Week 29

Week 29: July 16 – 22 (Archive)

July 16

  • First atomic bomb explosion occurred at Trinity Site, Alamogordo Air Force Base, NM, in 1945.

July 17

  • Frederick A. Abel, born in 1827, co invented cordite; invented Abel tester for determination of flash point of petroleum.

July 18

  • Robert Hooke, born 1635, researched theory of gases and combustion.
  • Hendrik A. Lorentz, born 1853, researched thermodynamics and kinetic theory; explained Zeeman effect; Nobel Prize in Physics (1902).
  • Roald Hoffmann, born 1937, applied molecular orbital theory to organic chemical reactions (Woodward-Hoffman Rules); Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1981).
  • Hartmut Michel, born 1948, determined three-dimensional structure of photosynthetic proteins; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1988).

July 19

  • Eleuthère I. du Pont began construction of a gunpowder factory (would eventually become DuPont) in 1802.
  • Allene R. Jeanes, born 1906, conducted research on dextran; developed a blood expander; first woman to win the USDA Distinguished Service Award (1953).
  • Rosalyn S. Yalow, born 1921, developed technique of radioimmunoassay; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1977).

July 20

  • James Woodhouse was elected professor of "Chymistry" at University of Pennsylvania in 1795.
  • Neil Armstrong said the first words on lunar soil, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", in 1969.

July 21

  • Georg Brandt, born 1694, one the first chemists to abandon alchemy as a science; in 1735, discovered cobalt (Co, 27).
  • Henri V. Regnault, born 1810, conducted research in thermometry, specific heats, expansion of gases; found carbon tetrachloride.
  • Navy asks Thomas Edison to organize the keenest, most inventive minds to find a defense against submarines in 1915.
  • Rudolph A. Marcus, born 1923, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1992).

July 22