On May 17, 1749, English country surgeon Dr. Edward Jenner was born. In the 18th century, smallpox was a disease that killed about 20% of victims who contracted it and, if it didn’t kill, it often disfigured or blinded many survivors. When an epidemic…
On March 27, 1905, aeronautical engineer Elizabeth Muriel Gregory “Elsie” MacGill was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Attracted first to the red-hot field of radio, she became the first woman electrical engineering graduate from the University of Toronto. Working her first job at the…
On August 25, 1916, the United States National Park Service was created by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act to care for all national parks, historic battlefields, and monuments throughout the country. More than 400 National Parks later… the USNPS celebrates its…
On August 24, 79, the first recorded explosion of Mount Vesuvius, Italy, was witnessed by the 18-year-old nephew of the Commander of the Roman Fleet. His uncle sailed with ships to rescue survivors, leaving the teen to observe the eruption from home across the…
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 September 3, 1874, Norwegian mathematician and geophysicist Fredrik Carl Mülertz Størmer was born. Although he investigated several astrophysical phenomena during his lifetime such as meteor trails and solar corona, Størmer was particularly involved in the study of the polar auroras. The aurora phenomena…
On July 28, 1635, microscopist, astronomer, architect, Robert Hooke was born. As a student, Hooke was at ease in his studies of art, languages, music, and mathematics. At Oxford, he met and entered into creative friendships with his professors and peers in various sciences.…
On July 25, 1920, biophysicist, crystallographer, and pioneer molecular biologist Rosalind Elsie Franklin was born. She studied natural sciences at Newnham College, Cambridge. Pursuing graduate studies but wishing to contribute to a national effort, Franklin joined the British Coal Utilization Research Association, measuring and…
On July 18, 1720, English naturalist Gilbert White was born. A country cleric, White systematically recorded careful and detailed observations of all Nature in his surroundings. He experimented with different plants from flowers to potatoes to fruit trees in his garden that is still…
On June 10, 1834, naturalist Charles Darwin passed through the “East and West Furies”, the Tower Rocks, to reach the open waters of the Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Beagle. HMS Beagle was, to its time, as modern and science-packed as any space station. Its…