bright light, despite its colour. There were many other industrial uses for the lamp. His manufacturing company (est. 1902) was bought by General Electric in 1919 which produced a new design in 1933. He took out his first eight mercury vapour lamp patents on 17 Sep 1901.« |
| Antoine-Henri Becquerel | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1908 (born 15 Dec 1852)
Antoine-Henri Becquerel was a French physicist who discovered radioactivity. In 1903 he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Pierre and Marie Curie. His early researches were in optics, then in 1896 he accidentally discovered radioactivity in fluorescent salts of uranium. He left some uranium mineral crystals in a drawer on a plate in black paper. Later, he developed the plate and found it was fogged, even though the crystals without ultraviolet radiation from sunlight were not fluorescing. Thus the salt was a source of a penetrating radiation. Three years afterwards he showed that it consists of charged particles that are deflected by a magnetic field. Initially, the rays emitted by radioactive substances were named after him.« |
| Michael Faraday | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1867 (born 22 Sep 1791)
English physicist and chemist whose many experiments contributed greatly to the understanding of electromagnetism. Although one of the greatest experimentalists, he was largely self-educated. Appointed by Sir Humphry Davy as his assistant at the Royal Institution, Faraday initially concentrated on analytical chemistry, and discovered benzene in 1825. His most important work was in electromagnetism, in which field he demonstrated electromagnetic rotation and discovered electromagnetic induction (the key to the development of the electric dynamo and motor). He also discovered diamagnetism and the laws of electrolysis. He published pioneering papers that led to the practical use of electricity, and he advocated the use of electric light in lighthouses.«
The
Electric Life Of Michael Faraday, by Alan W. Hirshfeld. |
| Simeon North | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1852 (born 13 Jul 1765)
American firearms manufacturer who, like Eli Whitney, incorporated interchangeable parts in manufacturing. After a start in farming, he began a business making scythes in 1795. He expanded to making pistols, first for private use, then under government contract in Mar 1799 for 400 pistols. Larger government orders followed. By 1813, at North's suggestion, a contract for 20,000 pistols included the provision that parts should be interchangeable. Subsequently, he developed machine tools to aid production. North is generally credited for building probably the earliest, though primitive, milling machine to replace filing operations by about 1816 or even earlier. For 53 years, he filled War Dept. contracts, including rifles (from 1823), and devised a 10-round repeating rifle (1825).« |
| Sir William (Frederick) Herschel | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1822 (born 15 Nov 1738)
German-born British astronomer, the founder of sidereal astronomy for the systematic observation of the heavens. In 1773, Herschel made and began using his first telescope. With it he began a project that would continue for the rest of his life: that of systematically studying the sky. Through this study he discovered the planet Uranus, many new nebulae, clusters of stars and binary stars. Herschel hypothesized that nebulae are composed of stars, developed a theory of stellar evolution and was the first person to correctly describe the form of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. He discovered the Saturnian satellites Mimas and Enceladus (1789) and the Uranian satellites Titania and Oberon (1787). He was probably the most famous astronomer of the 18th century. |
| James Watt | |
(source) |
Died
25 Aug 1819 (born 19 Jan 1736)
Scottish instrument maker and inventor whose steam engine contributed substantially to the Industrial Revolution. In 1763 he repaired the model of Newcomen's steam engine belonging to Glasgow University, and began experiments on properties of steam. The Newcomen engine was simple in design: it acted as a pump and a jet of cold water was used to condense the steam. Watt improved on this design by adding a separate condenser and a system of valves to make the piston return to the top of the cylinder after descending. He took out a patent for the separate condenser in 1769. He later adapted the engine to rotary motion, making it suitable for a variety of industrial purposes, and invented the flywheel and the governor. [Note: Sources vary on the date of death, which is also given as 19 Aug 1819.] |
| AUGUST 25 - EVENTS | |
| Oldest European bat | |
(source) |
In 1999, the oldest wild bat in Europe recorded to date was a 33-year-old
male lesser
mouse-eared bat according to a claim published
in The Independent newspaper (London). Two Swiss researchers from
the University of Lausanne found the bat in the eaves of the church at
Fully, in south-west Switzerland. An earlier oldest bat record in the U.S.
was a 24-yr-old little brown bat found on 30
Apr 1960. Later, in a journal article received on 20
Jun 2005, a 41-yr-old Brandt's bat found in Siberia was reported.« |
| Saturn | |
(source) |
In 1981, the U.S. spacecraftVoyager
II came within 63,000 miles (100,000 km) of Saturn's cloud cover, sending
back data and pictures of the ringed planet in its closest approach to
Saturn, showing not a few, but thousands of rings. Photographs were also
sent back of a number of Saturn's moons.
The space probe was launched on 20 Aug 1977, and visited Jupiter on 9 Jul
1979, and continued on to Uranus (24 Jan 1986) and Neptune (25 Aug 1989)
before leaving the Solar System. Having a nuclear power source, the space
probe continues to study ultraviolet sources among the stars, and its fields
and particles instruments continue to search for the boundary between
the Sun's influence and interstellar space.« [Image:
detail of Saturn's B-rings photographed by Voyager II from a distance of
743,000 km on 25 Aug 1981. About 4000-km width is shown.] |
| CAT scan | |
|
In 1973, the first scan was made using CAT (Computer Assisted Tomography). |
|
| Transpacific Zeppelin flight | |
(source) |
In 1929, the Graf Zeppelin passed over San Francisco's Golden Gate
Bridge, headed for Los Angeles after a trans-Pacific voyage from Tokyo.
Graf
Zeppelin, built in 1928, had a trial flight on 18 Sep1928. It left
on 11 Oct 1928 for its first transatlantic
trip from Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA. After other flights, the
Graf
Zeppelin was again at Lakehurst ready to begin a trip
around the world. It left there with 40 crew and 22 passengers on 8 Aug
1929, reaching Friedrichshafen, Germany on 10 Aug. After 5 days stopover,
it set off for Tokyo, Japan, arriving there on 18 Aug, leaving again on
23 Aug headed for Los Angeles on 26 Aug. Next day it left for Lakehurst,
NJ arriving there on 29 Aug 1929 after 12 days in the air.« |
| Seeding machine patent | |
|
In 1840, a seeding machine was patented by Joseph Gibbons. |
|
