Week 50

Week 50: Dec. 10 – 16 (Archive)

December 10

  • Robert Hare, Jr., informed the Chemical Society of Philadelphia of his discovery of the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe that he called a "hydrostatic blowpipe" (1801).
  • "Project Gasbuggy" was the world's first commercial experiment with nuclear mining under New Mexico desert (1967).

December 11

  • Dentist Horace Wells discovered the use of nitrous oxide as anesthetic (1844).
  • Born in 1925, Paul Greengard, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2000) "for discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system", with Arne Carlsson and Eric Kandel "for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system."
  • Vitamin B12 isolated by Merck, Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories (1947).

December 12

  • Born in 1775, William Henry discovered that the amount of gas absorbed by a liquid is proportional to the gas pressure (Henry's Law).
  • Born in 1866, Alfred Werner, researcher in coordination chemistry; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1913) "in recognition of his work on the linkage of atoms in molecules by which he has thrown new light on earlier investigations and opened up new fields of research especially in inorganic chemistry."
  • Announcement of first pure compound of californium (Cf, 98) at meeting of American Nuclear Society (1960).

December 13

  • Born in 1867, Kristian Birkeland performed the first industrial fixation of nitrogen with S. Eyde.
  • Casein fiber patented (1938).
  • Perkin Elmer incorporated (1939).

December 14

  • Born in 1909, Edward L. Tatum discovered genes that regulate certain chemical processes; Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology (1958) with George W. Beadle "for their discovery that genes act by regulating definite chemical events" and with Joshua Lederberg "for his discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organization of the genetic material of bacteria."
  • Glenn T. Seaborg, Edwin M. McMillan, J. W. Kennedy, and A. C. Wahl performed the first bombardment of uranium oxide with 16-MeV deuterons to produce plutonium (Pu, 94), 1940.

December 15

  • Born in 1780, Johann W. Dobereiner postulated theory of triads showing periodicity in the elements; researcher on catalytic action of platinum; and invented instantaneous lighting lamp (Dobereiner lamp).
  • Born in 1852, Antoine H. Becquerel discovered radiation (Becquerel rays) from uranium salts (1896); Nobel Prize in Physics (1903) "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity" with Marie and Pierre Curie.

December 16

  • Born in 1776, Johann W. Ritter collected oxygen and hydrogen by electrolysis (1800); discovered ultraviolet rays (1802).