Yearly Archives: 2017

Stagg Field reactor — December 2 is the anniversary of the first artificial sustained atomic chain reaction. The Chicago Pile 1 atomic pile was constructed as part of the secret Manhattan Project to test the possibility of achieving an atomic chain reaction that could be controlled and sustained. The pile was a massive construction […]

Today In Science History – December 2 – Chicago Pile ...

This entry was posted on November 25, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 16, 2021)

Emblem of the Antarctic Treaty — December 1 is the anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. Twelve governments agreed to set aside the uninhabited continent of Antarctica as a scientific reserve. The treaty outlined that no country could claim sovereignty on the continent, no military action would be allowed and scientific research […]

Today In Science History – December 1 – Antarctic Treaty

This entry was posted on November 23, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 16, 2021)

November 30th is Smithson Tennant’s birthday. Tennant was an English chemist who first identified the elements osmium and iridium. Tennant was investigating platinum metal samples. Platinum ores had always given mineralogists a difficult time because the metal was difficult to extract from the ore and had slightly different properties from […]

Today In Science History – November 30 – Smithson Tennant

This entry was posted on November 21, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on September 7, 2024)

Christian Doppler — November 29 is Christian Andreas Doppler’s birthday. Doppler was an Austrian physicist best known for the Doppler effect. Doppler wrote in a paper titled “On the Colored Light of Double Stars and Certain Other Stars of the Heavens” an explanation for the apparent color change of the frequencies of light […]

Today In Science History – November 29 – Doppler Effect

This entry was posted on November 21, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 3, 2023)

Enrico Fermi — November 28th marks the passing of Enrico Fermi. Fermi was an Italian physicist who made many advances in the field of nuclear physics. He was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for producing radioactive elements through the bombardment of slow neutrons. During his trip to Sweden to receive his […]

Today In Science History – November 28 – Enrico Fermi

This entry was posted on November 20, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on April 18, 2026)

Anders Celsius — November 27 is Anders Celsius’ birthday. Celsius was a Swedish astronomer who brought us the temperature scale that would become the Celsius temperature scale. He proposed a scale where the freezing point of water at one standard pressure was defined as 100°C and the boiling point of water was defined […]

Today In Science History – November 27 – Celsius

This entry was posted on November 20, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 16, 2021)

John_Alexander_Reina_Newlands — November 26 is John Alexander Newlands’ birthday. Newlands was a British chemist who noticed that if he arranged the known elements in order of increasing atomic weight, the chemical properties of the eighth element were similar to the first. The pattern repeated every eight elements much like the octaves on […]

Today In Science History – November 26 – Law of ...

This entry was posted on November 19, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on July 1, 2026)

Julius Robert von Mayer — November 25 is Julius Robert von Mayer’s birthday. Mayer was a German physician who had a hobby of studying physics. Most of his work centered around how energy was transferred from one form to another. He was one of the first to recognize that plants converted light into chemical energy, […]

Today In Science History – November 25 – Julius Robert ...

This entry was posted on November 18, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on June 17, 2026)

Simon van der Meer — November 24 is Simon van der Meer’s birthday. He was a Dutch physicist who, together with Carlo Rubbia, first detected the existence of W and Z particles during a series of experiments at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron in 1983. Their discovery confirmed the electroweak theory of subatomic particles that […]

Today In Science History – November 24 – W and ...

This entry was posted on November 18, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on November 28, 2021)