On November 18, 1906, Chinese ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng [Zheng Zuoxin] was born. As a boy, he learned to identify the birds in the Fujian forests by their calls. Travelling to the United States, Cheng completed doctoral studies at University of Michigan before taking a…
On November 2, 1885, the Banff Hot Springs Preserve was established. Two years later and enlarged, it was renamed Rocky Mountains Park – Canada’s first national park – then renamed Banff National Park in 1930. The preserve’s original 26 km2 (10 mi2 ) expanded…
On November 1, 1880, astronomer, meteorologist, natural scientist, and Arctic explorer, Alfred Lothar Wegener was born in Berlin. Like many before him, Wegener was intrigued with the similarities of continental coastlines that seemed to once have fit together. Instead of merely regarding present coastlines,…
On October 28, 1853, landscape photographer Frank J. Haynes was born in Saline Michigan. At various times, he was the “Official Photographer” of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and Yellowstone National Park. Haynes was part of a winter expedition in 1887…
On October 24, 1908, Canadian geologist and geophysicist John Tuzo Wilson, CC, OBE, FRS, FRSC, FRSE was born. After academic studies on three continents, a stint with the Geological Survey of Canada, and the Royal Canadian (Army) Engineers, he taught geophysics at the University…
On October 21, 1999, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison was designated a National Park in western Colorado. The long narrow canyon is a carving of about two million years of relentless river erosion through the soft as well as granite bedrock created by…
On October 18, 1616, English botanist and herbalist physician Nicholas Culpeper was born. Receiving early lessons in Latin and Greek, he read widely in his grandfather’s library. He learned about the application of medical plants from his grandmother. Culpeper attended Cambridge but discovered sports…
On September 11, 1847, American astronomer Mary Watson Whitney was born. She excelled in mathematics and nature studies. Whitney was one of Vassar’s first students in the college’s opening year and one of its first students in its new department of astronomy. In a…
On September 7, 1914, American space scientist James Alfred Van Allen was born. In the International Geophysical Year [July 1, 1957 to December 31, 1958] Van Allen reconfigured the radiation detectors he had designed for one rocket system to fly on a different system…
On September 1, 1854, American scientific illustrator, conservationist, and educator Anna Botsford Comstock was born. She mastered wood engraving to illustrate articles on insects written by her husband, John Henry Comstock, an entomologist who taught at Cornell. She illustrated many books, some of which…