Since March 2020 we have committed to being both responsible and responsive as we assess and address matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic with everyone’s safety in mind. In that light, staff are working from home but are accessible through their regular phone numbers…
On October 16, 1975, NASA launched GOES-1 – the first Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. Over the Indian Ocean, GOES-1 achieved a specific geostationary orbit, approximately 35,785 km (22,236 mi) above the equator, following the direction of Earth’s rotation, matching its rotation period, and appearing…
On May 20, 1570, the world’s first true modern atlas, was published in Antwerp. Compiled by Flemish geographer and cartographer Abraham Ortelius (Ortels), Theatrum Orbis Terrarum [Theatre of the World] was a bound collection of maps and explanatory text. The maps could be bound…
On May 18, 1980, in Washington state, Mount St. Helens volcano exploded leaving 57 people dead or missing. This was a Plinian eruption. It validated Pliny the Younger’s eyewitness description, often regarded as exaggeration, of the Vesuvius explosion that buried Pompeii and Heraculaneum. Mount…
On February 21, 1849, Canadian inventor and surveyor, Édouard Gaston Daniel Deville was born in France. A naval school graduate who served in the French navy, he conducted marine surveys around Peru and South Pacific islands, using sounding lines, to measure and describe features…
On February 17, 1858, educator, illustrator, biologist, photographer, and writer Margaret Warner Morley was born. After graduating as a teacher in New York City, she studied at what is now the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods…
On January 28, 1884, Belgian physicist, inventor, and extremes explorer Auguste Piccard was born in Switzerland… a few minutes after his physicist-chemist brother Jean-Felix. Auguste conducted atmospheric research using balloon flight and was well into the public eye when the University of Brussels offered…
On January 25, 1627, chemist, physicist, and inventor Robert Boyle was born in Ireland. He was one of the shakers and movers of the 17th century. It was helpful that he was moneyed and could pursue his interests as he chose. Thankfully for humankind,…
On November 29, 1803, mathematician Christian Andreas Doppler was born in Austria. Although primarily a teacher of mathematics, he also studied astronomy and eventually became the Director of the Institute of Physics at the University of Vienna. The years in between were filled with…
On November 17, 1865, Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist John Stanley Plaskett was born in Hickson, Ontario. A trained mechanic and electrician, he accepted a position at University of Toronto where he was employed to apply his skills to the design, construction, and maintenance of…