Week 1

Week 1: Jan. 1 – 7 (Archive)

January 1

  • Born in 1852, Eugène A. Demarcay discovered europium (Eu, 63) in 1901; gave spectroscopic proof of discovery of radium (Ra, 88).
  • Merck & Co. founded (1891).
  • Rhodia established from merger of RhÔne-Poulenc's divisions of chemicals, fibers and polymers; originally SocietÉ Chimique des Usines du RhÔne founded in 1895.
  • Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) renamed 11/12/1906, effective 1/1/1907; founded as The Pittsburgh Reduction Company on 9/18/1888.
  • In 1932, Harold C. Urey et al. announced existence of deuterium (D, 1), heavy isotope of hydrogen (H, 1).

January 2

  • Born in 1765, Charles Hatchett discovered niobium (Nb, 41), formerly columbium (1801).
  • Born in 1822, Rudolf Clausius established foundations for modern thermodynamics.
  • Born in 1889, Roger Adams was a researcher in organic chemical synthesis.
  • Born in 1920, Isaac Asimov was a biochemist and science fiction author.
  • US Atomic Energy Commission took over from wartime Manhattan Engineer District (1947).

January 3

  • Born in 1916 (Liverpool, England), Keith J. Laidler was a pioneer in chemical kinetics.

January 4

  • Benjamin Rush began series of lectures on chemistry for the people of Philadelphia (1775).
  • Henry H. Dow prepared bromine from brine (1891).
  • Born in 1905, Aristid V. Grosse isolated protactinium (Pa, 91) in 1927; researcher on uranium-235 fission by slow neutrons with A. Nier, E. J. Booth, and J. R. Dunning (1940).

January 5

  • Know of a chemistry-related event that occurred on this day? Tell us about it. We'd love to hear from you!

January 6

  • Born in 1872, John V. N. Dorr was an inventor and chemical engineer.

January 7

  • Born in 1794, Eilhardt Mitscherlich was a researcher on crystalline structure, catalysis, and benzene and its derivatives; discovered isomorphism.
  • Born in 1833, Henry E. Roscoe was a researcher on the chemical action of light; invented the actinometer (1856) with R. Bunsen; first to isolate vanadium (V, 23) in 1869.
  • Born in 1941, John E. Walker studied amino acid sequences in protein units of ATP synthetase; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1997) with Paul D. Boyer "for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)" and Jens C. Skou "for the first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na+, K+ -ATPase."