It’s Brilliant Being Green
On December 8, 1730, Dutch physician and scientist Jan Ingen-Housz was born. A talented, successful, and pro-active doctor who moved to England to learn smallpox inoculation. Ingen-Housz worked on English patients and was so skilled, he was invited to inoculate the Hapsburgs in Austria…
Fungus Among Us!
On November 23, 1898, American biochemist Rachel Fuller Brown was born. Most famously, she worked through research and production projects with microbiologist and bacteriologist Elizabeth Lee Hazen for the New York State Department of Health; Brown in Albany and Hazen in New York City.…
Something to Glow About
On November 8, 1895, in the evening, physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen [Röntgen] discovered X-rays. Previously, he had investigated the electrical conductivity of crystals and electromagnetic influences on polarized light. This particular evening, Roentgen experimented with the flow of electric current through a glass tube…
In a Field by Herself
On November 7, 1867, physicist and chemist Marie Skłodowska–Curie was born in Poland. A studious young daughter of a scientist, she grew up to become one of the giants of all modern science. With her husband, Pierre Curie, she studied chemical elements in their…
The Samurai Chemist <br>and the Cherry Trees
On November 3, 1854, Dr. Jokichi Takamine was born in Japan. His special strengths in languages and science steered him through programs in medical school and chemistry. Along with studies at the University of Glasgow in technology and work experiences in both Japan and…
Citrus Punch
On October 22, 1896, American biochemist and nutrition researcher, Charles Glen King was born. For about 200 years, limes and lemons and a few certain other foods were known to be effective in preventing and treating scurvy, a nutritional deficiency disease that, untreated, leads…
Now We’re Talking!
On October 9, 1876, the first two-way telephone conversation took place by wire, without the assistance of intermediary telephone operators, between Alexander Bell, a professor of vocal physiology at Boston University, and his assistant Thomas Watson, carpenter, machinist, and electric model maker. They spoke…
Yellow Fever <br>Meets the Major
On September 13, 1851, American army physician Walter Reed was born. After completing his medical education and internship, He entered the U S Army Medical Corps. For almost two decades he practiced medicine while serving at frontier army stations. When he returned east, he…
Ukkusiksalik National Park
On August 23, 2003, Ukkusiksalik, became Nunavut’s 4th and Canada’s 41st national park. Pronounced /ooo koo SIK sa lik/, the name Ukkusiksalik refers to the carvable stone found in the area from which an ukkusik [pot] is made. Just south of the Arctic Circle…
Interstellar Pioneer
On June 13, 1983, Pioneer 10 became the first human-made object to travel past Pluto. The first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from our sun’s system, it was poised to enter interstellar space. For 10 years up to this date, the hardy pioneer had…